Hey everyone.

So I have two gliders, a girl, Maya, who is a little over 1yo.
And a boy, Jeb, who is a 2yo rescue who is missing a back foot.

I've had them both for a few months now. And I have had Maya for a bit longer than that.

I've noticed at night now that one of them will often have a barking fit, where they will simply just bark non stop for 5-10 minutes, usually sometime between 2am and 4am.

I'm not sure which one it is, because as soon as I turn on the light to check on them they stop. I've been just ignoring it lately, putting on some white noise in my room to drown it out cause I've read places that sometimes they just want attention and if you get up when they bark it only teaches them that they can get your attention this way.

But I wanted to pose the question to everyone of why my glider might be barking, and what I might be able to do to get them to stop.

My gliders did that when we had a mouse (not the pet kind). It would come out about the same time every night and freak them out. :( They could be barking for attention, but something could be spooking them.

Not much you can do to get them to stop. Some gliders bark just because they can. I have one boy that just likes to hear himself I think.

Barking at night may be due to something the gliders sense - hear or smell - that they think might be a threat or something they should alert the other gliders to.

My gliders bark when the sprinklers come on outside their room in the very early hours. They have also barked when they garbage truck comes through the neighborhood very early in the morning (along with the dogs).

They also bark when my son's alarm clock goes off for him to get ready for work at 4 am.

Your gliders may be hearing something that you might not be aware of - traffic out side, a cricket, a dog barking in the distance - there are many things that a glider might think it is worth barking about.

Hmmmm.

Maybe it's a mouse or something, I have the feeling there are mice in my house, (besides the small mouse I have as a pet)

Although I haven't seen any direct evidence of them... I have heard some noises at night that might indicate mice. Plus it's an old house with lots of places to hide.

Luckily I don't keep them in my room and there is no one in my house for them to disturb when they decide to get vocal. I can usually sleep through just about anything. It's only when I wake up for another reason that I hear it going on and then it becomes difficult to get back to sleep.

Mine bark now n then, usually around 2am as well lol. If I hear it ( I usually do ) I get up and talk to them, put my hand in the cage, give them a pine nut and go back to bed once they have settle in again.. I always just figure they are wondering where I am or where the other glider is if one is in the pouch and the other is out.

I would guess they stop barking because of the light you turn on. It's probably to bright for them and an abrupt change from the darkness. Maybe try using a flash light or cell phone light (indirect light ) to see which one it is and let them know you are there instead of the regular light.

As far as mine are concerned I haven't noticed them barking more because of me getting up to say "hi, I'm still here " They spend the majority of the day on me, so if they are barking for me I take it as I am part of their colony and they want to know where I'm at. I don't think it's about attention, I don't usually stay up long when they bark, just long enough to settle them. Of course then there are those nights I can't get back to sleep n think well I'l get back up and go play with them, only to find they have gone in the pouch for a nap lol

TONS of places for mice to hide in an old house. :) I just used two cans of "Stuff" yesterday to seal up the nooks and crannies in our porch to prepare for winter (and hopefully I blocked off a few mice hidey-holes in the process). :)

We use live traps baited with peanut butter (since our gliders don't seem to like the smell and mice can't resist it). The brand we use is Victor Tin Cat. :)

See I would love to be able to let my gliders run around the house at night or something, but I just don't trust my house, it's got so many little nooks and crannies they could get stuck in or lost in or escape from so sadly they are stuck in the cage unless I throw up the Genji pop-up tent.

I've tried setting mouse traps but have never caught anything...

But I think it's the boy barking, cause I never had the issue when I just had the girl.

And I think he gets bored cause the girl gets sick of playing with him after a while. Haha. She is kind of a spoiled princess and can be mean to little Jeb sometimes.