I am bringing a female (7 months oop) into our colony soon. We will pick her up in 10 days. Soooo excited!

YES! <i>We WILL be observing QUARANTINE with VET VISITS!</i> (Get that out of the way to eliminate those replies).

I have read the different methods of introduction and feel comfortable with those processes, however, I was wondering if hierarchy matters? We currently have two males (they will be neutered and fully healed during the quarantine time before we will consider introducing her). Watson is definitely our dominant male. He is the only one we've seen scent marking (he also displays all other signs of dominance). So my question is, do I introduce her to him first? Will this make it easier on our other male, Jack, to accept her if she smells like Watson? OR will Watson be more prone to fighting with Jack if he smells her on him? Is Watson likely going to be more violent or more accepting of her as the dominant male?

A little about their personalities: Watson is ACTIVE! Jumping, gliding, running, and all around a lot more friendly. Watson also has a tendency to bite when excited. Jack is a snuggler, not as prone to antics, and the one I think introducing her to first would be easiest. He's more easy going.

Any thoughts on the matter would be much appreciated, particularly since she won't be the last we'll try to introduce into this family! Thank you!

*bump* I've been very curious on everybody's take on the same thing since I am trying to make an eventual colony of 4.

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by b.m.k</i>
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YES! <i>We WILL be observing QUARANTINE with VET VISITS!</i> (Get that out of the way to eliminate those replies).
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Yeah, I just wanted to be sure you knew to observe quarantine and get your vet checks done before intro.

Bwahaaahaaaahaaa!!!

The biggest tell-tale sign is when quarantine period is over and you start pouch-swapping. You'll actually see them react to her scent on her items. I don't think it's a bad idea at all to let them get introduced one on one first.

Okay, something productive now...

I have used "intro gliders" when building my colony. I took the most gentle submissive glider from the receiving colony and introduced to the new glider in his/her cage. Once they were all happy and getting their smells all over each other, I would put the intro glider back in the receiving colony...then try one on one intros with the other gliders. This would go on for a while...I would intro them one by one.

I do not know if it's more effective to get the tough/dominant one out of the way first...but I believe you should go one by one at a min. I guess it makes sense in a way to take the dominant glider - let him mark her and get the dominant male gliders scent on her first...then do a solo intro to the second glider..then intro all. Of course it's best after all of those hormones from the neuter are gone...which it sounds like you are already doing.

With all that said - I am NO expert and can't tell you for sure the best way to do this. I just know what has and hasn't worked for me. On the same pattern of thought, I have had intros go seamless and take 2 minutes or less...and I have a pair right now that I can't intro into my colony to save my life.

So...GodSpeed!

In my limited experience, a female will assume the alpha role once she is in the colony. The dominant male may become "second" - but both males could become submissive to her.

When introducing males to my 1 female, 2 neutered male colony, I introduced the new neutered males to the female. If she accepted them - they went right into the colony pouch and snuggled in.

Like Kim, I've had intros where they saw one another, crawled into a pouch and went to sleep. 2 minutes or less. I've also had completely failed intros which resulted in a very large dominance wound to one glider. :/

There's no predicting it - you just have to try.

My suggestion would be to intro her to the dominant male first. If he accepts her, the other one will also.

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by valkyriemome</i>
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My suggestion would be to intro her to the dominant male first. If he accepts her, the other one will also.
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That's what I think I'll do... it just seems to make the most sense with the "in the wild" articles I've read. Thank you!

I'll think I'll try the dominant first, then if that goes badly, try the submissive male like DoubleBogey suggested since he seems like he'd be the most accepting personality-wise.

Guess we'll just wait and see!

I just want to wish you luck on your intros once quarantine is over! I think that pouch swapping, as mentioned, will be a tremendous asset to your introductions. I don't know what all you have read about intros, but I read about using a bath tub as in intro location. I like that idea because it is neutral, less traction so will be harder for them to launch into a full on fight, and give you a better chance to get control if trouble is brewing.

I am fortunate. Shorty and Clara were bonded and came to me together. I know have a family colony of five, so no intros were necessary. In the future, though, I may need this information as I would love a cremino colony.

The bathtub was a nightmare for us! But, that's just me. I do have "another" intro method that worked wonders for me....but I won't post it here!!! Nothing cruel...actually quite comical but stupid effective!!!

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by DoubleBogey</i>
<br />The bathtub was a nightmare for us! But, that's just me. I do have "another" intro method that worked wonders for me....but I won't post it here!!! Nothing cruel...actually quite comical but stupid effective!!!
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Would you PM me if you don't want to post? No judgement here...

I plan on trying pouch swapping for a week or so after they've been given clean bills of health, then was going to try the sleepy pouch method, then the bathtub, but I'd love to hear all options, however comical.

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by DoubleBogey</i>
<br />The bathtub was a nightmare for us! But, that's just me. I do have "another" intro method that worked wonders for me....but I won't post it here!!! Nothing cruel...actually quite comical but stupid effective!!!
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Why won't you post it?? It may help others in the future!!!

I've had strange ideas too on intros. For a split second I was considering a bra babies intro while they slept... but they I envisioned the wounds they could inflict me.... Yikes!