bonding advice

what advice would you give to a new glider owner about bonding with their new gliders???

I would say hold them on you as much as you possibly can during the day. When I bring a new baby home I carry them on me from morning 'til night.

I want my babies to know I am their safe place. I don't do tent time or allow them to have free reign of any area in my home in the beginning. IMO if you do this before they are establishing a bond it's too easy for them to find "other" places they feel safe, which usually means hiding from the new, big, scary thing that is always looking at them and making strange babbling noises and baring big shiny teeth at them. Then this big scary monster is peering at them and reaching their big, hideous claws out to them as they hide in a spot they thought they were safe in. For all they know we are reaching into their hiding place (under the bed, behind the linen cabinet in the bathroom ect.) to pluck them out and eat them,....much like they do the insects that hide from them in the hollows of trees.

Anyway, mine are allowed on me or in their cages in the beginning. When I finally got around to doing tent time with Jasper & Zoey.... the floor of the tent crackled as Zoe ran across it....it scared the daylights out of her and she came running to me for protection. I don't like that she was frightened, but she did exactly what I wanted her to do if she ever was.... come find mommy.

Again, I just think this can be beneficial as they get older and begin to explore. The odds of them hiding from you are slimmer if they feel safest WITH you. This is all my way of prepping them for outings as well.

My advice would be to not rush it, go on glider time (which is different with every glider)

Oh and scent transfer, scent transfer, scent transfer! I know that I can't carry my gliders around as much as I would like ("allday") so I wear 3"x3" or 4'x4" pieces of fleece (in my bra) for about three days and then cut about a 1"-2" square piece off every morning for them so that they can sleep "with me". The 3x3/4x4 pieces stay in a ziplock bag in my glider stash so that it doesn't loose my scent. At first they crabbed but now they look forward to it (I know because they take it from me lol). At first Cora did this for me to the girls so that they would get used to my scent, but I continue it with them and do it for the boys as well

Someone also came up with the idea to put a [clean] cage wrap (or whatever you wrap your cage in) in their dirty laundry (I'm going to put mine under my bottom sheet) for a few days or a week and then wrap their cage with it. If you put it in the dirty laundry please make sure it is "clean" dirty laundry (no oil, gas, etc).

Just give them all of your attention, and treats! All of your treats!

Bribery is the way to go with them. . .
Another thing is that when you reach for them it is scary, it's like having something foreign the size of your house (or bigger) bending down and grabbing you up, you don't know if this gigantic creature is going to eat you right then, but the only thing you are sure of is that you are going to be lunch and the last thing on your mind is that it's going to want to make friends. It's the same for these little guys, don't go grabbing at them with your hand, if you have to put a piece of fleece between it and your hand since they use scent association.
Take things slow, if you're getting bit that's glider-inese for "I'm not ready for this yet, go slower."

good info here i thought i had my babies on me too much now i think its not enough

I've made a bonding pouch out of an old blanket of mine. I don't have my babies yet, but I've still been carrying that thing all the time around the house and things so it can smell more like me! I plan to let the breeder take it next time I visit so it can go right in the cage with the babies and they can learn my scent before I'm even part of their "pack"! (they're too young right now to take home.. only 5 or so week OOP.)

So I didn't end up getting joeys from my breeder thighs time around... I ended up not having a place to keep them! My apartment doesn't allow pets... But I have a question for anyone who'd like to answer: is bonding any different if you were to get an adult glider as opposed to a baby? Thanks!!

Same as you maintain a significant relationship, lol, jk, well maybe close to the same.

Love
Patience
Consistency
Bribery