Pouch Protective Gliders
What is "Pouch Protective"?
This is a term that was created to describe those sugar gliders that, when inside a pouch or other closed in space, exhibited behavioral issues such as extreme crabbing, biting, and lunging. This behavior would occur whenever the owner would approach the pouch. Once out of the pouch, or closed in area, the glider's personality would revert to their normal sweet self.
However, this term is widely overused and extremely misunderstood. When owning sugar gliders, one must learn to listen to their body language and learn what they are saying. You also have to understand their behaviors. Knowing why they are doing something particular will help you in understanding how you should react to that behavior. Not all behaviors need intervention or modification. Sugar gliders that exhibit extreme crabbing, biting, and lunging are ones that require more attention to understand why they are reacting in such a way and do require intervention. Rather than actual behavior modification, you will need to determine why the sugar glider is exhibiting this behavior (fear) so you can modify its surroundings and quite possibly your reactions more-so than modifying the sugar glider's behavior.
In nature, gliders are born to play a particular role in their colony. Studies have been done on sugar gliders in nature to observe and explain these behaviors. We must take these natural behaviors and apply their meanings in captivity. Until we fully understand their behaviors, we will not know when to properly intervene.
One of their natural behaviors is to protect the nest. This is not necessarily always the mother or the father. This sugar glider will stay in or very close to the nest, or in our case the pouch, to protect the habitat. That is "Pouch Protective", right? Yes, it is. But not in the sense that we utilize the term. These particular sugar gliders are simply doing the job that comes naturally to them. If they are crabbing (not biting or lunging) in the pouch, but stop once they see you, or are out of the pouch, this is not a behavior that needs modified. This is not the sugar glider exhibiting fear, this is a sugar glider giving a warning to an intruder. This is perfectly natural to that sugar glider. He/she is just doing what they were born to do.
New sugar gliders to you may also exhibit these "pouch protective" behaviors out of fear. It is fear of a new environment and new humans. This type of behavior typically subsides once that sugar glider starts to trust its new owner and environment. This again, is not something that requires behavior modification, this is simply taking time to allow your new sugar glider to adjust.
Pay very close attention to your crabby sugar glider. Determine the reason they are being vocal. Please remember that a crabbing sugar glider is not a mean or nasty sugar glider. Crabbing is simply one of the primary forms of communication...listen to them. Try to figure out what they are saying and if they need your help. If not, let them go and don't try to change their personality.
Sugar gliders will bark, crab, purr, sing, and make popping noises. By far, the crabbing can be the most unpleasant to our ears. Remember that it is still part of their vocabulary. If an owner cannot handle the sound of crabbing, it may be time to re-evaluate whether a sugar glider is the right pet for you. If so, then you will learn understand their language and accept their crabbing as a normal part of their life.
This is a term that was created to describe those sugar gliders that, when inside a pouch or other closed in space, exhibited behavioral issues such as extreme crabbing, biting, and lunging. This behavior would occur whenever the owner would approach the pouch. Once out of the pouch, or closed in area, the glider's personality would revert to their normal sweet self.
However, this term is widely overused and extremely misunderstood. When owning sugar gliders, one must learn to listen to their body language and learn what they are saying. You also have to understand their behaviors. Knowing why they are doing something particular will help you in understanding how you should react to that behavior. Not all behaviors need intervention or modification. Sugar gliders that exhibit extreme crabbing, biting, and lunging are ones that require more attention to understand why they are reacting in such a way and do require intervention. Rather than actual behavior modification, you will need to determine why the sugar glider is exhibiting this behavior (fear) so you can modify its surroundings and quite possibly your reactions more-so than modifying the sugar glider's behavior.
In nature, gliders are born to play a particular role in their colony. Studies have been done on sugar gliders in nature to observe and explain these behaviors. We must take these natural behaviors and apply their meanings in captivity. Until we fully understand their behaviors, we will not know when to properly intervene.
One of their natural behaviors is to protect the nest. This is not necessarily always the mother or the father. This sugar glider will stay in or very close to the nest, or in our case the pouch, to protect the habitat. That is "Pouch Protective", right? Yes, it is. But not in the sense that we utilize the term. These particular sugar gliders are simply doing the job that comes naturally to them. If they are crabbing (not biting or lunging) in the pouch, but stop once they see you, or are out of the pouch, this is not a behavior that needs modified. This is not the sugar glider exhibiting fear, this is a sugar glider giving a warning to an intruder. This is perfectly natural to that sugar glider. He/she is just doing what they were born to do.
New sugar gliders to you may also exhibit these "pouch protective" behaviors out of fear. It is fear of a new environment and new humans. This type of behavior typically subsides once that sugar glider starts to trust its new owner and environment. This again, is not something that requires behavior modification, this is simply taking time to allow your new sugar glider to adjust.
Pay very close attention to your crabby sugar glider. Determine the reason they are being vocal. Please remember that a crabbing sugar glider is not a mean or nasty sugar glider. Crabbing is simply one of the primary forms of communication...listen to them. Try to figure out what they are saying and if they need your help. If not, let them go and don't try to change their personality.
Sugar gliders will bark, crab, purr, sing, and make popping noises. By far, the crabbing can be the most unpleasant to our ears. Remember that it is still part of their vocabulary. If an owner cannot handle the sound of crabbing, it may be time to re-evaluate whether a sugar glider is the right pet for you. If so, then you will learn understand their language and accept their crabbing as a normal part of their life.
