There are a few different ways you may want to handle a sugar glider, most commonly should be in an attempt to bond or play with your marsupial pet. But there may also be times when you will need to grab your unwilling glider out of a bit of mischief, or perhaps you will have some reason to medicate the furry, little creature. Bonding with your pet will help tremendously when trying to properly handle them.
When you purchase your glider, one of the first things you will need to accomplish is a trusting, bond between the two of you. This will not come automatically, and you will need to spend time and patience at the task. Some of these marsupial pets will bond with their new owners quicker than others, but which ever the case, you should immediately take measures to successfully bond with your glider.
It is often suggested that the owner of a glider take a piece of cloth, and sleep with it next to their body for a couple of days. This will allow the human's scent to transfer to the cloth, at which time the cloth should be placed inside the gliders nesting hole within their cage. This helps the glider become more acquainted with the scent of his human. I have also seen the purchase of a tent suggested. The tent will then be used as a place set up, where just the owner and their glider can spend some quality time together each day. The owner does not need to necessarily be physically active with the glider in the tent, but just that the owners presence is provided, giving the glider time to become comfortable with the new human.
These methods can usually prove successful enough, but there are a number of things you can do to create the beginning foundations of a bond with you and your pet. Upon purchasing a glider you can talk to your pet shop expert about other avenues to take, and there are also many websites online that can help you as well.
Sugar gliders will bite. This can be a common occurrence during the first days with your new friend as you try to handle it. Although you should take some caution, you should try not to pull away when your glider bites at you, as this will teach it that if they bite, it will then be left alone. This will not help in the attempt to create a bond with your pet, so simply try to take the bite, and continue with what you were doing with the sugar glider.
Once you have bonded with your glider, they will have become more trusting of you, and will be less likely to fight your advances at handling them. So, now that you have found the way into your glider's trusting, little, heart, let's move on to more in depth ways of handling your glider pet.
Handling gliders is not a complicated thing. It's simple, really. You just need a few initial guidelines. Having that, along with your loving care of the pet, you'll be just fine.
So, first off, don't hold sugar gliders tightly. This is not a good thing to do, and they will bite you if it occurs. Always be gentle, and attentive with them. When going to grab them, you should approach from the front, and put your hand on their front feet. At times your glider may be occupied with other things it wishes to do, and therefore scatter about. Let them do this, unless it is necessary for what ever reason, that you get a hold of them. In this case, it will also be a good idea to use a cloth, where you will harmlessly trap them inside, and do what you need to do. The purpose of the cloth is to protect your bond with the animal, leaving them to be unthreatened by your direct contact when you go to grab them.
If you have to handle a glider to, perhaps trim their nails, or feed them a syringe of medicine etc. do use, for the most part, the cloth trick, or even a pouch. At all times, you want to keep your bond with the animal intact, so if you are approaching them to do something they are not very fond of doing, then you want to be using something that will work as a barrier between your direct contact and the animal.
Some places will sell leashes for pet gliders, but wrapping a leash around a glider is not the way to handle them. These miniature creatures have a very delicate membrane around the skin underneath their arms, and if you try to put a leash around that area, or even around their neck, it can cut into their tissue, and you definitely don't want that to happen.
The use of leashes for gliders also preys on the assumption that you will be using it to take your glider outdoors. Going outdoors with your glider is fine, but it is much safer for the pet if you place them in a pouch attached to your person. The threat of possible predators to your glider outside should be enough to discourage the use of a leash. You never know how fast a predator can attack, or where they may lurk.
So, there you have the basics of handling your gliders. Just remember to handle them with the utmost care, and continue in your bond with them, making sure to keep it well intact.