I would like to send a big THANK-YOU to Kazko for his great suggestions for introductions. I sprayed some mint breath freshener on all four gliders bumms. I had one male and two females and wanted to introduce another 18 month old female into the group.
I didnt clean out the cag but made sure they had quite a bit of minty smell over them. You could see they were all totaly confused by the smell although by the end of the night they had figured out who the newbie was. There was some fighting and scuffling and a bit of fur flying, however no real harm done. I think like all animals they have to figure out who is boss and one female, of course Jett is deffinatly the alpha female at this stage.
I went to bed with confidence that The new female, Matilda would settle in with the colony with a fairly easy transition. This morning they are all asleep and no dead gliders at the bottom of the aviary which is always a good sign. lol

I have to say this introduction was so much easier than introducing Alfalfa. Poor Alfalfa ended up with a broken tail I think due to being chased so much. I think I will find them all settled very quickly this time and will keep you all informed. It does seem to be very easy with a large aviary as the newbie has plenty of room to escape. There are plenty of branches and gum leaves for her to hide in.

Jett, thank you for sharing your positive experience with us. Kazko's theory about smell always made sense to me. Im so glad to hear it worked for you.

YAY!!! So glad it worked!

might have to try it, Tate and YaLe still dislike each other!

I just have this image in my head that wont go away and just hope none of your new neighbours saw you spraying mouth freshener on your glider butts! The thought of that image in my head had me giggling at work and I couldn't explain to anyone why lol :)

Trust Ko to have that image. Just been out to check on them and still some tussles but its all pretty tame. Resprayed there butts as this seems to make it hard to recognize each other, the most calm out of the four of them is the new introduced female. Perhaps the nature of the one being introduced is a big part of it.
So this is the second night together, Matilda did sleep on her own but she seems to love the other gliders and the huge freedom that the large aviary gives her. The males seems to like her and I'm sure she will win him over and really he is the only one that she needs to win. Plenty of pouches so the other females don't have to love her.
I reckon I will be able to report that by winter they will all be in together. Will keep you posted.

Congrats on your glider merge Jett! That is great. I too have a silly image of your minty spray on glider butts. Do you think it would keep humans from fighting too? Well maybe not but at least they would smell good!

Bad breath tends to keep humans apart which is prolly the best. However, being in close quarters at work, I have come across a number of folks who could certainly use a spritz of fresh mint on their bums.

Maybe I'll suggest it for the bathroom.

Ok third night and still fairly tame. Have had a few tussles but i imagine that will go on for a while till they figure out the pecking order. Havent bothered to spray tonight as i figure they need to sought themselves out sooner than later.

One interesting observation I have made with introducing two gliders now is that the new glider really wants to fit in. You can see that they really love the others company even if they are not loved straight away. This says something for the need to live in a colony.

Awe, I hope she finds her spot very soon and the tussles stop.

I noticed that when I introduced JP to the boys. He was very docile and submissive, and as long as the others did not attack, all was well, even with the deep sniffing and touching and such. He allowed it all. The smell mask allows the others to not be aggressive at first as they cannot sense his differing smell. And if they can all end up in a pouch together for a night, then their smells merge and they become more accepting of the scent that he brings to the colony.

I have no doubt that every animal has his own scent, even in a colony, even in a pouch, even after merging.

I thought I had an easy merger after finding all the nests but one with gliders. Of course it is the hardest nest to count heads so decided to watch them get up tonight. While I was waiting I could hear a wimper over my shoulder. I checked out the gum leaves but could see nothing so again I waited. Again I heard a wimper behind me. I looked in the ball basket hanging in the middle of the aviary to see a little head poking out from underneath the balls. Oh she looked so sad. Must have had trouble settling last night so decided to hide in the ball basket. Tonight she grabbed a drink then headed back under the balls. I couldnt stand to wacth her hiding so brought her inside for a cuddle then have placed her back in the smaller aviary on her own to give her a rest on her own. Cannot stand the thought she will hide all night from the others so will try again after a rest.

I still think masking there scent makes a big difference but Jett has a really bad disposition and does not accept others readily. I was tempted to put her back with the others but I would like her confident not so scared she hides with the balls. I might try puting one of the others in with her during the day. Perhaps placing the male with her might help scent her for the others. Will keep you all updated. I'm not giving up yet.
Just a small hiccup.

I think you should place them ALL into the small aviary with her. When you force them to have fewer hiding places, it forces them to socialize. When even the frightened ones are forced to socialize, that allows the original colony to not think of them as a threat. It works both ways and is a good idea.