I have had my sugar glider, Sydney, for about a week now. She seems to really be bonding with me and will come to me rather than anybody else in my family . However, whenever I'm handling her in her cage, she will curiously come over and start sniffing me and then she'll start nipping me. She doesn't seem aggressive, and she's not biting hard at all. She'll also sometimes nip me outside of the cage, too. She's used to being handled with a glove, because she was semi-tame when we got her. We mostly handle her with a glove, but we are working on using bare hands. She's getting better, except for the nipping! What should I do to discourage her from this annoying behavior?
SpiderGlider,
What a lovely name for such a sweet Sugar Glider girl. Please remember, Sugar Gliders communicate through their mouths. Sydney might actually be trying to "groom" you, is she "tugging" or biting. I strongly discourage the use of gloves as it masks your scent and prevents the Glider from becoming familiar with you. You could try offering her yummy fruit juices or yogurt, put a drop on your finger and let her lick it off. She'll learn that fingers are friends, just give her treats in moderation. She'll love ya even more too! =P
Thanks.
Lauren
well it's not even "biting" because it's more of a nip. She acts like she doesn't mean it and is just curious, but is you say "psst" to stop her, she is distracted for a second and then she continues nipping and get progressivley harder.
distraction with a feather teaser may be in order!!!!!! she may go back to it so you have to get smarter than them with things that distract them like blowing bubbles,other interactive toys!
Not a problem, and I'm sure Cora was glad she could help! I don't know if your Glider will try to bite the bubbles but I'm not sure that the soap would be good for them. She probably won't though. I don't know if they could get their mouths around a bubble.