I babysat a glider last month (Winston's brother-5 months old) and the owner of the little guy decided that the glider life wasn't for them and is looking to adopt him out. Because of the circumstances, they would like me to adopt him. I currently have two gliders (Winston-neutered male, and Lil-female, both 5 months old). They both seem to be happy in their current situation besides occasional fights and they don't seem to be eating their fruits and veggies at the moment. Besides that, I am wondering if adopting Winston's brother would be a good idea or not. Do neutered males get protective over their female cage mates? I don't know if Winston and his brother would get along because of my female in the mix. I would of course quarantine him for 30 days and get him checked by a vet. I would like to have a trio and to reunite the brothers, but I'm not even sure if they will remember each other. (They both acted a little aggressive towards each other when they were in the same room, 5 plus feet away in between them.) The whole thing makes me a little nervous, but I'm in a situation where I feel like I need to do something because Winston's brother isn't in a thriving environment (he's living in a hamster cage and isn't on a sugar glider safe diet) and I wouldn't want him to be adopted out to someone who isn't going to care for him.

That is tough to be in that spot you're in. I think it best for you to take a few things into consideration:
1. Can you take on another glider, even if it may mean managing two cages permanently, if they do not get along?
Or
2. Can you assist in finding this lone glider a new home, a better home than in currently, even if it means you take him in temporarily to improve his life quality and rehome him yourself?

I don't know too much about young gliders to give advice or thoughts on whether there would be an issue with the two males and one female, but a third thing to consider is the fact that they're still fairly young, and that may be something going for you in this situation. I'd like to let someone with more experience offer more on this prospective.

Please update us on this situation. I do hope this glider finds his way into a good home one way or another.

I currently have two decent sized cages that I morphed into one, so I am definitely able to separate them into two if needs be. My roommate/boyfriend does not want to adopt the glider because he feels that it will take a lot of time and effort to go through the introduction process again and he fears that they will not get along- not to mention the glider had a strong smell that both of us were allergic to. (probably due to his poor diet, so hopefully that would go away once his diet is established, but I'm definitely not an expert.) i would say that we are in more of a position to temporarily adopt him while we look for a good home. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to find a home for him? I don't want to just use craigslist...

https://www.facebook.com/groups/sugargliderguardians/ This group is probably the best place for rehoming neglected/unwanted gliders. I've helped find new homes for a few gliders other people were rehoming here...

Are there any that don't require Facebook? :/ I don't have one.

I don't personally know of any, but if you end up taking him in to foster him until he finds a new home I will post him on there for you if you like. Is he neutered?

Most of the ones helped by this group are craigslist gliders... all the members of the group are listed by state, which really helps locate new homes for them.

where are you located?

Thank you:) I will have to talk more with the current owner about the situation and I'll let you know.

And yes, he's neutered.
I'm in the spokane, Washington area

there is a member on here that has been looking for a cage mate that lives in washington. I'm not sure if she is still actively on here but she's had a really hard time finding a single glider out there, I sent her a message will let you know if I hear anything back ( she hasn't posted on here in a while )

Awesome! Thanks so much! I am in contact with them:)

They said that their female is 2 years old. I read that older females might beat up on younger males. Do you think they would be okay together?

( A.Fenton4-H ? ) That is really hard to predict, at 5 months the male is probably coming into maturity and Molly has been a lone glider for a long time, she may welcome the male immediately. With proper introductions they should be fine and will probably both be happy to have a cage mate.

I am wondering how you know the male is neutered though, due to the "smell" you said he had I would guess he is intact and his scent gland is developing. Which may be why there was some aggression between the two brothers...

The breeder had them neutered. Neither brother have the bald spot on their head or poms.
I was thinking about when i went to pick Winston up and I remember his brother smelling pretty strongly then. I chose Winston over his brother because he was more active and playful and wasn't smelly. (at the time the breeder was keeping one and selling the other, then later chose to sell the brother as well to someone else.) maybe his smell isn't due to his diet?
I don't recall talking any about neutering when I took them to the vet, so hopefully the vet could tell Winston was neutered and didn't have much to say about it. Next time I bring them in I will make sure to double check. I don't want any babies appearing out of nowhere! I am taking Winston in soon because yesterday I noticed him hissing a little as he was peeing... Not good :/

Males don't develop their bald spots until they have reached sexual maturity, as early as 4 months old. The bald spot appears when the male starts producing hormones... If I were you I would definately make sure your male is neutered. The presence of the female may have kicked in the other males hormones, hence the smell and aggression towards his brother.

