This is my first post on here so I figure I'll introduce my trio and give a little background on them. I rescued Taz(male) 2 years ago who had just lost his companion and was on his way to ASPCA. He is extremely friendly so I decided to find him some friends and I was finally able to find him new companions 3 months ago, Sweet Pea(mom) and Katrina(daughter). After a few weeks of introduction they moved into a cage together and get along great. Over the last month or so I have noticed 2 lumps around Katrina's pouch area which continue to get bigger so I would guess that she has 2 joeys IP for approx 5 weeks. Over the last few weeks Katrina yells at the other gliders when they get near her while eating and will roll on her back and submit. I know stress is a huge factor in the upbringing of joeys so I was wondering if I should set the second cage up and put her in it? The cage is 3Hx4Wx2D and has multiple pouches for them to sleep in however they always sleep together. Any advice would be appreciated!

She will rely on help from Taz, and probably Katrina also when the joeys come out of pouch.

You should not separate her.

Just make sure she has plenty to eat - including lots of protein.

This would also be a good time to have Taz neutered so he has time to heal before the joeys are OOP. Hopefully, you only have one set of joeys on the way. He may have mated with both girls if Katrina is mature.

Read up on breeding gliders and rejected joeys, Suz's site is great for info about rejected joeys, dont have the link, sorry!
Can you get the male neutered? He will mate with the other one and any female joeys. Or is he already neutered, just not in time?
Good luck! Keep reading so you can be prepared.

He is not neutered. I've heard that it is kind of risky with the gliders being so small but if that is not the case then I will deffinately look into that

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Originally posted by Hurrakayne

He is not neutered. I've heard that it is kind of risky with the gliders being so small but if that is not the case then I will deffinately look into that

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In my opinion, breeding is much more risky than a neuter by a good vet. If you don't neuter, then you also risk inbreeding as moms will mate with sons and daughters will mate with dad...

If you post your location, I'm sure some will chime in with recommended vets in the area.

In the meantime, please get a rejection kit ready - prepare for the worst, hope for the best :)

Agree with everyone else, just wanted to add that getting a female spayed is risky, getting a male neutered, not any more risky then usual ;)

I'll deffinately look into that then. I do have a 2nd cage of the same size that connects to the one they are in so I could seperate the males and females once they reach sexual maturity but neutering does sound like the best route because they get along great and I wouldnt want to seperate them. I am from Providence, RI

Just a note, trio's don't often work out. Personally I think overcrowding in the cage could be an issue. It's fantastic that you have another cage that connects to the one they are currently in, is the whole space gona be big enough for 5 gliders? It sounds like you are thinking about the neutering, will you be keeping the joeys? It would be lovely to have a little colony if you had the space :)

Right now they have plenty of room and multiple sacks to sleep in but they always sleep together. I will be keeping the joeys. The cage is huge, its 8 feet wide when I put the 2 sides together so I don't think that space will be an issue

Here's a little bit of an update. Turns out both females had a pair of joeys who came out of pouch this week. Katrina's joeys seem to be about a week older than Sweet Pea's. I held Katrina's joeys for a few minutes in view of the cage then I held Sweet Pea with her joeys for a few minutes as well. Everything is going great right now.

Eeek! So cute. That didn't take long at all - congrats!

Adorable!

~Erica~

Aw, how old are they in this picture?

Very cute! I really hope you got they boy fixed cause if not your colony is going to be huge very fast! I had a pair that just had a single male joey come oop 12 days ago! Daddy will be fixed on the 9th which means I will probally have a couple more that will be comming in a few months. Good luck with your new babies!

I plan on getting the males fixed as I will be keeping all of them so I can have a big happy glider family. The moms have been babysitting for each other, Katrina will go next to Sweet Pea and have her joeys climb onto SP's back then Sp will go into the pouch and babysit. As far as age goes, I'm not too sure how to judge it. Here are a few pics if someone can help me out. On 7/20 I saw a tail sticking out of Katrina's pouch, on 7/20 I saw her Joeys OOP for the first time, and on 7/28 one of the Joeys was already learning to climb the ropes. Sweet Pea's joeys are less than a week younger I would estimate.

Well if they were oop on 720 then they are 11 days oops. Their eyes will either be open or opening very soon. Yours are 1 day behind my little boy. They are concidered oop the day they can let go of the niple.

is that russ on the inside of the cage?

Welcome & congrats!

Unfortunately yes it is but the other half of the cage is being sandblasted and recoated as we speak then I will transfer them over to that and take care of the one they are in now

I think the moms babysitting is cute.

Spartacus met the joeys today!

Oh wow. <.< >.>

I do not even have words for how stupid that is.

The look on that cat's face is the same look I get on my face when I'm on a diet and offered brownies. I'm holding back, but I'd rather not.

Eeeep, you may wanna watch out there. Here on the forum we have had so many "accidents" involving the friendly so called dis-interested house cat. I guess it is one of those things people figure will never happen but actually does.

Anywhoo, I was totally amazed both your females were prego, I bet you were too. lol Thanks for sharing the story of them baby sitting for each other that was just WAY tooo cute :P

Now your colony is at 7 members! Dang, it took you a month to surpass my 4. With those statistics I am pretty happy I have all females and no males hah.