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TYPES OF BONDED SUGAR GLIDERS


SEMI-FRIENDLY
When you go in the box glider will crab, but doesn’t lunge or bite. It may come up to you and smell your finger(at night). Will not climb up on your hand or arm at night. It also will not stay on your shoulder or sit still in your hand during the daylight hours. It’s struggling to get away as you hold baby. It also may bite(hard nip) if contained or you hold it back from getting loose. It may come to the front of cage to see you at night, but if you put your hand in their cage they will run away.

FRIENDLY
The sugar glider will crab at first then intensity or tone should change after it recognizes you. It will climb on you at night, but as you move your hand or arm it will jump off back into cage. You can hold your baby but it will jump off to investigate or may get scared and run and hide. It may still taste ”nip” you.

BONDED
 No crabbing(may give a grunt crab as you are waking them up, but should stop immediately once they recognize you). Will come to the front of the cage and climb on you and walk up your arm to shoulder without jumping off. It may still smell your hand before it climbs on to you(slight delay before it climbs on you). It still may jump off to investigate or if it gets scared. If it nips it is a communication that it wants something, a drink or a snack. It also should sleep in the pouch without struggling to get out but still may crab slightly when it gets bumped or woke up by strange noises.
TIGHTLY BONDED
 There is no crabbing as you go in to box or cage during daylight or night time hours. The glider at night will climb on your hand and either ride on it or run up to your shoulder after your hand is out of cage. There is no hesitation to climb or jump on you as you open cage door. Sugar glider will ride on hand or shoulder as you walk around at night and usually will not jump off of you. If it gets scared it will freeze or run in pouch or down shirt.(if you taught it to do this for comfort and security). It also will not jump off to just investigate,(you can never say never will jump off), sometimes my extremely bonded adults do, but it is a rarity when they do and it usually means they want to go back to their living quarters. They sometimes do above at night but during the day they are content to sit in my cupped hands eating a cricket. The glider should also not shake or act like it is scared while it is on you during day or at night. It should be very trusting of what you are doing or where you are going(animal in pouch). While in pouch glider should not crab if woken up or if it is bumped or disturbed in any way. In other words NO crabbing or taste nips, just communicational light pinch sometimes.
BEHAVIOR:
NON FRIENDLY GLIDER
HARD NIPPING OR BITING: Sometimes when you first get a baby sugar glider it nips or bites after crabbing, if you force it into a corner or push after crabbing or after glider is chased. This is a scared defense response and with patience and trust it should go away as the crabbing should subside also.
FRIENDLY GLIDER BEHAVIOR
TASTE NIPPING: This is totally different than biting. This is a communication that the glider wants something or it is tasting everything in it’s environment(us included). It may want something to eat(cricket or treat), some water, or if baby is contained, to see what’s going on. It reminds me of a human baby at the everything in the mouth stage of growth.
SQWAGGLE
This is what the glider does when it is marking you as belonging to it’s family group. They grab(with teeth) your shirt or skin and will rub their belly and back end from side to side three or four times in a row. When they do this if they didn’t hold on with teeth( young ones use teeth, older ones can glide across material with a little training) they would fall off(it is that vigorous). Hopefully they grab your shirt and not your bare skin. I have seen a female do this to her male and he made a noise like it hurt. It looked like the female was on top trying to mate until I saw that side to side movement. This is not an aggressive behavior, you should be honored you have made the family, even though it hurts on bare skin(pinched). It also could be territorial scent marking.
HEAD RUB
 The sugar glider will grab you with it’s front two feet and curl it’s head toward their underside and start rubbing the top of their head vigorously against you. It usually is accompanied by a girgling sound or a giggling sound. If I am sitting while this is being done, it sometimes is followed up with a ¾ full body turn and the length of body rubbed against me. I have females and males do this behavior, I think it is friendly hello or family recognition. I have seen a male do the head rub to the female also both parents do it to the babies(they have to be out of box and weaning). Sometimes they do it after I have petted them down the full length of their body. The full length ¾ body turn is like a cat rubbing against your leg and if laying down with glider can be done down length of body or legs.
BELLIE RUB: Normally done by adolescent sugar gliders or adult sugar gliders. Males and females do this underbelly rub. It looks like a wave or they are trying to wipe something off their bellies. Peanut would do this also when she had babies and her pouch was extended about ¼ in., she would lay still on my arm and spread out so her belly was flat against me. I found out later she was getting my smell on the babies through the pouch opening. I think. The reason I think this is because I caught her male sleeping with his head against her pouch opening. Maybe it is a pre oop bonding between father and babies.
TOOTSIE POP LICK
This is where the baby sugar glider or sub-adult sugar glider will climb up on your shoulder and go over to your neck and lick, lick, lick, and lick then take a nip out of your neck. It also can be done on arm or any where else on you. If you have a mole or band-aid on your finger or any thing that the glider thinks is foreign it will try and remove(groom) it. I think this behavior is taste or grooming. It usually is done by a glider I hear purring from or extremely attached to me. It usually goes away(tootsie lick, grooming usually continues) either by me moving every time I get a little pinch or with time or after puberty. Another type of behavior that can occur at same time as this grooming is the wet willie which is the glider nip on ear, purring, tootsie lick and/or the tongue goes in the ear with purring usually. I don’t mean tongue on outside of ear I mean deep in the ear.
SOUNDS
CRABBING
 This sounds like a machine that won’t start. Probably the first sound you will hear out of the baby and/or newly acquired sugar glider. It is a defense mechanism and could be followed by lunging at you and/or biting, if glider is pushed or you move too fast toward it. The glider by doing this is probably trying to say you are bothering him/her(usually tone changes), you have startled him/her, or they are scared of what is going to happen next. Look at it from our point of view; you have been at work or play all day then you come home and go to sleep. At about 3 a.m. on our schedule something comes to your house and rips the roof off of your house and wakes you up, wouldn’t you “crab” or say something worse? I would be startled or scared until I knew what was going on!
BARKING: This sounds like a small dog barking off in the distance. It is a scare call and/or telling a story to other gliders in the area. If you have more than one glider all the other gliders either freeze or they run for security or cover. If I have a bonded glider on me it will run under my shirt for protection.
GIRGLING
This is a sound that is like being tickled or a giggle. I hear it when I rub their belly or while they eat a cricket and being petted. If I am holding the female with babies if she makes this sound, the male in the box will answer as he eats his cricket. This is a happy or content sound.
CHIRPING
Almost like a giggle but it has a different pitch and intensity of sound. I think this also is a happy or content sound. It made while being held or eating treat.
TEETH CHATTERING
 (LOUD): I ONLY HEAR THIS FROM ONE MALE THAT WE BOUGHT SECOND HAND. When his female comes to the front of the cage he runs up to her making the teeth chattering noise. I also observed him doing it when she was on the side of her cage and a rival male that was on his wire close to her(about 4-6 in. apart). He chatters, then he will go and rub under her chin and her behind. I think he is jealous of me and the rival male around his girl. There is a soft teeth chatter that starts out as a single kiss or click which I believe is a friendly sound. The behavior has a lot to do with the sound meaning and intensity of the sound.
CHA CHA CHEW CHEW:
this noise will bedone only  by adult female sugar gliders with babies, either oop or in the pouch. The moms will do this and it is also accompanied by stretching movements as to reposition the babies in the pouch. They raise up on all four feet(kind of arched up) and will stretch one leg one way then another leg another way. This noise also coming from the nest box around dinner time and then the mom comes out without the babies. Maybe it is a way to tell babies to stay or stop you are stepping on my bladder or kicking me. After stretching and noise was made mom will go on with what she was doing. And we will not hear it from all the females all the time just sometime.

