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 Help/Advice Needed on Introductions

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T O P I C    R E V I E W
Drea87 Posted - Dec 03 2017 : 02:32:48 PM
So I am somewhat new to owning sugar gliders. I've had two pairs of females since July. My goal is to get all 4 of my girls into one cage. I've done one on one intros with my one pair of my girls and it was successful. The introducing of the two pairs, I've come into a bit of a road bump. I've done pouch swapping and cage swapping for several weeks tried doing the intros in a neutral area - clean dry bath tub. Unfortunately, the two intros I've attempted did not go well with one of my gliders attacking another and the one that was attacked didn't attack back. I had the cages in the same room next to each other and now it seems like I have an aggressor in each cage. Now I'm as far as having the cages in separate rooms for a cool down period. I'm really determined to get them introduced successfully. Has anyone come across this problem? Or has had any luck with accomplishing a colony of female gliders? Any feedback or advice is greatly appreciated. I'm feeling almost defeated and like a bad glider momma.
6   L A T E S T    R E P L I E S    (Newest First)
BYK_Chainsaw Posted - Dec 12 2017 : 09:48:44 PM
I would swap the sleeping pouch about every 2 days. keep the scents fresh but maybe not to strong, or put in clean fresh pouch then swap 2 days.
TJones09 Posted - Dec 12 2017 : 08:17:39 PM
They're beautiful gliders Drea, keep at it, slow and easy. I have nothing else to add at this point.

It does sound like your journey could be helpful.
Drea87 Posted - Dec 12 2017 : 10:30:17 AM
Just a little update: I’ve given the cool down period about 3 weeks and am now at day one of pouch swapping again. I put the swapped out pouches in the cages as well as a fresh pouch, last night. When I woke up this morning to give them their morning/ bedtime snack, Melody and Lily had chose to sleep in Harley and Quinn’s pouch and Harley and Quinn had chose to sleep in Melody and Lily’s pouch. Hoping that this is a good sign. Wondering how many days I should go before swapping out the pouches again? And wondering how long I should do the swapping before making another attempt at intros. I think I may continue to keep the cages in separate rooms to avoid the abundance of territorial marking that occurs when both cages are in the same room next to each other.

Feedback, advice, and constructive criticism is more than welcome. This is my way of sorta blogging my experience and hopefully my end result and the steps I log along the way can help others in the glider community.



Drea87 Posted - Dec 11 2017 : 09:58:43 AM
Thank you for the feedback! :) I still have them in separate rooms and going to do the pouch swapping process again tonight to attempt getting them use to each other’s scent. I’m not sure how long I should keep their pouches in each other’s cages before swapping them back out again. I don’t think I will be doing the cage swapping again because that lead to a lot of territorial marking and it turned into a smelly situation. When I stacked their bonding pouches I didn’t seem to have an issue with them being hostile towards each other and that was screen to screen. The bath tub and having the cages side by side though there tends to be some tension and a lot of territorial marking. The messed up part is, they are all females.

When I established my first pair I got it in two attempts however it was a different situation because the one was a rescue and had been alone for a period of time and was pretty much waiting for a partner. I did an impromptu intro in a tub at the breeders home and they had a spat, which lead me to going the bonding pouch method with the screens facing each other for a while then pouch swapping and after a couple weeks the 2nd intro was successful. I’m just gathering that once they are no longer lonely the need for making new friends isn’t needed.

I’ve heard stories from people that have said that it took them up to a year to get their gliders all in one cage. I am also procratinating out of fear that something will go wrong and I’ll have an injured or dead glider. :(
BYK_Chainsaw Posted - Dec 08 2017 : 12:32:39 PM
during our bathtub intros there is ALWAYS some bickering and spats. that is why my WIFE does the intros she can handle that stuff alot better than me.
you dont want them to ball up and not make noise cause they are biting.
But there is alot of sniffing going on and some domination as the gliders test out
who is in charge.
but usually after some time my wife is happy they are not going to fight and she puts a clean sleeping pouch in tub and they all go inside.
They then get in a clean cage, all together.

So just want you to make sure they are just having normal introduction spats and working things out.

We got a group of 3, a pair and a single, the previous owner couldn't keep them together as they would chase each other. My wife did the intros and all went great. during day all slept together great, at night we notice the single was slightly food and snack protective and would chase the other female for a short distance if she tried to steal food, but no fighting. after a few weeks they worked things out and all lived happily.
TJones09 Posted - Dec 08 2017 : 10:45:11 AM
I haven't had that particular experience, but from having read a lot on the subject and having a successful intro of a male intro with pair of females, I may be able to give some suggestions.

I mentioned that I've read a lot, and there are a few different approaches out there. I can't say that any of them are wrong, they've been successful, it's just there is not just one right way. But, there are definite wrong ways, so be careful so to protect your gliders.

1. You did good by separating their cages for "cool-down". You don't want tensions high, intros won't work.
2. Continue scent swapping, there's just no disagreement on this, it makes complete sense.
3. Mingle their scents often, even rub mingled-scented blankies on each of them.
4. I'm not a personal fan of cage swapping, but some do it and have had success.
5. I like the stacking of bonding pouches, it's the method I used, daytime. In your case, each pair in a bonding pouch, wear them layered, back to back at first. If they are quiet, start carrying them screen to screen. They can get up close and personal enough, but not hurt each other.
6. In your case, I would suggest also trying the two aggressive ones from each pair in a bonding pouch, stacked, following the same procedure. After working with pairs. Keeping their cages in separTe rooms all the while, at least until you see/hear progress.

Some people will keep a problem maker alone in one cage and the others, that get along in another cage, this sometimes works, if you have only one aggressive glider during introductions.