What type of toys do you have in his cage? Can you possibly post a picture of his cage with the toys in it? Not sure that is an issue, but it could help.

I have ropes everywhere. Its their favorite thing. I have one of the Suz no-sew hammocks in a corner, and a no-sew ring too. They really never touch their ball pit, but they have one. And there is a wheel and a tunnel.

oh and some of the ropes arent tied off so that they can untie it. and they have a foraging toy too

sounds like they may need some interactive toys. That may help if there is an issue with boredom.

toys with bracelets they can remove, tug of war type of items, things like that. Look for toys that give them something "to do". Some of my favorites are from Sarah's Suggie Shoppe.



This one is the ultimate favorite:

the problem is we have tried giving them these kind of toys before and they did not even touch them. Maybe right when we put them in, however afterwards they ignored them in favor of the rope braids and wheel

It was worth a shot mentioning it.

I'm sorry, I don't know what else you could try... Hopefully it's just a phase

I know, and it was a good idea. I just wish my gliders acted... well like gliders! They dont forage really, like if the toy is VERY VERY easy they will but as soon as i put fleece "leaves" around it they dont care. They dont play with pompoms or bottlecaps or those milk rings (cut of course) Straws are the only thing they want to play with. Even those i had to take out the ones that i spiral cut cause they would try and eat them =/ As for burrowing, i made them different kinds of pouches, they dont care. The tunnel? Barely played in. they just kinda sit on top of it. Honestly they just run in the wheel, and climb on ropes. Aero is seen almost nightly running in circles on the top of the cage. I tried so hard to give them toys and fun things but they just want to jump from rope to rope. That and chase eachother around the cage. -sighs- I love these boys so much though and i know it will be worth it when they are bonded to me. Smoke is already so far along. he will stick to us when in an open room, barely running off and if he does, he climbs right back on us. Aero is a little slower but he will stay on my shoulder at the vet's office and hide in my hair. So i wont say that i am completely failing at this, but I am just at a loss =/

Mine is behaving very similar, I guess they have their own personalities. Just love them the way they are and be patient!
Btw, Zucky loves it when I wear fleece in the tent. I'm a giant jungle gym!

Do you change the cage set up from time to time?

That is typically a sign of a bored or stressed glider. And with him being the biter, something isn't right with him to cause this stress. Trying to figure it out is difficult and we'll do what we can to help you and him along.

How big is your cage? As for the toys, this may sound odd, but have you tried to interact with them and their toys? Do something to get them interested in them?



Ok, so you found something they like to play with or are at least paying attention to! Go with that! They will chew on the straws, that's OK! Give them some toys with curly straws to play with.

You can take a wiffel ball and stick straws through them. You can put some treats in some of the straws. They will have fun getting all of the straws out and looking for treats

off the walk question ( and possible lead ) is your shampoo /body wash flowery or fruity smelling ? He may think your a snack from smell as you said he does not nip you bf.. ( just an random question/ possible area to look. ) I know if we use some hand sanitizers they think we got food and will bite down on fingers and such.

I put stips of fleece in a holee-rubber ball from some pet store and my boys pull it all apart during the night. They love it.

Or I have heard of people putting fleece strips through braids so they can pull them out of the braid.

I have baby rings hanging up in my girls cage and in the morning some are placed in their hammocks and others are in the pouch with the girls!

lol we both use the same body wash. and it is fruit scented. i thought about that, but they dont bite him so i dont think that would be it =/

As for interacting with them and their toys, yeah i do sometimes have them like chase the toys around the cage or stuff like that. I just dont as much when they are in the tent cause i read that tent time you should let them do their own thing so as not to startle them.

As for cage size, it is the minimum size. thats why we bought a chateau glidearium recently. we are hoping the bigger cage might improve quality of life.


Just curious... even though the two of them dont ball up when they fight and they dont leave injuries, could smoke's constant dominating aero be a source of stress?

My glider Gumbo also "nibbles" it drives my husband crazy! I think it is just his way of trying to interact with us. We don't do tent time, we open his cage door at around 9pm, and he gets play time with whomever is in the family room watching TV. When he first comes out, he gets meal worms. Then he plays with us. He will go from one end of the couch, jump behind it, sneak out, and play hide and seek with us. Then he goes to the window, climbs the binds, and pulls the cord up, and drops it. He is silly that way. I'm thinking of trying the bitter apple on our hands to prevent the biting. I have noticed that he loves to climb down my shirt and snuggle. Lately he snuggles on my back, and will bite my back! My husband noticed a few bite marks! Crazy! I now won't let him go to my back, I'll just sit down and push my back against the chair so he won't want to go there. I hope your gliders stop biting!

Grigfam5

We had an AMAZING tent time!!! We added a BUNCH of toys in the tent like feathers, straws, and other fun things. I put treats in with the straws and fleece and feathers and stuff and they loved it. I used mealies, yogies, and yogurt (though now i think the yogurt was a bad idea. i posted in health about it) I twirled the feather around for them to chase and they seemed to love it. In addition they really really loved playing in the bowl of treats and toys. They were happy and bouncy but not that bitey. Smoke was biting a wound on my bf's neck that is a little yucky but i read that gliders chew off infected areas of their people so i think he was trying to save the infected area on him XD when Aero nibbled, i tssed at him and he almost every time backed right up. It was the best night ever ^_^ lets hope its not a fluke (knock on wood)

That's an awesome update! Keep it up and you will get great rewards!!!

So now my boys are finally getting somewhere that i would like them to be. we put more interactive things in both their cage and tent. seems that they only start biting now after being in the tent a long time (yet they refuse to go in the pouch to go back to the cage. silly boys)

thanks for all the tips and help! <3

Glad to hear things are going better with your and your boys!

it sounds like you really had a challenging time of things but its totally amazing and great that they are doing better

My glider used to bite me a lot. Almost everytime I took him out to play. We would wear layers of clothing indoors when we played with him I would even wear a big coat to protect myself from the bites. He injuried his finger a few months ago and I took him to the vet. The vet ordered pain medicine for him.I gave it to him 3 times a day. I had to hold him in a towel, securing his head between my fingers so he would swallow the medicne. I read in a Glider book where it said somtimes gliders bite to show dominance. It's weird but Im thinking I showed dominance when I had to hold him down in the towel to give him his medicine 3 times a day or my glider realized how much I loved him by taking away his pain when he broke his finger. He doesn't bite anymore and his temperment changed. He is more affectionate. He lets me rub him more.