I've had Maya for about 5 or 6 months now and I just got Nala about a week ago. They have not been introduced yet as Nala is in a 30 day quarantine still. For the last couple of weeks I have been so busy with work and school (I'm a nursing student in college) that I haven't been able to spend much time with my girls.

By the time they come out at night to play, I am ready to hit the bed at 9:30pm!!

They play and eat like they should but I'm worried I might be affecting them in a negative way due to lack of time to play with them at night.

Any suggestions or comments? What can I do differently? And would carrying them around in their pouch while they sleep during the day be a good alternative when I don't have time at night to take them out?

Also, I've always read that you should take your gliders out to play for an hour a night, 3 nights a week. Is this right? Please help!

Sorry for all the questions. I appreciate any tips or suggestions.

Where do you work? I know some work places would allow you to bring them to work. Some people bring them to work without their bosses knowing, but that could be risky. I know someone who works at a pet store who takes hers to work. Someone else I know works admissions and gift shop at a zoo. She's taken hers a few times.

Sometimes life gets in the way. If you're unable to give your gliders the attention they need for a few days, they will forgive you. I work retail so my guys are pretty much restricted to their cage the entire month of December. I am assuming you're super busy now because school is winding down and you'll soon have more time for them, correct? Bonding pouches are good ways to bond, but I believe that gliders need uninterrupted sleep and can't get that if they're being constantly toted around. That's just my opinion, though. The amount of time you play with your gliders, and the amount of attention you give them varies from person to person. Some people says you have to spend three hours a night with them. Some, as you've read, say a few hours every couple of nights. Personally, I don't handle my gliders very much. I let them do what they want. I will open their cage door for an hour or two a night and if they want to play with me, that's fine. If not, I don't worry about it.

I work at the student store on my university's campus. I have brought Maya in a few times when we were open on Saturday's (because there are rarely customers on campus on Saturdays) but now that it's Summer, we are closed on the weekends. Plus, I work 8am-12pm and then have summer class 12pm-3pm and I couldn't take them to class.

<font color="green">Try this. Put them down your shirt early in the evening. Let them sleep their, that they will get use to it and you. Guess what, your speending time with them just not playing with them, your loving on them.. </font id="green">

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by dpatters28</i>
<br />Sometimes life gets in the way. If you're unable to give your gliders the attention they need for a few days, they will forgive you. I work retail so my guys are pretty much restricted to their cage the entire month of December. I am assuming you're super busy now because school is winding down and you'll soon have more time for them, correct? Bonding pouches are good ways to bond, but I believe that gliders need uninterrupted sleep and can't get that if they're being constantly toted around. That's just my opinion, though. The amount of time you play with your gliders, and the amount of attention you give them varies from person to person. Some people says you have to spend three hours a night with them. Some, as you've read, say a few hours every couple of nights. Personally, I don't handle my gliders very much. I let them do what they want. I will open their cage door for an hour or two a night and if they want to play with me, that's fine. If not, I don't worry about it.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

That makes me feel better. I thought everyone handled their gliders for hours every night. I just don't have that kind of time EVERY night. But I love my babies and I just don't want them to get "un-used" (for lack of better words) to me or forget I'm their mommy!

When I first got Maya, I spent ALL my time with her and I loved that feeling I got when she looked at me and made sweet purring sounds or when someone else would try to hold her and she'd crab at them and run back to me :)
I just don't want to lose that special bond with my girls.

Abby, I agree with what dpatters says, if there are periods of time where you can spend the time you feel sufficient with them, they'll survive, now if you feel like this will be the case for really extended period at once or maybe if becomes a permanent situation, you have more reason for concern. I feel that for those short periods of time that you can't get them out to play for an hour/hours, try to do anything for as much time allows when you can, even if you get them out for 10-15 min, or your hand feeding them in the cage, or just talk to them as much as possible. This interaction is better than none, then when your schedule is back to normal, you can resume your regular hour/hours, however much you would like or usually spend until the next crunch time.

Must add though, that they'll be much better off once you're over the quarantine and intro period and they have each other to play with and keep company. I don't know where you are in that process, but when you have the time, I would focus on that as best you can when intros are able to being.

Good luck with your gliders, and good luck with your nursing program, I know people that've done it, and it's grueling I know.

I'm an undergraduate student, and I take my Luna to class ALL the time. I've never actually told a professor about it (although I go to a small liberal arts school, and my professors are very easy-going). She's been happy to sleep in my bra since I first got her. It's warm, and it smells like me, and she can hear me breathe and hear my heartbeat. Luna is also a very quiet glider, and is extremely easy-going. I could see how a more excitable, noisy, curious glider might not be as easy to carry to class. I've had a problem once or twice where Luna didn't want to be asleep in my shirt. But I always carry her bonding pouch on me, and if she's bad, I can just slip her in there with a slice of apple or something to keep her happy and zipper it up. When I feel her squirming around and needing to wake up to go potty, I just run to the bathroom and let her go.

Some nights I have little homework and don't have to work and can give her lots of attention. But on the nights when I have less attention to give her, I feel better knowing she's been snuggled up against me all day.

I don't take Luna to work. I wait tables. She's a very good girl, but I don't have as much freedom there to run to the bathroom anytime with her. And I'm sure customers would not be happy to see an animal in the shirt of their waitress.

Even on the nights when I don't have a lot of time, I at least wake her up and give her snuggles/treats and hang out with her for fifteen-twenty minutes so she knows I'm there and taking care of her. She often chills in my lap under my laptop (it's warm and dark under there) while I do homework and peeks her little head out at me from time to time to get snuggles.

Luna is a real sweetheart, you're so lucky!

Abby Maya sounds like a sweetheart as well, I'm sure you let her know you still love her.

Luna sounds like Rue! He's so sweet and hardly ever gets out or makes a sound. He sleeps all day long and I can take him anywhere.

Avril, on the other hand, wants to see what's going on. Maybe it's just because she's only about 10 weeks oop and she's curious. lol

Thanks, TJones09.

sierranevadaK, how old is Rue? Luna gets most curious when I am walking around. She sleeps during class, but on the walk to school, she likes to poke her nose out of my shirt and sniff the air, and sometimes she'll poke her head out for a minute (and then she'll decide that it's much darker, and therefore better, back inside my shirt.