In Reply to: check up with the pros?? posted by Mandy on December 15, 1999 at 20:51:18:

I am not a pro but hope that I can help.

: I have a pair of gliders that are doing very well i think, however i have just a few questions, and then a coment. My boy is about 8 mo old and my little girl is probably about 5 mo old. I'm wondering when i need to be USDA certified to allow breeding, selling, giving, and such..

The licensing process can take months to achieve. You received good advice to go ahead and contact your local USDA office and request a prelicensing packet now.

asically when do you think they will begin to breed?

Generally speaking the females reach sexual maturity at 8 to 12 months of age. The males at 12 to 15 months of age. However I have known of one glider that had joeys in pouch when she herself was only 3 months oop. Unfortunately the babies did not survive. I have one pair that are nearly two years oop and they still have not bred. So with each pair of gliders it can be different, but those are the general ages of sexual maturity.

Also I feel that we are pretty well bonded, then nibble a bit, pretty hard too, but i think this is done mostly out of affection.

This is a social behavior that can be discouraged by blowing in their face when they nip you like that. A social nip is much different from a bite. It is kinda like people shaking hands. It is a way that they can identify colony members in the wild.

what I'm wondering is this..would any of you describe their nightly playfulness as "skiddish" without sounding harsh?

No I wouldn't call it skiddish. Gliders love to jump and run and play and go some more when they are awake and active. That is why their sugar or sweet foods intake is so high in the wild because they need that high a level to metabolize to keep up with their activity level.

I don't know whether they are uncomfortable or whether they just move very quickly when they are playing.

Yes they do move about rather quickly, but I have also seen them move as slow as a sloth too.

The other thing is that although i know that they like me, i'm not feeling as loved as i think i can, they do not vouldnteerily cuddle with me during the day, however at night i am ONE HUGE JUNGLE GYM, which i think signifies that they like me. Please let me know if you think that their nightly behavior is one of trusting gliders or of scared gliders.

Oh it sounds as if they trust you alright. I think that they have bonded to you as well. As for cuddling with them during the day try putting them into a bonding pouch for sleep and then wear the pouch with them in it and I think that you will see a change in their behavior.

One other thing that i am wondering about is the famous "face-hugging" is there a way to prevent this from happening,

Face hugging can only be prevented if you see them about to make that jump or glide and can put your hand up to protect your face. The face seems to be my gliders favorite landing zone. A four foot landing can be quite painful at times and once I even got a scratch right on the corner of one eyelid. So as you can see it can even be dangerous to us humans. Just think if you got a gliders nail in the eye!

THe last thing, I can't seem to get them to play in their wodent wheel, what can i do to attract them to this fun platime item?

LOL why should they want to play in a wodent wheel when they can spend most of their play time with you? Most gliders get their exercise in the wodent wheels at night while their peoples are sleeping but since gliders fit in so well with your lifestyle, with you all being awake and up at the same time they do not have need of the wodent wheel. I think this is cute. I do not know what you could do to encourage them to use it other than to leave them more confined than you do and that is not a good idea when you are there with them so much at night. Just be proud that your gliders love you the way that they do. I know of others that would love to have gliders as loving and social as yours are.

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