I've had Maggie for a week now. She is showing significant
improvement with the concerns I intially had when I brought her
home. She has stopped making the barking noises, as if she
has accepted the fact she won't find her mom or siblings again.
She enthusiastically eats grapes, drinks apple juice, eats these
little pellets the nice lady we bought her from gave us.
I have just a few questions for you more experienced glider
owners out there.. does any of this sound familiar to you?
Maggie will sometimes sit perfectly still in her cage with her eyes
wide open. She will not respond to calls, but she will move again when
she is petted or a grape is thrust in front of her nose. She does this
often, and long enough for me to wonder if there is something wrong with her.
Maggie will crab loudly, seemingly in her sleep, when she's in my pocket.
I have been reading with her in my breast pocket and she will scare
the bejesus out of me with that loud noise. When I open up the pocket,
however, she will still be cuddled in a ball with her eyes shut.
Is she having a nightmare? Is she cold? I do nothing to disturb her.
Maggie will not eat anything I've given her except grapes, water, apple
juice and the little biscuits she came with. I've tried yogurt
(with and without honey), apples, pear, cantaloupe, watermelon, baby
food (chicken w/apples), raisins, tomato, and a few other things.
She's only one week weaned now. Is she finicky? Is she just struggling
to adapt to a new diet?
She sleeps all the time. She seems to get excited just when we're trying
to put her in the cage for the night. We are awake nighs, so we generally
put her to bed around 8 a.m. Is it because she's young? Is she not active
enough?
Lastly, she will not come when called and often will not climb onto my hand
when I offer it to her so she can sniff it. I was told to handle her constantly,
since she is so young. I keep her with me at least 8 hours per day, in my pocket,
in my hand, in my lap, etc.. sometimes she will climb on me. Up my sleeve, down
my neck and into my shirt, especially in my hair. I set her on a napkin so she
doesn't make a mess on me when I take her out of her cage, but I'm still worried
to let her run free on me. BUT, will she bond to me if I pick her up when she
doesn't want to come on her own? Do I leave her alone, by herself, until she
decides to come to me, or do I pick her up every afternoon?
Oh yes.. one last question.. I've tried to place her high up in her cage, on her
ladder or the branches in her cage. She is good at going straight up and will
climb upside down on the bars of her cage, but then she can't get down! She will
climb in circles until she gets tired of hanging, then she hangs by one foot and
wiggles her front paws frantically. This scares me, so I help her down. Should
I let her take care of herself to learn these things? I want her to learn her cage
but maybe she isn't coordinated enough. Is she just a little dim?
I wonder.
Any replies, however small, would be appreciated.
Thanks.