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Subject: Re: Scared: Help!
Posted by Missie on October 10, 1997 at 14:29:16:

In Reply to: Scared: Help! posted by JL on October 01, 1997 at 21:00:12:

certainly won't let me pick him up and put him in my pocket. He will let me pet him in the cage though and will eat mealworms from my hand. I only have had him three days

First of all, I have been bit by gliders, Kinkajou's, and prairie dogs..The Glider is like a pin prick compaired to the kinkajou perferation. Gliders and all animals, including small children will bite when something is threatened. I do not buy into this....thump them on the nose and say NO!.. HAHA, I mean really, a thump on the nose to them says Ye, just what I thought, I cannot trust, and the no would come out...god knows what in glider language. But you can be certain, this would take along time. You need to take the glider with you all day long, and expose it to every kind of noise you can imagine, sing if you have to, tell it jokes, The point of focus here is to get the glider used to your voice, movement, and scent. I make pouches, but you can do the same thing...Instead of a sock, I use polar fleece material, and velcro, so the little buggers only get out when I say it is alright. Keep a grape in your fingers. When it is going to bite, shove that grape in it's face, do not let it get accustom to human food! They will bite the grape and soon learn that humans mean food. Not ARE food. Also, just for general handling, something little that makes a BIG difference, most people DO not think about..make sure you have no food smell on your fingers. Alot of times people get "bit" and the animal is just meaning to take the treat, not the whole finger. At night time, a small cage is best till you go to bed. If you can get ahold of one buy a small bird cage that will comfortably fit on your lap. Then at night when they are wanting to prowel and not wanting to stay in the sock like a good little glider it can be in the cage, your hand in the cage, doing nothing....NEVER EVER chase the animal, and do not allow chasing to become a game. Just put your hand in the cage and pretend you are a branch, you can talk to it, offer it treats, and even stroke, hold it's back legs for it, instead of letting it hook onto the cage with the back legs. When people say patience and time, they do not mean putting up with bad habits, what they mean really is understanding and love...when they say time, they do not mean like in years, the mean in literal hours you spend each day with your little one. TV time is great to spend with your animal...before you go to bed, put the animal in a larger cage, but when they are with you, the need to be with you.
Missie

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