As mentioned in the introduction post, our suggies Sydney and Taz came to us very recently. Although they had been well fed and had accommodations that most gliders only dream of having, they had little socialization with humans since they were fostered 7 years ago. Their foster mom warned us that Taz was quite crabby and would bite if handled. Sydney wasn't as vocal about her dislike of attention and she would sometimes come out and be a little curious during feeding time. With 10 guinea pigs, a bunny and a cat to also care for, there just wasn't a lot of time left over for the large amount of time necessary to bond with these two. We can tell though that their former family that had to give them up did spend time with them, but it's just been a while. We have now set out on the adventure to encourage Sydney and Taz to enjoy contact with us and hopefully become tame and sweet pets.
Most glider owners purchase their pets as joeys and begin bonding right away. Bruce was raised in this manner. Bonding with older gliders is a similar process, but can take longer because of ingrained habits. We are pretty sure that we can get Sydney and Taz used to humans again, but know it is going to be a long journey. A really good series of articles about bonding with gliders can be found
here. It's a 6 part series from the folks at
Sun Coast Sugar Gliders, one of a few reputable stores and breeders we have discovered.
So now we start the adventure. The first night Sydney and Taz were with us, we only took them out in their sleeping pouch for about 5 minutes. Taz crabbed most of the time, but Sydney was quiet. We decided on a plan of action to take them out and get them in individual bonding pouches (shown on the right) each night while we watched our TV shows. We placed a small bit of apple in each pouch as a calming and positive treat. Also, on the days I am home all day, I will carry the duo (or each individually) around for a few hours each day in the pouch. This will get them used to our scent and sound of our voice in a non-threatening way. The 2nd night Sydney and Taz were with us, we tried this technique. Taz was NOT a happy boy at first. He was very vocal and crabbed a lot. After about 15 minutes though, he calmed down and relaxed with Jay. I had Sydney and she was a sweetie. She, however, got restless after a while and was trying very hard to find a way out of the pouch. (Based on the weight difference between the two of them and the behaviors we've observed so far, she is a VERY active little gal, so we may have to do a lot of the pouch bonding with her during the day when she's sleepy.)
