Hello !

I got a female glider lent to me for mating, and I am getting worried about something.

I have a very big custom made cage. Big enough that there is 1 table and 2 chair inside so you can enter it and have some tea while surrounded by gliders.

Now the thing is, I built it with adult glider's size in mind. It would be very easy for a joey (or an half grown glider) to slip through.

And outside of the cage, there is a cat.

So my question is: will the joey stay around the mother enough, or is there any risk of them wandering around outside the cage ?

Thanks

The joey will fall out of the cage once it starts exploring.

Can I just query what you meant when you said you've had a female glider lent to you for mating?

You should try to enclose the cage as best as possible. The joey will get out when exploring. This may start happening once it is around 4 weeks OOP (Out Of Pouch), so you should have some time to take care of making the cage safer for a joey.

I am also concern as for the "lend" part of it. Without the proper introductions, these gliders could start fighting, and be badly wounded. Also, it is kind of cruel to separate 2 gliders that have bonded; it can create a lot of stress for the both of them.

Another thing is that it is not recommended to breed gliders if you don't have lineages for both parents. It should not be too problematic if you are planning to keep the joeys for yourself, as long as you make sure to neuter all males, including the father. But if it is for sale, it would be irresponsible breeding, since you cannot be sure if the gliders are related and so won't know if the joey will be healthy or if it will have any underlying diseases.

Other than the obvious issues, and I agree with all of the above...I'd love to see of picture of this enclosure. I'm hashing over plans for something large on a sun porch that I have...but, have been considering every possibility of ensuring safety and making is escape proof for these houdinis.

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I got a female glider lent to me for mating, and I am getting worried about something.

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This is just wrong on so many levels - but after reviewing your previous posts I doubt you will listen to our concerns or follow our recommendations.

I will offer my suggestions - take them or leave them.

I assume that the two gliders got along when you put them in the cage together since you did not express any concern about them fighting. A little more information about your situation would be helpful.

Is this female now paired with your 6+ year old male glider?

Are you planning on keeping the two together at least until the joeys (if any) are weaned and ready to be separated from their parents (8 - 10 weeks OOP)?

Since the female is on 'loan' are you then planning to separate her AND the JOEYS from you male? Or are you keeping one or both joeys (if any) with your male?

First is is cruel to give your male a cage mate for a 3-5 months to raise joeys then to take away his cagemates to leave him alone again. You may be setting your self up for a very depressed glider.

If you KEEP one or both joeys and return the female - Do you then plan to NEUTER your male? Keeping him with a intact male joey could result in fighting when the joey begins to mature - but the joey may be too small to defend himself from an adult male glider. If you keep a female joey and do not neuter your male - he WILL try to mate with her at a young age the first time she is in heat. Again, the size difference could result in injury to your female. Females should also not be allowed to breed before they are a year old because before that age they are still growing themselves and may not build strong bones if their calcium and other nutrients are pulled to produce milk for growing joeys rather than for her own growth.

As for the CAT - you have already allowed your glider and cat to interact even though members of this forum advised against it. The cat even though well meaning could kill a joey with even just a playful pat with a paw.

You either need to get a glider safe cage for the time that you will have your gliders as a breeding pair and until the joeys are fully grown, or you need to lock the cat in an area away from the current glider cage.

If you keep the current cage - you need to fully glider proof the room because there could be any number of hiding places where a small joey out of the cage might curl up to sleep where you would not be able to find him. If the cage prevents the ADULT gliders from getting out the mother may not be able to get to the joey to bring him back to the pouch as she would if he was just exploring the cage - this could result in the joey becoming too cold or even dehydrated because he is separated from his mother.

You also need to make sure the joey cannot get OUT of the room - it would only need a small gap under a door to crawl out. And make sure a roaming joey could not get into your hedgehog's cage (if you still have the hedgehog) as that could also be fatal to a young joey.

Best of luck, but it appears you have again set yourself up for potential heart break due to the possible interaction between your gliders and other pets.