I got Mia 4 days ago. She is a joey. 11 weeks old. Her breeder sold her at a VERY young age I'd assume to the girl I bought her from. Mia's cage is next to Mimzy's. Mimzy is my 3 year old glider that I've had for 2 years almost. Their cages are a foot apart for safety and so they can at least see each other.

Mia is obsessed with Mimzy. She saw her for the first time yesterday night, I think? When Mia sees her she hisses softly, chirps, squeaks, barks, ect. She also clings to her cage bars in view of Mimzy until Mimzy goes into her pouch.

The first night Mimzy hissed and barked at Mia, but now Mimzy ignores her. She won't talk back to Mia. She won't go to the side of the cage to see her. She will actually go back into her pouch, and now Mimzy won't come out to eat. On the second night of Mia being here Mimzy didn't eat a bit of her food. She didn't get out of her pouch at all.

Is Mimzy jealous? Is her loss of appetite due to Mia being here? If so, what do I do? Any stories on sugar glider introduction or similar stories are welcome and greatly appreciated!

PLEASE GUYS, MIMZY WILL NOT EAT. She hasn't touched her dinner tonight.

Put something inbetween the cage and just pouch swap for a few days... see if that helps... Im not sure why she isnt eating... wish i could help more...



This happened once to me but it was not that extreme as to not eating... I just took intros REALLY slow...

I don't disagree with Hails but, if she isn't eating I wouldn't start the pouch swap until she does. Separating the cages is a good thing though. Also, make sure to keep and eye on Mimzy for any other changes. It might be a strange coincidence that she is sick in some way and that it happened at the same time that you brought Mia in.

ha ha ha i did put pouch swap didnt i lol.... ooops... i meant scent squares lol.... wow im losing my mind today...

Update: Last night I moved Mia's cage but Mimzy didn't come back out to eat. She'll only eat if I put it in her pouch. She doesn't want to come out. She hissed at Mia all night long, though. They "talked" all night, but it is very concerning. Mimzy doesn't appear sick. She looks healthy. I did switch out their things on day 2 of having Mia. I switched their toys. I switched their water bottles after disinfecting them. I will do the squares of fleece and see if it helps. I went back to the way I had them on night one and have put them cage on cage now where Mimzy can only hear and smell Mia. Not see. Not reach. I put a fleece blanket over both of them and trap their scents in together. It can't be the noise that scares Mimzy as Mia doesn't create A LOT of noise.

Mimzy will go back into her pouch when Mia appears.

How are things going today? I posted on another thread of yours that I will be introducing a three year old to our new joey. This will be starting on Wednesday so I am curious to see how your situation plays out. Is Mimzi eating now? Has she ever been around another sugar glider? The one we will be getting has never been around one.

You may just be moving too quickly with the introductions.

Usually we recommend a 30 day quarantine when ever a new glider is brought into your home - that requires housing the two gliders in separate rooms. The goal is to prevent the new glider from introducing any illness or parasites to the current gliders in your home. This assumes the current gliders have had a well check up and fecal testing to make sure they are healthy.

That said, you have already jumped ahead and started swapping things between the two gliders IF either of them has parasites, you will need to medicate both.

The new glider should have a well check up and fecal exam ASAP to make sure she is healty.

Has Mimzy had a recent well check up? If you are concerned about her not eating that might be a priority.


Another reason for the 30 day quarantine is to give the new glider time to settle into your home and to begin to be comfortable with you. It is a time for you to get to know the glider's personality, food likes and dislikes and any other observations you can make to help you understand the glider's unique personality.

During this time, your current glider would also have had time to sense that there is another glider near by and to gradually become comfortable with the additional scent of a glider in your home. Gliders are territorial. The scent of a 'foreign' glider near by could be very stressful for your older glider. She may interpret the sudden appearance of another unfamiliar glider as a threat - possibly the reason she is not eating well and hiding in her pouch.

I would take two steps back in the introduction process. Put the cages in different locations and see if both gliders settle down and if Mimzy begins to eat well again. The gradually, after a week or so, move the cages closer before doing any more scent swapping. This will give both some time to accept the presence of another glider.

Take it slowly and you are more likely to have successful introductions. If you rush the intro process they my fight when you put them together.

I can not do the 30 day quarantine in two rooms because 1) I am living with my parents currently for this summer and they have dogs, 2) my parents hate the way the gliders make noise and sometimes smell if they throw food into places I can't find, and 3) my father brings people in constantly and if Mimzy were not shut up in my room then people would try to touch her. Our house is very open. We have 4 bedrooms, and one is filled with boxes because my younger sister just got married tonight and moved out months ago, the other is my youngest sister's, and the other two are mine or my parents. The den, the kitchen, the dining area, the laundry room, and whatever else are all open. No doors. The guest bathroom does have a door, but it is far too cold in there for a glider because it is shut with the air conditioning having no place to exit. The only option is my room. I could put one in my bathroom, but the lights would bother them because I go in and out constantly. I am a constant cleaner. I keep my bedroom dimly lit with one lamp for them, and I do not run the ceiling fan either.

I placed Mia far away from Mimzy, and Mimzy hasn't shown improvement. I am planning on cleaning both of their cages so much tomorrow to start their scents over somewhat. Mimzy will eat. I just have to put the food in her pouch. She'll munch and chirp. She does not look sickly, and Mia was checked before I got her. She came up healthy as can be. Also, where I live there is only ONE vet that specializes in exotics and they are 2 and a half hours away. I don't drive for personal reasons involving a car accident that has frankly scared me away from driving for years to come. My parents are dicks. My mom isn't, but my father is. He will not go anywhere to help my gliders which is something I constantly worry about.

