What to expect when you take your new glider home

Sugar gliders are creatures of habit, they like routine and schedules.

Sugar gliders are scent orientated, they like stuff to smell like them and to smell the same.  (Never clean the whole cage and cage items in one day.  EXAMPLE: Clean the front, and back of the cage and floor.  A few days later clean the 2 sides.  Clean half of their toys one day and the other a few days later)

When a joey goes home, it has been taken away from everything that they know.  They normally have just left their parents, got neutered (if male), introduced to other gliders and left the breeder who they knew and trusted.....a highly stressful situations.

Then they go to a home where everything smells and sound different...again, highly stressful.

The new home has no routine that they are used to...lighting, noises, feeding times and everything is turned upside down.

Now...sugar gliders are not like any pet I have ever had or known before in how they adapt to new homes.

Some do great, others do not.

People say all the time that it's just like any new pet it will need time to adjust.

Sugar gliders are NOT like any other new pet.  Most new pets will let you touch them, pet them, cuddle them, hold them.  Sugar gliders are not like that.

In most cases of sugar gliders going home, they want to bite your face off, lunging, crabbing, biting....they are terrified.

In those cases, you need to back up and star over...give them time and space.  Don't EXPECT them to bond at YOUR pace, you HAVE TO bond at theirs.  If you try to force them to love you at your pace, the bonding process will more than likely take longer.

If you already have a sugar glider/gliders, NEVER expect them to act like the ones you already have.  Just like not comparing your 2nd or 3rd child to your first.  They are all different & have different personalities.

For those of you that never had to experience a terrified sugar glider, you are actually in the small percentile.  The majority of new gliders going to a new home wants to eat you.  HAHAHA

Most of us will introduce your gliders prior to leaving as well as neuter the males.

Most joeys have been handled from their OOP date till the time you pick them up.  I do say to put your new babies in their cage and allow them to settle in for a few days.  I do recommend sitting next to their cage with a few treats and softly speak to them.  Yes, I do baby talk to my gliders.