My female lilo's joeys are finally oop. I have not opened up her pouch to get a good look and make sure both (twins) are okay as I'm not sure when the appropriate time to start handling is. This is the first day I have noticed the one being oop. She was making the strangest sound, so I went to check on her and the baby was next to her neck.
I am also curious when a good time to separate baby from parents is.
Any helpful hints on anything except diet, I will greatly appreciate

This site has excellent information about joey developments, it lists weights, general stats, and amount of time you can handle the joeys after being OOP:

www.petsugargliders.com/sggrowth.php

The "strangest sound" you heard is probably mommy singing to her babies, each glider is different, and will her own song, but here is an example:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXzDLxeYIi4

You should not force weaning, joeys are usually weaned after 8 weeks OOP, but it is appropriate to leave them with their parents until they are 10 weeks OOP. And you should have all males neutered before they are 4 months old. If you are planning to keep the dad intact, then you should separate the females before they reach 4 months as well.

Hope this is helpful.

Rusty has tons of helpful information in those sites listed!

Here is another one! Joey Development

I start handling my joeys the first day there are OOP... Please remember that OOP means they are no longer attached to mother and are in the pouch "by themselves" (or hugging mom or whatnot)... Do not remove joey from nipple...

You can handle joey for a few minutes with mother and father near... (If they are upset please give back baby!) you need them to trust you... Hold them in sight of mom and try not to just walk away... Just make sure they trust you with their joey... Normally i will hold my fresh oop joeys for about 2-5 mins... Then give back to mom... As they get older just increase the times... remember joeys feed alot at this stage so do not keep them from parents... and do not pull them while feeding...


Congrats on your babies! Do you know their genders?

I do not know the genders yet. I have yet to really mess with them worried they are not ready. Is there anything I can do to help the mom, dad, and babies stay warm. As winter is coming, my house is very chilly. Is an under the tank heater safe to maybe stick on the side of the cage by the pouch?

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Originally posted by launi14

I do not know the genders yet. I have yet to really mess with them worried they are not ready. Is there anything I can do to help the mom, dad, and babies stay warm. As winter is coming, my house is very chilly. Is an under the tank heater safe to maybe stick on the side of the cage by the pouch?

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I would not use a tank heater to keep them warm. I know some say to use a heat lamp to help keep them warm, but I would not advise this either. I would simply turn up the heat in the room they are in. If you don't want to do that maybe keep a small space heater in the room and keep the door shut. Make sure the room stays between 70-80 degrees. I would also make sure you have a double sided fleece pouch and maybe cut some fleece squares and put them in the cage and see if mom or dad wants to bring them in the 'nest' as my gliders have decided to do this just a few days ago when it snowed here in SD. Also maybe you should consider getting a humidifier. I have read that this can help the quality in their coats and help with ear health.

Normally all i do is use a small space heater and a humidifier :)