New at this...whats the next step?

[lildflynfurball]

Hey guys-
Ok so I'm 3 weeks into this whole sugar glider thing and yes it def has its ups and downs..its hard to be so patient because I am so aious to having my little sugar glider love me. So I have made progress, I can pet him whenever with no problems, I can get him out of his pouch with yogurt and pet him while in my hand, then he'll run all over my shoulders and back, but when he jumps on to the couch or the floor... he doesn't come back to me, but he will go into his pouch anytime.
So whats the next step, he pretty much trusts me but not enough to where he'll jump onto me when I open the cage or anything like that. I am a pretty patient person but I would like to know how to do a forward motion type thing and get my glider trained. I have him in the pouch around my neck all day everyday but at night he's up way to late for me to pay much attention to him and I know its going to be challanging to change his time schedule. So I need to start working on that as well as getting more toys in his cage. He has this wheel thing he absolutely loves but what other toys should I get him and what are the first steps to training him to come to me when I call and get excited when I come up to his cage?
Please, if anyone has any suggestions..that would be really awesome! Thanks everyone!
~Ashley from Wilmington, N.C.

[suggiegurl]

You cannot really train a glider. To have a stronger bond, you can get a child sized tent and go in there every night with him for as long as you can. What diet is he on? I suggest getting him on a proven, non dry diet, such as BML. Good luck

[lildflynfurball]

Yeah I guess what I mean by "train" is to atleast have the glider come to me for comfort. I've read alot about gliders and some of the things I've read includes gliders coming to you when you call (after completely "bonded") and like getting excited in his cage when I walk near it and stuff like that. I also read that you can train them to glide (once "bonded") by putting him in a high place and having a treat in you hand and pulling your hand farther and farther from him to where he has to jump to get to the treat to the point where he finds himself "gliding" to your hand. I guess its all about how much your glider trusts you which goes along with the whole bonding thing. Well I am happy to say that I have made alot of progress with Diego, I can now pet him whenever I want without any troubles, he doesn't crab at me unless he was irritated from something else..I have high hopes about the time period and I am really excited about all this. I will look into giving him meal worms every night...I give him fresh fruits and veggies and soy nuts everynight but I do feed him dry "sugar glider" food. The brand name is "Quiko" and it says it has everything he needs so I appriciate your advice but I must say I am curious on why is this dry brand name food bad for sugar gliders?

[suggiegurl]

Nuts are very very fattening and can carry aflatoxins which are deadly. Sugargliders are in essence, sap suckers which means they extra the liquid from their foods. Thus, dry food= no liquid= no nutition. Also, it can cut into their mouths causing a condition known as lumpy jaw which can lead to septic and they will die.

[lildflynfurball]

Ohhh ok. I will def look into getting the BML diet then. You know it was weird but when I happened to notice my sugar glider eating he was dipping his food in his water..I don't know if thats related or not. Oh I noticed my sugar glider really likes corn and spinich (sp)...is that ok for him? What other fruits and veggies do you suggest on a regular basis?

~Ashley