Candy, I will slow down with their introductions. Thank you so much! You're such a huge help.

Georgiajen, no. Mimzy has never been around another glider aside from when she was a joey. She'll eat in her pouch, but will only come out for water and to use the bathroom. Can you tell me more about your glider?

I wish I had some advice. I am getting nervous about introducing my new one on Wednesday. The one I have now is a young joey who is still bonding to us. She crabs, but not as much as she did. If you try to pick her up she will bite, but when she plays she doesn't mind being pet and touched. She is my first sugar glider. The one we are getting is coming from a home where the owner is going to the military. She is three years old and I am told that she is friendly and can be held. If Mimzy is eating then I'm sure she will be okay. Maybe you could take a shirt of yours and put it in Mia's cage then put it in Mimzy's cage so maybe she will associate her scent with yours.

UPDATE:

Mimzy came out last night, this afternoon, and today after I cleaned her cage to check it out. She ate all of her food, but she has been crabby today. Her monthly is near so I figure that is probably what it is. Also she was shuffled around today when I had to carry her bonding pouch with me when I cleaned her cage. She seems fine.

If anyone could give me more suggestions for getting Mimzy warmed up to Mia then please list them. I do the t-shirt thing where I give them a shirt of mine and switch it back and forth.

Also, any tips for having a very crabby/biting joey? I never dealt with that with Mimzy, but Mia always seems angry.

Bribe with treats... BUT! Mia is new to you so you will have to do the whole bonding process with her so that she bonds with you as well...

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I do the t-shirt thing where I give them a shirt of mine and switch it back and forth.

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PLEASE do not use a shirt in your glider's cages. The seams on most clothing has overcast seams - LONG stitching the goes over the rough edges of the seam. This long stitching is a hazard for unsupervised gliders that may need your help getting untangled. They can get a nail or even a whole toe stuck in the long threads and cause a severe injury - and an expensive vet visit.

To get the two gliders used to each other's scent trade their SLEEPING POUCHES back and forth between them. This way each glider will be exposed to the other's scent and at the same time leave some of her own scent behind so that after 3 or 4 days of sleeping in the pouches the two gliders will begin to smell more alike.

This common scent will be familiar to both gliders when you do introduce them.

Have a NEW or freshly washed pouch available on the day you introduce the two. If they are interested in each other and do not fight when put together (day time when they are sleepy is best for intros) then give them the clean pouch to go into together to sleep for the remainder of the day.

Before introductions - Thoroughly clean the cage you want both gliders to share and then put the clean pouch with the two gliders in it into the clean cage. If they sleep together peacefully, they will probably be fine with each other when they wake up for the evening. Put their food in several locations in the cage until you know they are OK sharing a dish and so one glider cannot keep the other from eating.

The shirts are never in the cage. Ever. The shirts are on top where the seams are tucked away. I would not ever want to harm them with getting their little feet/hands/nails in seams or stuck.

Also, I can not trade out sleeping pouches due to Mia won't ever get out of hers for me to get it, and also Mia's pouch is SO tiny. She is itty bitty, and Mimzy would have zero room in there.

Mimzy has gone back to her not eating thing, but it isn't as bad. She will come out to eat and drink now, but she eats less. I think she will just eat when she gets super hungry, and she will have to get over Mia being here.

I trade out the shirts ON TOP of their cages. One night Mia will have a shirt of mine, and the next night Mimzy will have the shirt Mia had. Mia will get the shirt that Mimzy smelled, and I put fleece blankies in their pouches to switch with them to help them know each other's scent.

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Also, I can not trade out sleeping pouches due to Mia won't ever get out of hers for me to get it, and also Mia's pouch is SO tiny. She is itty bitty, and Mimzy would have zero room in there.

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Make or purchase more pouches - you will need them sooner or later, and you need a spare for laundry day in any event.

I actually use a 3 pouch rotation for each of my glider cages. I keep two pouches in the cages - my colonies all pile into one pouch every night but sooner or later they will all move to the other pouch. When they do I remove the dirty pouch and put the clean 3rd pouch in its place. After several nights the colony will choose to move again - at which time I swap out the now clean pouch for the one they had been sleeping in.

Once in a while the colony will split up between the two pouches but most nights the whole gang chooses to crowd into a single pouch and sleep in a pile.

Take the pouches out of the cage in the evening when they come out of them to eat.

I still discourage leaving clothing on the cage - gliders will often pull it into the cage and make their own 'pouch' out of the fabric they pull through the bars.

I have ordered a new pouch set with a hammock and a fleece toy thing. I am waiting for it to come in. I am super excited for when Mimzy and Mia meet.


Is it normal that Mimzy has switched up her eating/awake schedule since she stopped eating? She started eating again, and now she eats at like 6 pm instead of 10 pm. Will she get back on track for her sleeping/awake schedule?

What is the lighting like in the area of her cage?

If the room is dark or the cage is kept covered during the day it will throw off her normal nocturnal behavior.

Gliders need light in the area of their cage during normal day light hours to que their normal nocturnal schedule. If the room does not have windows or if you cannot leave drapes or blinds open during the day, you can use a full spectrum light near the cage during day light hours.

If the room has too much light in the evening hours it will delay her coming out of the sleeping pouch until later in the evening. If you get up early in the mornings and turn lights on, it might cause them to go to sleep early as well.

My gliders will stay in their pouches until the room is dark for the night. They are in a bright sun room with windows on 3 sides of the room. Normally they are awake and active about an hour after it is fully dark outside - so this time of year they are sleeping a little later than they do in the winter.

The are in their pouches asleep by sun up each morning.