CHEW SA-CHEWLSOUNDS LIKE SNEEZE):
 Gliders do this to each other to tell the other one that, that it is mine and you stay away. It’s like a warning to each other. Also after babies are weaned mom will do this. At first mom or dad will let babies eat out of their hands as parents are eating, later it is if to say go and get your own.

PURRING
This is a very happy and content sound(like a cat makes). It is hard  to hear as it is not as loud as a cat’s purr
SINGLE KISS
 We will only hear this from tightly bonded or extremely tightly bonded sugar gliders. It is like a single light pucker sound or kiss. It is very soft and sometimes hard to hear, unless it is by your ear. We can make a single noise and the sugar glider  will answering  with the single pucker. I believe it is a friendly(may be greeting) or happy communication noise.
GROWL(GRRR GRRR) OR OFF BEAT CRAB
We will only hear  this between rival gliders. I hear this either the female is in season, babies oop, or babies are coming out of the box. It is a stern warning to other sugar gliders to stay away or out of their territory
SQUAWK , BABY CALL
The baby is calling for mom or dad when it’s scared or in distress. When the baby first comes out of the box and they wander too far in the cage or can’t quite climb over a branch or piece of wood. Another words like a cat goes up the tree but can’t get down, this is the reverse the baby will go to bottom of cage and can’t figure out how to climb up and/or over something. When baby calls mom or dad will talk to them or they will go and pick them up and give ride back to safety. 

