my sugar glider dont stay with me

Question
Hi,
I have a female sugar glider about 43 days, and when I bought it was 8 weeks OOP, during this period I tried to do the process of bonding,but the problem I have is, she doesn't like to stay with me,she knows me well and she doesn't bite me but when i go to tent with her some times she jump to me to go to the other side of the tent and when I want give her treat she doesn't accept and go away. I think she is very independent and prefers to stay alone. some times I put her in my shirt but when I look at her she try to hide and crabbing!!! when I hold her she try to run a way and doesn't stay with me. what should I do to make her dependent to me?
I have another question about her diet... what can I give her instead of meal-worm to provide her protein?
thank you very much for your help

Answer
Sugar gliders are very social animals, they should be kept in pairs or groups, otherwise you run the high risk of them becoming depressed. If you bonded with her properly you should be like another glider/ mother figure to her and its not seeming like this is the case. Her being kept alone and not given proper attention or play stimulation can cause her to be very distant as well.

You will have to continue the bonding process until she accepts you, all of my pet gliders are very bonded to both me and my fiance, we will open their cage doors and they will run about and do as they please but they very often will come find us and climb onto our shoulders to make sure we didnt leave them.

Most of my rescue gliders how ever do not show this behavior, most of them were never properly bonded and at the age I typically get them turned over to me, there is no rebonding with them. They prefer to be away from humans than around them.

I would also highly suggest getting her a FEMALE glider to be her partner, as well as a large cage and buy them new toys weekly and switch them out monthly. A cage for 2 gliders should be at LEAST 3 foot long, by 3 foot wide, by 4 foot tall.

If a glider does not have a large enough cage, has little to no toys and they are not given new toys often, it will cause them to be bored and depressed.

As far as their diet, alot of their foods provide them with proteins. They should only get mealworms a couple times a week and just one or 2 per feeding. They should have a staple diet such as monkey pellets kept in the cage at all times. Other staple foods are bugs and berries and glider-ade. These 3 things should be fed DAILY to them to keep your glider healthy, without them you run the risk of serious health issues as they grow. Fresh fruits and veggies should also be given to them everyday.

Treats such as peanuts and bugs should be given sparingly, as the high fats in them can cause health issues in your glider. I feed crickets, roaches and mealies to my gliders, but only a couple times a week.

Sugar gliders are basically like a child, they are very expensive and very needy animals and they are one of the few animals that you can not cut corners with at all. They have very strict living, social and dietary needs. If you cut corners with any of these there is a very high chance of you having a very unhappy pet or killing your glider.