It has been a while but oh my God when I say thank you so much to all of you that has been emailing me and asking me questions such as about how to maintain and tame your sugar gliders, honestly have to say I feel so honored and touched from the deep of my heart by this sudden interest. I am truly sorry for replying very late to all of you for I was away with college clubs and studies but now I am back and hopefully, I am able to keep track with things.
Anyhow straight to the reason as to why I decided to suddenly post this topic out was because many of the emails that I have been receiving is regarding basic things such as How do I tame my suggies? How to make them stop crabbing or biting at me? How do I bond with them faster?
How do I stop my suggies from biting and crabbing at me?
Now, let me give you guys a vague idea about what sugar gliders really are. They are animals or marsupials, as some will call them. Marsupials are the same family with the kangaroo whereby they carry they young-lings in their pouches. However marsupials or not they are still considered as animals and all or mostly majority of the animals from the animal kingdom, they are bonded through scent. Yes, through your smell.
What does this naturally mean? This means that in order for your suggies to stop biting or crabbing at you is by making sure or ensuring them that you are not a danger to their lives, safe to say meaning that you are not their enemy but rather their foe/family. But how do you do this? It is rather simple really.
1. The step is called SACRIFICE.
Now don't be alarmed or scared when I say the word sacrificed. What I mean by sacrifice is that, you will need to sacrifice a piece or cloth (t-shirt/shorts/pajamas) or more than a piece. However it is not just a typical cloth this cloth needs to be used by you constantly such as a stinky pajama or used t-shirt after doing some sports activities. Now, why you ask that they need to be used and stinky at that? It is because when you use your pajamas when you sleep or a shirt that you use to play a ball game for example, your body scent is all over that piece of cloth. You can't smell it but your suggies can. So, once you have made a sacrificial cloth all you need to do is drape them around your suggies cage. If you have something that can really be sacrificed and has been used all the time and you are sure your scent is all over it, you can cut them into small pieces and place them inside your suggies sleeping pouch or bonding pouch. This way your suggies will be able to smell you all the time through the day and at one point they will initiate the fact that you are in fact one of their pack members. Concluding into less crabbing and biting.
P.S: The cloth needs to be used with no perfume or deodorant. Another side note is that suggies will not stop biting or crabbing totally because that is their safety mechanism so even after years of bonding if you suddenly disturb them sleeping when you should't be, they will crab and bite, not because they don't know you but they were shocked. Just like us humans what would you feel like if someone woke you up at 4 am in the morning, to ask whether or not you had done the laundry. You'd be cranky as well.
2. The next step is called BRAVERY.
By bravery I mean, is that you need to be strong and fearless because this next step is not an easy step and can be considered quite painful if your suggies are really afraid you.
What is it that you need to do that sounds frightening? You need to be brave and place your hands in your suggies bonding pouch when they are sleeping or plainly not doing anything. However do not just simple place your hands in the pouch especially if you have newbies, they will bite, concluding to making your hands to bleed and it will hurt. Instead, fist your hands into a ball and then place them into the bag ( make sure your thumb is placed inside the four fingers when you fist your hands). What is the difference? Placing a fist is much less painful when they bite because your fist will be harder than your hand (since usually you put your fingers first in when you use your hands - fingers are soft and much more sensitive so well go figure, it is much more painful), once the fist is inside the bag, don't suddenly take your fist out of the bag when they start to bite or crab. Crabbing and biting is a way for them to scare you and nothing more, if they manage to scare you and you take your fist out, to them that is a victory sign which ultimately ends with them NEVER stopping to bite or crab at you whenever you place your hand into the bag because they know for a fact you are afraid it. But you make dumb about it or act as if nothing is happening, they will stop biting and crabbing, when it is like this it means your suggies understand that you are not there to harm them. Once you succeed this step, just continue on with the fist inside the bag for half an hour to an hour. Usually they will sleep when the fist is in the bag, this is a good thing because they will smell you while they are fast asleep, making them more accustom to your scent as a family member.
3. The third step is to TAKE ONE STEP AT A TIME
Suggies are animals which means they are living creatures. Like all living creatures, we need time to accustom ourselves to a certain person especially if they face a horrible past. For those, who purchased from the night market, you need to understand, that some if them might be harder to bond with because depending on how the past owner treats them. If they are not loves or well cared for they will fear you more because you resemble the past owners that neglected them, that is one of the major reason as to why many of us, ask that you purchase home-breed suggies because they are loved and well taken care off. However if you can not afford the price but wish to get one anyway then it is fine, and I do not say that if it not possible for you to bond with them. Is it possible, but it will take a longer time and effort, so be patient and go where the tide takes you.
And finally here, I end my post for today. I hope this will help you with the bonding process, it may not be 100% workable but at least you can try it out. It worked for me so why not right? I pray that all of you to have a beautiful friendship with your suggies wherever you maybe. Have a nice day and take care.
As usual if you guys need any help please do contact, whatsapp, message, email or even comment down below for any information that you wish to acquire or any more tips you need.
