lildflynfurball
09-25-05, 11:03 PM 09-25-05
Hello my fellow SG Lovers-
So after having a sugar glider for 3 weeks now and spending practically every second with the little beast I have experimented with different techniques and I want to share what works best for me.
Bonding:
Pouch-when your sg is sleeping, gently put him in the pouch...if he wakes up, coax him with his food to get him in. Wear the bonding pouch religously. (under your shirt so your sg isnt bouncing around everywhere, that might irritate him which isnt good considering the whole reasoning behind this technique is to get him to love his pouch) Eventually he will WANT to go in his pouch (after a week of NOT washing it and wearing it with him in it all the time). Also, if you are just sitting watching TV or something, gently take him out of the pouch and cup your hands and let him sleep there. Or put him on your belly under your shirt and gently pet him. This will help him trust you. But if you are moving around, put him in the pouch. Keep the pouch on you with him in it as humanly possible. Your sg's love for the pouch will help you when he happens to get away and start getting into corners that may be dangerous. If this happens, get food on your finger to get him close (with gentle sounds saying his name and saying "you want your pouch" over and over) when he comes close put his pouch near and he will immediatly go in it. Its worked for me everytime. Now something very important, when he wakes up, do not give him his fav food, give him something else (nuts or fruit) and he will occupy himself with this and go back to sleep. After you give him the food, pet him on his head gently and work under the chin (every sgs fav place to be pet) This way he can adjust to you touching him and him knowing it is a positive thing b/c of the food. If he bites you (not along with crabbing but just happens to take a little nibble out of curiousity) LET HIM DO IT. This is very important probably the main thing that got me over the hill of "trust". If you allow him to nibble your finger your sg will realize that YOU trust HIM. If you pull back, then he will sense you are uneasy and will not feel comfortable when you put your finger near him b/c he senses the "uneasyness". When he's nibbling your finger gently say "no" and then he will look up at you. When he does this slowly pull your finger away. Then repeat. Pet him, if he nibbles allow it but at the same time gently say "no". He'll look up and then gently pull your finger away again..after me doing this 5 times in a row my sg stopped nibbling my finger. When he stopped nibbling my finger, I gave him a treat and he hasen't nibbled my finger since.
Feeding:
Water-for young sgs keep at low place and use an actual bowl instead of the sippy thing because its easier for a young sg to get adjusted to.
Food-get a packaged sg food and refill morning and night. At night put more veggies then fruits (along with your protein substance) because sgs tend to fill up on fruits before they get to the veggies..veggies are important for fiber intake (makes cleaning up the poop a little easier because the poop isnt such a messy smeary texture) also find out what your sgs fav food is and DO NOT PUT IT IN THE FOOD DISH. The reason why is lower.
Training:
Important thing in this is trust. Before you start training your sg must trust you. You know he trust you when you can pet him without him walking away, crabbing or biting. First step, do not allow your sg on the floor, if he gets on the floor, pick him up. The reason is because if he isnt trained, you don't want him on the floor b/c he can get stepped on or run somewhere you cant get him. Once he's trained to come to you, he can go on the floor. I put paper towels on the couch and let him walk about the couch and me as he pleases. ONLY GIVE HIM HIS FAV FOOD WHEN HE IS ON YOUR HAND OR YOUR SHOULDER. This will help him associate something he loves the most with you. Eventually this will lead to him always wanting to be on you because that is the only time he gets his fav food. If he gets away DO NOT GRAB HIM. Get food and let him come to you and get his pouch b/c most likely he will not have any intention to go on you when he's more curious to explore. At first, give him a fruit and let him lick that, bring it further and further in to where he is sitting on your hand. Once he is on your hand, give him is fav food, he will not want to leave. While he is eating, pet him. The trick is to pet him as much as possible. NO NEGITIVE REINFORCEMENT. Only treat him when he does something good. If he does something bad like bite or crab do not yell at him, just gently say "no" or "its ok hunny". Then try whatever you wanted to do and if he doesn't crab, give him food. This is as far as I have gotten as far as training goes but I will add more when I learn more.
