Introducing... my sugar gliders!

[Jessika]

Banjo is being such a jerk. We can't handle him at all. We were able to bond with Kazooie quickly (ironically, she's the "mill breeder" suggie and he came from a breeder), but we are going above and beyond any methods we used with Kazooie and they just are not working with Banjo. In fact, he seems WORSE now than when we brought him home. He will dart out of his bonding pouch or cage with no warning and then we're chasing him around the room trying to catch him... he bit my boyfriend so hard yesterday he wouldn't let go of his finger until I pulled him off of him. Of course he bled pretty good.

He lunges at us, crabs at us, tries to bite us....... I don't want to give up on him but we are obviously not doing something right. We are following all of the methods being suggested to us ("tried and true" methods) and he just seems to be giving us the middle paw... at a loss. It's stressing my boyfriend and I out so much now that we're starting to get into arguments with each other over it... ugh.

I know bonding can take months, but surely you should start to see baby step improvements, not huge jumps backwards?????

Gonna try to call the breeder tonight to see if she has any suggestions...

I'm only putting this information here not only for advice but for potential sugar glider owners so they know that this is NOT always a cakewalk with these guys and they do require a LOT of work and commitment...

[Freedom]

Oh they ARE cute! In that first photo, can you please identify which is which?

And that cage - PVC a DIY project? Super cool!

Do speak with the breeder; and maybe a specific online forum for them will offer ideas as well.

Here in RI, you must obtain a permit before you can own them. Sure, folks don't know and do get them, but then later on they often find themselves in trouble.

[Jessika]

No permit needed in Missouri... which is how mill breeders are allowed to trick people into buying them.

Banjo is the mosaic on bottom, and Kazooie is the standard grey girl on top

We're attempting tent time again tonight... any other time we've tried it with him he will NOT come out of the bonding pouch... We both signed up at http://glidercentral.net and that has pretty much been our main source of information and advice throughout all of this.

[Jessika]

Small baby steps of progress with Banjo... for awhile I thought he may be pouch aggressive, but he lets me stick my hand into the pouch with him even while crabbing/lunging and does not bite me... and he settles down pretty quickly when I do so. Considered switching to an open-environment type cage set but if we're seeing improvement doing what we're doing, I'd hate to think I "wasted" a lot of money on cage items that I can no longer use... (cage sets aren't cheap...).

Kazooie, of course, is sweeter than ever. I walked into the room ~10pm last night (typically before they wake up) to grab their diner to clean it and get their food ready and her little head was sticking out of the cage pouch. As soon as I opened the door she JUMPS from the cage pouch onto my shoulder. Hung out on me the whole time while making their food, too, and tried running off with a few bits of strawberry...





This was one of the first good looks he allowed us to get of him since bringing him home. I noticed it looks like he has food all over his face or hasn't been grooming well! It's been about a week since taking that pic, and he seems to have cleaned up, but it made me worried thinking he was too stressed to groom himself properly.

[chocolatepuppy]

Aww, cuties! I hope things continue to go well!

[Karen]

Glad things are going better with Banjo and still so well with Kazooie! Such cuties!

[luckies4me]

If you need help please refer to my previous threads. You can search under my name for posts pertaining to suggies. I run a rescue and occasionally breed and can offer you assistance if you need it. If you private message me I can provide you my email address. They are both adorable. It can sometimes take months for a bond to develope between an owner and their suggie. Please do not give up. It will be soooo worth it! Has his attitude changed since he's been neutered? How old is he? What is his lineage? Any lines from P.P.?