In Reply to: Re: HELP !!! Lovely glider turns vicious posted by TammyH on April 09, 1999 at 23:31:04:

Thanks for the advice. I will try a good washing and a hand-fed treat tonight when they are out. Taz is also doing alot of butt sniffing/etc on Ozzie, the other male. I think it might be time for a female or two, and split up the guys. I might go to one glove but I'd rather not. No damaged tendons, just a lot of scratches and holes, so far. I plan on continuing to handle them, just want less blood-letting.

What mistake did you make? So that I don't repeat it.

: I have an alpha male and female. When the male is unhappy with us (like he smells the scent of our other glider pair, and sometimes the dogs)he also VISCIOUSLY attacks our hands in the same manner you have described. Trying to re-establish dominance in our colony (2 humans, 3 dogs and 3 other gliders)

: I think yours is coming into the much feared glider puberty. In addition, if neither of yours are fixed, one is naturally going to try and establish dominance over his colony, which also happens to include you guys. Not much you can do. Be patient, eventually he might grow out of it. Busy didnt, but I made mistakes in his training that cant be reversed.

: Try to be sure your hands are very clean (we even go so far as to use a perfumed hand cream -- it confuses Busy, and he hasnt attacked us since we started). Dont antagonize your glider, resort to gloves or use yours hands for negative reinforcement. If he starts biting try redirecting his attention with a treat or lightly pop him with a handtowel
: Pulling away is also bad news, he will probably clamp down harder to keep hold of you and your action also shows him he has the upper hand.

: Busy has damaged the tendon in my thumb so bad I couldnt grasp anything for three days, and it took over 6 weeks for the aching pain to go away. He has also, on more than one occassion, put severe puncture wounds in our fingers. We continue to handle him every day, we just take precautions to avoid injury and discomfort, because I know that if we discontinue handling him, his behavior will only get worse and he will no longer be a pet of any kind (good or bad) just an unhappy wild animal in a cage

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