For those who don't know, I have 2 gliders, Annie and Trigger. For about 3 or 4 days now, when in their cage, they become paralyzed and just stare at nothing. Nothing is new or different. They just sit and stare at something. It's that time of the week where I wash their pouches/switch their toys and such, but I'm afraid to do it and scare them more.

They get about 2 hours out of the cage (if not more) every night, eat gliderkids staple #3 or #4 (egg only one-can't remember the number), and balanced fruits/veggies. When they are in the tent, they are perfectly fine and their normal selfs. Currently, Annie is running in circles on the treadmill and Trigs is curled up in my shirt (he is SOO mellow and is basically a lap dog). I used to be concerned with him being so mellow a lot of the time, but the vet always gives the all clear when I see him! He just loves rubbies and to cuddle!

Any ideas? should I change toys, etc? Or let it be for a couple days. The only thing I did the day they started acting weird was clean the drop pan.

any help would be appreciated!! Thanks!!!

Ok, this is going to sound strange but I think their is some truth to this...I have heard it many times and experienced some of it with my gliders too.

The moon phases can cause gliders to act differently, from the behavior you are seeing, to actually not eating well for a few days, to even changing sleep and wake habits during this time.

We just had another full moon (The Super Moon)and there are going to be visible meteor shower tonight as well. Atmospheric pressure changes from storms can also be a factor.

I would not change anything for a few days, just to keep everything as same and normal for them as you can.

Many people make note of what they are seeing and when it occurs, so I do think they are onto something.

I'll believe. Mine are acting weird tonight, and they've been with me 1+ year. Also, it's been raining a lot, so I thought it was related to that; but now that you mention that, it may also be affecting them.

Gliders are really sensitive in ways we just aren't. It could be something weird like moon phases, and it was just a full moon. My gliders freeze and stare every single time I have the light on. One of them does not care, we raised him from tiny joey and he is used to it. The others hate light, so they freeze and just stay like that while the light is on. Two seconds after I turn the light off, they're bouncing around again. Even a night light can cause this.

My Leela acted like this (sort of) about 2 weeks ago. She seemed very skittish like something scared her, we hadn't changed a thing, she wouldn't go to the bottom of her cage at all and even stopped using her wheel. She stayed at the top of the cage doing loops and back flips. I cleaned her drop pan again ( I had just cleaned it the day before ) I thought maybe something got in there n scared her there was nothing but the usual. The next morning I went to get her out at the usual 8 am she is usually asleep by then but not that day she was wide awake not even in her pouch and face hugged me before I even realized she was awake. She was sooooo hyper I could hardly keep up with her, she was acting like it was night time and just wanted to run run run, the light didn't seem to even phase her when usually she will become very still from light.

Over the next 3 days she acted this way and often times she'd freeze and just stare at nothing. She didn't seem to be interested in eating much either and was awake a lot during the day time and sleeping more at night.

I typically spend atleast 12-14 hours a day with her she is on me from 8 am until about 8 or 9 pm when she wakes up with a few wake ups for snacks or drinks and belly rubs. When she wakes up I put her back in her house to amp up and play and eat then we usually do shower time for an hour or two before I go to bed. However, I realize I am no replacement for another glider Leela is a single glider at the moment so the first thought was she is lonely.

So I have been in contact with a local rescue group right about the same time that Leela started this weird behavior the rescue group took in a single male glider Simon, They don't often get single gliders so the Lady (Sam) contacted me to see if I was interested in him for a companion for leela. After some discussion my boyfriend agreed Simon needed to be with us lol so we are just waiting for him to be neutered and recovery. Simon is a 4 year old glider who has never seen another glider nor has ever even had a pouch or fleece to sleep in, poor lil man.

The Second thought was Leela needed a bigger house. She was in a starter cage which she quickly outgrew. We were going to need a bigger house especially if Simon and Leela are compatible. Leela's weird behavior lasted about 4 days within 2 days of her starting to return to normal we upgraded her house to a much larger one. It took her all of about 5 minutes to get used to it lol. It did seem to bring her back to normal pretty quickly,

The third thing we considered was weather and moon. I live in SW Fla and it is summer time which means monsoon season. Can Almost set a clock by the daily thunderstorms, leading up to Leela's weird behavior we hadn't had a storm in 3 days which isn't normal for this season lol. I am guessing the atmospheric pressure was changing drastically and could of caused her change in behavior.

I really have no idea what caused it or if it was a combination of all of the above. But she is back to being her normal self now :) which much relief to me lol and Were expecting to go meet Simon soon, Sam has been really great updating us on his progress with pics and videos.

Well, I am glad to hear she is doing better, and that you are getting her a buddy (poor guy, at least he'll be in better care now, and hopefully his forever home).

As you said, gliders are very sensitive, at least compare to us, who have lost a lot of our natural instinct

Thanks for the responses! I'm gonna ride it out and see what happens. This has happened a couple times before and I took him to the vet and everything was fine! Since he is eating normally and everything, I'm just going to let it be.

He is extra cuddly these last few days and I can't say I mind it! lol

Of course my husband, who never touches the cage, moved a few things around last night after I had gone to bed. He had good intentions and moved a feeding station up higher in the cage to see if that helped trigger. Which the plates are licked clean, so I guess it worked! Hah!