Can anyone help tell me how bonded I am to one of my gliders? I have a feeling she is pouch (more like cage) aggressive. She will lick food off of my hand/fingers; however she crabs sometimes when I touch her pouch. I have not held her yet. I take her out and play with her in the bathroom and she had never crabbed out me. She usually jumps back when I out my hand really close to her. When she is in her pouch or cage she has sometimes lunged at me and crabs a lot. Any suggestions?
Thanks

how old is she?, and how long have you had her?

Is she by herself or does she have a cage mate?

Are you using a bonding bag during the day?

Does she have a glider safe wheel and toys in her cage?

Pouch protectiveness is usually fear based. Open environment pouches can help considerably with pouch/cage protectiveness. These types of pouches helps them SEE what is happening, coming at them, where noises are coming from etc...

Using a bonding bag for a couple hours during the day can help with bonding. If she is pouch protective in the bonding pouch you can try leaving the top open, even rolling it down half way so she can see better. This helped my male a whole bunch!!

You can also sleep with a piece of fleece for a few nights and put the fleece in her sleeping pouch so she can get used to your scent when not in the bonding bag.

When you are interacting with her try to be calm and confident. They can sense when you are scared, unsure, and intimidated by them, which is what they are shooting for when they lunge at you.

Lunging is one of their few tactics they use to intimidate predators, which at the moment is what she thinks you are. Bonding is simply establishing trust. Showing her she can trust you, and you learning to trust her.

If she is a single glider, she would benefit greatly from having a cage mate. Cage mates can help with bonding, and building her confidence up. They learn quite a bit from each other, not to mention no matter how much time you can devote to them humans can not replace another of their own kind.

I got her when she was 8-9 weeks in late August. She has a cage mate, and I do not use my bonding pouch(she hates it so much). But I do spend time with both of them every night for about 2 hours (not including some time during the day). She will go under my legs, partially on my hand but never really on me. Whenever she is in their cage she becomes overly protective. I have hammocks and some open pouches, but she always prefers this one pouch that is closed. I have a big family and I do not want her to feel threatened by everyone that she sees. I did not get her from a breeder. I think most of her fear comes from her past owner and how they treated her

awww the poor baby, I know how hard it can be. My male was very pouch protective when he came to us. He was very anti social and preferred to hide in anything he could.

The bonding bag was an issue with him as well. Every time I opened or closed it or even slightly moved he would crab. So I started leaving the top open, and rolling down about half way. It only took a couple days really before he stopped crabbing so much. He also lunged at me when ever I thought about putting my hand in the bonding bag.

This is why I asked if she had a cage mate. I used my female ( who was already bonded to me ) to teach Simon my hands were safe. With both of them in the bonding pouch I would offer Leela a treat, so Simon could see I was not hurting her and she got goodies. Then I would offer him a treat, but I would leave a little more space so he had to reach out to me to get the treat. It showed him I was respecting his space, naturally he would snatch it away as quick as he could for a few days. But gradually he started to get understand I meant him no harm. He now takes treats very gently, and I can offer them to him right up to his nose with no fuss. He has even started to hold onto my finger while he eats the treat that's a huge step for him lol.

The lunging scared the crap out of me because most of the time I wasn't expecting it lol. The objective for lunging is to keep you at a safe distance. With the pouch rolled down I was able to pet him while he was sleeping. My hand was already passed the "safe zone" and in his space. So when he would lift his head he didn't bother to lunge because my hand was already there. This boosted my confidence which in turn boosted his confidence. I had to do this consistently for a while but now I can put him in the bonding pouch, close it, open it, move around all I want and He does not fuss or crab one bit. I can reach my hand right in there pick him up with no problems, or just leave my hand in the pouch to pet him.

He also saw the Leela trusted me by watching her leave the pouch to climb into my sweatshirt. Eventually he just started following her lead. Most often he prefers to stay in the pouch, but every now n then he decides he wants to be on me. I pretty much leave it up to him and don't force him if he doesn't want to.

It will take some time but with persistence and consistency she can come around.
Simon is still not a very social lil man, but he has made some considerable progress. He most likely won't ever be the "snugly" type but it's understandable knowing a bit of his background. At 4 years old he is still learning how to "be a glider" following the lead of a 9 month old female. It has truly been amazing to see how much he has learned from her.

What a great story! I was going to try wearing jeans and a long sleeve shirt so she would feel more comfortable being on my. As for the pouch aggressiveness, I already offer her treats #128557;. I guess it will take time!

yes and please don't abandon the bonding pouch yet. Try getting on a schedule, every day at the same time get them in the bonding pouch and try rolling it down some. They do very well when you get them on a regular routine like this. Try talking to her when she crabs or fusses too sometimes that helps a lot

I have to order new bonding pouches. The mesh scares her#128513; she will go on the cotton part outside of it but will never touch the mesh part

If you roll the pouch down the mesh part would be on the outside and wouldn't bother her.