Toys:
My SG loves his wheel. I highly suggest them. Also a ladder for his cage and a clear ball you can put him in. This allows him to walk about the house without getting lost or into anything dangerous. They love the clear ball. It takes time for them to get adjusted to it but once they are, getting them out is a little hard.
Habitat:
Bird cage no less then 1'6" tall to 1'4" wide. This allows your glider to climb and jump as he pleases. Also, don't get him a sleeping area, instead, hang the pouch in there, b/c if you get a sleeping area it's hard to get them out! This will help the bonding process to go much faster. Once your sg is bonded to you then get a sleeping area with something soft in it with your scent.
I have had my sugar glider for 3 weeks. (he was 6 weeks old when I got him) I can pick him up, pet him anywhere, and get him in and out of his pouch no problem. He will stay on my shoulder for hours even with the temptation to climb on other things. I am at the point where if someone has his fav food in their hand when he is on my shoulders, he will not leave my shoulders, he will only eat it if it is close to him but he will not jump from my shoulders to that person no matter what they have. He will allow other people to pet him when he has smelled my scent first. By the way sugar gliders can bond to more then one person (my sg likes my boyfriend too and will allow him to pet him whenever with no problems) but sgs will only trust and love one person. Bonding and trusting are different things. When your sg trusts you, he will enjoy to be around you and that is when you can begin training him to for instance come when you call, or glide, or not walk on the floor. Once your SG is bonded to you let other people pet him. This will help him adjust to being around people. Don't let a lot of people hold him during the bonding/training process though because the only way to train him is to make sure he only completely trusts you, that way he will come to you when you call which will help you find him, play with him, show him to people, adjust to different environments etc.
I really hope I have helped everyone. I am just putting here techniques that have helped me get so far with my glider in only 3 weeks. There are of course other things you can do, other websites you can look at and other techniques. Try different things, see what fits your SG the best because they all have different personalities. The best of luck to all of you.
-Ashley, Wilmington, N.C.
So after having a sugar glider for 3 weeks now and spending practically every second with the little beast I have experimented with different techniques and I want to share what works best for me.
Bonding:
Pouch-when your sg is sleeping, gently put him in the pouch...if he wakes up, coax him with his food to get him in. Wear the bonding pouch religously. (under your shirt so your sg isnt bouncing around everywhere, that might irritate him which isnt good considering the whole reasoning behind this technique is to get him to love his pouch) Eventually he will WANT to go in his pouch (after a week of NOT washing it and wearing it with him in it all the time). Also, if you are just sitting watching TV or something, gently take him out of the pouch and cup your hands and let him sleep there. Or put him on your belly under your shirt and gently pet him. This will help him trust you. But if you are moving around, put him in the pouch. Keep the pouch on you with him in it as humanly possible. Your sg's love for the pouch will help you when he happens to get away and start getting into corners that may be dangerous. If this happens, get food on your finger to get him close (with gentle sounds saying his name and saying "you want your pouch" over and over) when he comes close put his pouch near and he will immediatly go in it. Its worked for me everytime. Now something very important, when he wakes up, do not give him his fav food, give him something else (nuts or fruit) and he will occupy himself with this and go back to sleep. After you give him the food, pet him on his head gently and work under the chin (every sgs fav place to be pet) This way he can adjust to you touching him and him knowing it is a positive thing b/c of the food. If he bites you (not along with crabbing but just happens to take a little nibble out of curiousity) LET HIM DO IT. This is very important probably the main thing that got me over the hill of "trust". If you allow him to nibble your finger your sg will realize that YOU trust HIM. If you pull back, then he will sense you are uneasy and will not feel comfortable when you put your finger near him b/c he senses the "uneasyness". When he's nibbling your finger gently say "no" and then he will look up at you. When he does this slowly pull your finger away. Then repeat. Pet him, if he nibbles allow it but at the same time gently say "no". He'll look up and then gently pull your finger away again..after me doing this 5 times in a row my sg stopped nibbling my finger. When he stopped nibbling my finger, I gave him a treat and he hasen't nibbled my finger since.
