Expect younger sugar gliders to bark more often as they are learning to interact with the world around them.
What if your sugar glider is not a joey anymore? Why won’t my sugar glider stop barking?
This article is written for you to find out what you can do to help your barky little sugar glider.
Why Won’t My Sugar Glider Stop Barking?
Your sugar glider might be trying to tell you something. As with dogs, sugar gliders bark to communicate. There are multiple reasons why this barking is occurring.
Here are a few examples:
- Hunger
- Fear
- Excitement
- Boredom
- Annoyance
- Calling out to another
- Discomfort
- Pain
- Attention
- Affection
With your attention, affection, quality feedings, maintenance and cleaning schedule followed by soothing communication along with treat training and praises, your sugar glider will become more comfortable in this enclosure and you may find a reduction in barking.
How Do I Stop My Sugar Glider From Barking?
Sometimes our sugar glider used to bark so often that it got to be annoying. She would do so at night while we were trying to sleep because she is nocturnal and obviously we aren’t. We were going to become nocturnal like her or we were going to solve this problem.
- We decided to change her feeding schedule and bring her some more higher quality foods. Feeding her later on at night helped to stop the barking out of hunger.
- We also change the location of her cage. It used to be near a window and she could hear or observe movements outside from cars or animals. Moving this change away from the window help to calm her down.
- You may have been told to get your sugar glider a companion. At the moment, I cannot handle another sugar glider, but I can become a better a friend and companion to my little pocket pet.
- Reducing stress from various noises, high traffic areas or the interference and distraction of unexpected guests can make a sugar gliders feel much more relaxed.
- Sometimes we cannot control unexpected moments that can cause fear, but we can move the enclosure to a different room temporarily to see if this helps.
Is My Sugar Glider Barking or Screaming?
I couldn’t tell whether or not my sugar glider was making the sounds I was hearing or if it was a squeaky toy in her enclosure.
Some people have said that their sugar gliders sound like alarm clocks or radiation detectors. You could call it screaming, squealing or squeaking, but they fit into the umbrella of sounds that constitute barking as a form of communication.
These noises are happening because your sugar glider is trying to ask for attention, out of annoyance, excitement, fear, stress or loneliness. Finally, a little bit of food can go a long way.
Try not to give your sugar glider a treat every time they bark. An occasional distraction with a chew toy or a little bit of honey mixed with water can make all the difference when the barking feels incessant and nonstop.
Are Sugar Gliders Noisy?
Sugar gliders are nocturnal and they probably make more noise at night than they do during the day. What happens in captivity is entirely up to the environment that the sugar glider is living in.
They also have unique characteristics and cannot be generalized all at once. You are more likely to hear the barking and noise during the night time however.
This means that you have to be very strategic about where you place their enclosure. I am personally a light sleeper and my sugar glider’s enclosure is located furthest away from my bedroom.
Are you getting licked at the same time? Why do sugar gliders lick?
Why Sugar Gliders Make Strange Noises
Sugar gliders are social and attention-seeking animals. They can make all kinds of noises when they are trying to communicate. Some of them include:
- Barking
- Squealing
- Squeaking
- Hissing
- Crabbing
- Chirping
- Purring
- Singing
Because you are taking care of a highly vocal creature, know that you are not at fault for the noises you are hearing.
They may sound strange to you, but they are quite normal for a sugar glider. If you hear a lot of hissing and crabbing noises, it usually means that they are uncomfortable or angry. Barking could equate to attention-seeking or the desire to eat.
How Do I Calm My Sugar Glider?
Your sugar glider can feel stressed inside an enclosure without much company.
- When you arrive, bring your sugar glider a treat. A drop of honey on the tip of your finger can excite your marsupial companion and make them happy.
- Other techniques may result in experienced veterinarians coming up with a solution such as neutering or medication.
- Adopting another sugar glider may make all the difference in the world. Unfortunately we can’t afford the space to do so at the moment. I would have to get a larger cage and this is not something that we can do at the moment.
- We moved the cage to a different location with less traffic and noises. It is located away from the window. During this time we clean everything inside and rearrange the levels.
- I added more chew toys and climbing toys. Finally, I adapted her diet to suit her interests such as more pieces of fruit, healthy insects from reputable sources and fibrous roughage.
Will My Sugar Glider Eventually Stop Barking?
A sugar glider that has newly arrived to your home, needs more time to adjust to this environment and to you as their primary caregiver. They will eventually warm up to you and form a bond with you if you have enough time to spend with them.
If you create a comfortable and enriched enclosure with plenty of things to do such as climbing and chew toys along with a varied diet with enough fiber and fruits, they will eventually calm down and enjoy their surroundings.
It is hard to generalize every single sugar glider and their barking nature. Some do more than others because they are more communicative.
This is the same for dogs and also for some of my human friends that are talkers while others are more listeners. Which one are you?
Thank you for visiting PocketPetCentral.com for the best information to help you enjoy the life of your pocket pet companion in a fun, safe & healthy way.
