In Reply to: Re: should we seperate young m/f that are bitting posted by virginia on October 28, 1999 at 09:53:20:

i see there is still a misconception about gliders.
1. gliders are undomesticated animals.
you can be accepted by the glider but you cannot dominate.
you can be the bonding partner.
2. if you stick your hand into their domain uninvited, you're going to be bitten. lightly as a warning if they recognize your smell as a pleasent one, hard if you're a threat.
3. as i have stated before, i have found there are two distinct types of gliders.
pets and breeders.
pets will 'bond' with you rather quickly.
breeders appear to have the 'wild survival' gene. they WILL NOT tolerate mis handling. [mishandling being anytime they want to be left alone.]
i've had breeders running loose in a back office for quite some time now. they will eat out of my hand, groom me, play on me, play hide-n-seek with me, chase my fingers. ect. they will not let anyone hold them. they will jump off immediatly if i attempt to caress them. but they have produced a higher ratio of pet to breeder quality offspring.
if they have bonded to each other, time will tell if they accept you. they will not be 'pets'. stick your hand within 6" of them. they wll probably crab. hold your hand there until they stop crabbing. THEN move your hand away. this will let them see you are not a threat. but it takes time [weeks].
buy yourself a pet quality glider.
a bad breeder will sell you anything 'cause they're cute'
a good breeder will tell you they aren't sure about the disposition of the glider
a great breeder will KNOW which gliders will bond. [i can tell within a month oop] AND will refund your money or make an exchange if there is a personality conflict.

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: : : we got our two gliders about a month ago. a m&f they about 2 months old. they are fine during play time. when we try to get them out of their pouch they want to bite blood style. should we seperate them and work with each one by itself. until each one bonds with us then put them back together?

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