Feeding:
Water-for young sgs keep at low place and use an actual bowl instead of the sippy thing because its easier for a young sg to get adjusted to.
Food-get a packaged sg food and refill morning and night. At night put more veggies then fruits (along with your protein substance) because sgs tend to fill up on fruits before they get to the veggies..veggies are important for fiber intake (makes cleaning up the poop a little easier because the poop isnt such a messy smeary texture) also find out what your sgs fav food is and DO NOT PUT IT IN THE FOOD DISH. The reason why is lower.
Training:
Important thing in this is trust. Before you start training your sg must trust you. You know he trust you when you can pet him without him walking away, crabbing or biting. First step, do not allow your sg on the floor, if he gets on the floor, pick him up. The reason is because if he isnt trained, you don't want him on the floor b/c he can get stepped on or run somewhere you cant get him. Once he's trained to come to you, he can go on the floor. I put paper towels on the couch and let him walk about the couch and me as he pleases. ONLY GIVE HIM HIS FAV FOOD WHEN HE IS ON YOUR HAND OR YOUR SHOULDER. This will help him associate something he loves the most with you. Eventually this will lead to him always wanting to be on you because that is the only time he gets his fav food. If he gets away DO NOT GRAB HIM. Get food and let him come to you and get his pouch b/c most likely he will not have any intention to go on you when he's more curious to explore. At first, give him a fruit and let him lick that, bring it further and further in to where he is sitting on your hand. Once he is on your hand, give him is fav food, he will not want to leave. While he is eating, pet him. The trick is to pet him as much as possible. NO NEGITIVE REINFORCEMENT. Only treat him when he does something good. If he does something bad like bite or crab do not yell at him, just gently say "no" or "its ok hunny". Then try whatever you wanted to do and if he doesn't crab, give him food. This is as far as I have gotten as far as training goes but I will add more when I learn more.
Toys:
My SG loves his wheel. I highly suggest them. Also a ladder for his cage and a clear ball you can put him in. This allows him to walk about the house without getting lost or into anything dangerous. They love the clear ball. It takes time for them to get adjusted to it but once they are, getting them out is a little hard.
Habitat:
Bird cage no less then 1'6" tall to 1'4" wide. This allows your glider to climb and jump as he pleases. Also, don't get him a sleeping area, instead, hang the pouch in there, b/c if you get a sleeping area it's hard to get them out! This will help the bonding process to go much faster. Once your sg is bonded to you then get a sleeping area with something soft in it with your scent.
I have had my sugar glider for 3 weeks. (he was 6 weeks old when I got him) I can pick him up, pet him anywhere, and get him in and out of his pouch no problem. He will stay on my shoulder for hours even with the temptation to climb on other things. I am at the point where if someone has his fav food in their hand when he is on my shoulders, he will not leave my shoulders, he will only eat it if it is close to him but he will not jump from my shoulders to that person no matter what they have. He will allow other people to pet him when he has smelled my scent first. By the way sugar gliders can bond to more then one person (my sg likes my boyfriend too and will allow him to pet him whenever with no problems) but sgs will only trust and love one person. Bonding and trusting are different things. When your sg trusts you, he will enjoy to be around you and that is when you can begin training him to for instance come when you call, or glide, or not walk on the floor. Once your SG is bonded to you let other people pet him. This will help him adjust to being around people. Don't let a lot of people hold him during the bonding/training process though because the only way to train him is to make sure he only completely trusts you, that way he will come to you when you call which will help you find him, play with him, show him to people, adjust to different environments etc.
I really hope I have helped everyone. I am just putting here techniques that have helped me get so far with my glider in only 3 weeks. There are of course other things you can do, other websites you can look at and other techniques. Try different things, see what fits your SG the best because they all have different personalities. The best of luck to all of you.
-Ashley, Wilmington, N.C.