In Reply to: Biting problems! posted by Jeff on May 28, 2000 at 13:45:38:

If she is biting for "no reason", then it is very likely she doesnt like a smell. Maybe your soap, shampoo, detergent...etc. My glider would bite me for "no reason", then I started washing my hands real good with just warm water before handling him. Amazingly he stopped biting me. I will say he has bite me a few times for other reasons, but what I did about that was this. I always played with him in a small quiet dark room. This helps to make the gliders feel safer. When he would bite me I would not move, but I made a very loud noise..generally I said "NO!". Always use the same noise...others have used bike horns..cans with money in it..whistles. Whatever you find that works. Be sure ONLY to do this noise when she bites you. She will then think that biting causes this noise. If its a noise she doenst like she will not bite,because she does not want to hear this noise. Never blow on them...it can make them very mad..and often they can bite harder. They need to trust you, and blowing on the causes them to loose this trust. Never wear gloves around your gliders. Like I said smell is their most importiant sense. this is how the recognize each other as well as people and their possesions. By wearing the gloves she can not smell you, and it will frighten her even more. As long as you lose gloves she can never learn to recognize you. Also as often as possible offer her licky treats. This will help her to trust your hands, and also to realize your hands represents good things like treats. Never let the food get down low enough that she may feel the need to bite. Let her lick some off then put soem more on your finger. Do this as often as she will lick you.

Even though she was young at the petstore she is still at leats 8 weeks old. they wean themselves then. A glider needs to be held every single day in order to get used to hands. They are wild animals..and if they do not get used to hands early on it can be hard. It is deffinitly possible...it just takes more time than a glider that has been handled everyday. So be patient and realize that for 8 weeks she was never handled....you are big and scarry to her. I'm putting a link here to bourbond bonding page. It deals with bondign and biting. It is a wonderful page and has helped people with all types of gliders to bond. Even older gliders that were never handled. She knows what shes talkign about..Ive seen her with her gliders.

Good luck!

http://www.angelfire.com/nb/sugarglider/bonding.aspl

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