12 comments:

  1. Lots of intresting facts and information, just one question though, how long will it take to bond with baby sugar gliders?

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    1. It really depends on the sugar glider and his or hers personality. I just got 2 a week ago today and my baby boy Bastian is already fully bonded to me I can do anything with him and he goes everywhere I go he never makes a sound and he never bit me not even the day I got him .he was able to be trusted right away .Ms.Amelia Earhart comes with me everywhere I go too but she still gets nervous and gets crabby until I talk to her or pet her to let her know I'm still here.

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  2. It takes a varied amount of time to bond. I've had my glider almost 2 months, he is about 1 year old, and he's just started to be more bonded with me. He groomed me first time last night, are MY apple after trying to tell me he was hungry for fruit (I didn't know that's what he was doing atm), but he still crabs at me if I bother him too much. He likes to be pet and "squished" in his pouch for comfort though and will stop crabbing if I do that. He doesn't nip much anymore unless bothered by strangers or held in place (which I don't do anymore cuz I'm trying to be more patient)
    It could take a couple weeks at minimum to months. But you have to let the glider take its own time getting to know you :)

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  3. Hello! Lately my gliders are biting allot! First it was my male and now it's my female as well! I am bonding with them, but they are biting so much, that I am getting very frustrated! Help?

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  4. Hi... So I've had my glider for a week now and I have made huge progress! She is a little over 2 months old. She was crabbing terribly at me but I've been working with her all week. Night and day difference when I slept with her pouches and left my scent. For the first time today, she crawled up my hand and all over my body before jumping into the closet and getting lost for about half an hour before I was able to catch her. Now she's hanging off the side of the cage and staring for attention. I think she wants out of the cage... But I don't necessarily think she's "bonded" enough to come back to me if I were to let her out. Should I still let her out? Or should I continue doing what I have been doing and taking it slow? I just got the bonding pouch today but I feel bad putting her in it since she is so active right now. Amazing how much changed in a week... From constant crabbing, even drawing blood once with the biting to this? I'm in awe, I so desperately want to let her out but I don't want to do anything to compromise what progress we have made.

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  5. Be patient and do NOT walk away or stop what your doing if they crab at you because that shows fear and they figure "Oh well if I do this you go away so I'm going to do this more" if they crab at you ignore it and once they trust you more they will stop

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  6. I've had my girls since they were born...handled them since they were oop, I've taken them out, let them run around & play, pet them, kissed on them, give treats; they don't bite ME, though one will crab till she realizes it's me. It's just not the type of bonding I'd hoped for. I wanted a very bonded glider that would ride around in my pocket. That would glide to me if someone else held it...or a glider excited to see me & want to hitch a ride & be still to be pet. I've heard the purr when I pet them in their pouch...& I don't know what it means, but one rubs herself all over the cage after I've been handling her. I just don't know what else to do.

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    1. They clearly looove you. In time maybe they will be more like the way you want. Probably like how kids are... they love you, but still wanna do their own thing. Maybe just too young to sit still and just be calm. But they clearly love you. Just wait til they get older. Things will prob change for the better for you.

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  7. how did i get the name sexyman

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  8. I have had my gliders for a couple months now. The girl never crabs at me or bites me she may nip at my fingers but it oh is more of a to see what thugs is kind of thing. The boy doesnt really crab set me anymore only a little bit, he moods at me more than the girl but it is never really hard like before i havent tried to hold him still in a while since i always got bite. They sleep in my bra during the day, but for the most part at night the jump off me pretty quick. The gutl usually will hang out for a bit to let me pet her or give her snacks unless she gets spooked. The boy almost always jumps right offoff, sometimes he will hang out on my thighs. He will take treats out of my hand and eat them while i hold them. As long as i dont stop moving i can walk around but if i stop the boy is gone, the girl seems to stay on a little bit longer. I have had them for so long and i have handled them everyday, when they bit me i didnt retailiate i know i look like a huge monster to them. I dont understand why it is taking them so long to bond with me. I love these guys so any help would be great ny email is klsyengland@gmail.com thank you

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  9. Ok my sugar glider never crabs, likes to groom me, but when ever i take him out of the cage he runs away from me even if im trying to be as slow and as low as possible, also he never climbs onto my hand or shoulder

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  10. I have a male sugar glider about 9 months old and brought home a partner for him and she is 8 weeks old. I’ve had him about 3 months and her barely a week. Now he seems super distant and doesn’t wanna cuddle me like he did before and frequently hides. They are caged separately and about 12 inches apart! Can anyone help?

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