I’ve had Nova for almost a month, and haven’t handled her much because she’s been very scared and crabs/lunges whenever I go near her cage. I’ve just been sitting by the cage and talking to her, feeding her treats. On Saturday, I was able to put her in the larger cage with Luna. So now she’s not by herself anymore.

I want to start bonding, but not sure how to move her from the sleeping pouch to the bonding pouch (because she’s kind of aggressive). I would always carry Luna around in her sleeping pouch cause she’s been docile since I got her, but I don’t trust that Nova won’t jump out of the pouch. Plus now that they sleep together, I’m worried that I won’t be able to take Luna out like I used to.

Any tips? I’m feeling really defeated, like Nova will never warm up to me.

I would start by saying give it 5 more months, then start worrying.

keep working with him/her, try to give treats with cage door open and your hand in cage, if Nova will take treats from your hand that is a good start.
With connor I started to pet him while he was busy eating.

I would grab a glider with a fleece glove and put them in bonding pouch. The fleece will help you from getting bit.

She’ll take treats from my hand once she’s woken up, and she’s very gentle about it! It’s almost as if she has two completely different personalities tho lol, during the day she’s as crabby as can be, but at night she’s a bit nicer. I’ve heard offering treats they can lick off your finger, like honey and yogurt are nice, but I used to do this and once I ran out she’d bite me really hard multiple times.

I’ll try to use some fleece and move her to a bonding pouch! Thank you so much!

When I got my first two babes they were not at all comfortable with people, having come from a very neglectful home. What I did--though there's also nothing wrong with taking it slow--was to rig bonding pouches up in the cage instead of regular sleeping ones. The pouches stayed unzipped, so apart from some netting and a zipper it was just like a sleeping pouch to them. But for bonding time I could take it out and zip it up without having to transfer them at all.

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Originally posted by Mareena25

She’ll take treats from my hand once she’s woken up, and she’s very gentle about it! It’s almost as if she has two completely different personalities tho lol, during the day she’s as crabby as can be, but at night she’s a bit nicer. I’ve heard offering treats they can lick off your finger, like honey and yogurt are nice, but I used to do this and once I ran out she’d bite me really hard multiple times.

I’ll try to use some fleece and move her to a bonding pouch! Thank you so much!

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during the day inside of pouch, many gliders will crab a lot to chase away all the
bad things outside the pouch they can't see.

during the night, they are awake, alert and much more interested in all those outside things.

A bonding bag inside a sleep pouch, if both pouches are made properly would be 4 layers of fleece, it gets mighty hot in two layers in the summer let alone 4 layers.

Air flow is important for gliders, if they are sleeping and over heat it doesn't take long to lose them from dehydration and most often don't wake up or alert the human there is a problem.

It would be safer to just remove the neck strap if you can from the bonding bag , leave the zipper open and put the whole bonding bag in the cage AS their sleep pouch not IN a sleep pouch. Even for just a week to get both their scents on it, which will help Nova understand it's a safe space for her.

However having said that, that doesn't resolve them not being easily transferred to another pouch and there will be times you will probably need to do so. So it's better if you figure out a way that works for you and the glider now and make it part of your routine or use the bonding bag as the sleep pouch for a few days then start to transfer them from the sleep pouch to the scented bonding bag...

I do it with new to me gliders by pushing the bottom of their sleep pouch up to the top then offer them the open bonding bag, close enough they can go right into the bonding bag from their sleep pouch. Most often even new gliders will dive into the bonding bag because the are more exposed in the sleep pouch. Since your other glider is used to you taking her in a bonding bag she will probably go into it first the other will follow her.

If you try it this way, set it as a routine, the same time every day, it won't take long for the new glider to figure out what your asking her to do in a non stressful way.

Putting a time frame on it is going to be the fastest way to be disappointed. Stop having expectations, especially time frames. It's going to take however long it takes, you deciding the glider should do X and Y within a certain amount of time is just unrealistic and unfair to the gliders, they don't operate like that, every glider has it's own time frame and it isn't set by the human.

Nova will warm up to you when she's ready, she's had a lot of changes in a months time and is still getting acclimated with all of it including her new cage mate and you.

Don't feel defeated, this is all a process for both the human and the glider, for as defeated as you feel, remember the glider is feeling stress and pressure and doesn't even know what you want from her for you to feel defeated that you haven't got.

Gliders sense emotions, and if your defeated that doesn't exactly instill much confidence for her to have IN YOU. Confidence is key, if your not confident, why should the glider be confident in you?

That’s a good idea! I’ll try putting bonding pouches in instead.

Thank you for the advice Leela. I’ll try your method when necessary and do my best to take things at her pace. I appreciate the insight.

I honestly thought I posted this before I looked at the name! I have the exact same problem and my gliders have the same names!

No way!!#128561; omg what are the odds!