However, you also said they don't have pom's so his smell could be related to diet, or a health issue... it's really hard to say or even try to narrow it down just by a few details.

Gliders have also been known to "skunk" when they are really afraid which means they can release a smell from the anal scent gland like skunks do, from what I understand it smells just as bad. So that's another possibility

He did seem very stressed when I was babysitting him so that could have been it. He also seemed stressed when I went to pick up Winston. Maybe he's a highly stressed out little guy :/

Leela, you mentioned skunking. Sometimes when i take Jelly out of her cage she leaves a garlicky scent on me. Is that what you are talking about? It has only happened twice, but it suprised me both times!

@jdching Honestly I couldn't tell ya what it smells like, I don't think either of mine have ever done it. I have read about it hear and there, I will see if I can find the information again and post it for you if I do.

http://www.sugarglider.com/glidergossip/topic.asp?ARCHIVE=true&TOPIC_ID=29754

http://www.sugarglider.com/glidergossip/topic.asp?ARCHIVE=true&TOPIC_ID=36383

Onelove420 should probably read this thread too...
http://www.sugarglider.com/gliderGossip/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=48194

There are more threads about skunking if you want to read more about it, just type skunking into the search bar...

Hmm that's interesting. I've definitely been "skunked" in the face by Mo, a glider that I fostered while I looked for a good home for him. I thought it was just pee! Gross lol.

However, I've never seen my other two spray like a skunk. Or smelled anything strong coming from them for that matter.

I was actually referring you to that thread in regards to the other male glider you were asked to take in that "smells"

I Specifically was hoping you'd read this

quote:

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If a glider is not "skunking" (no milky substance coming out) - but still smells terrible and is neutered or an intact female…. That glider may have a bacterial infection that is causing the smell. We had that recently with a female and the vet put her on a broad spectrum antibiotic for a week and the (really bad) smell went away.

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He should definitely go into the vet for a check up. I could see it being a bacterial infection of some sort because his smell has been steady and strong for months. Im just concerned about actually obtaining the little guy. the current owner really wants me to take him myself so she is able to visit him and she doesn't really want me to simply foster him between homes. I haven't been able to get ahold of her today to talk more about it. I really can't adopt him myself but I am very concerned with finding him a good home. It's just going to take some convincing on my part :/

Thanks, Leela. Those were some hilarious skunk posts! I guess I don't remember what a skunk smells like so I thought 'garlic'.

quote:

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Originally posted by Onelove420


I babysat a glider last month (Winston's brother-5 months old) and the owner of the little guy decided that the glider life wasn't for them and is looking to adopt him out. Because of the circumstances, they would like me to adopt him. I currently have two gliders (Winston-neutered male, and Lil-female, both 5 months old). They both seem to be happy in their current situation besides occasional fights and they don't seem to be eating their fruits and veggies at the moment. Besides that, I am wondering if adopting Winston's brother would be a good idea or not. Do neutered males get protective over their female cage mates? I don't know if Winston and his brother would get along because of my female in the mix. I would of course quarantine him for 30 days and get him checked by a vet. I would like to have a trio and to reunite the brothers, but I'm not even sure if they will remember each other. (They both acted a little aggressive towards each other when they were in the same room, 5 plus feet away in between them.) The whole thing makes me a little nervous, but I'm in a situation where I feel like I need to do something because Winston's brother isn't in a thriving environment (he's living in a hamster cage and isn't on a sugar glider safe diet) and I wouldn't want him to be adopted out to someone who isn't going to care for him.

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Please let me know if you still need a home for this little guy, I am a Washington Glider rescue, I'm the head of the operation.
Thank you for taking a look.
Laura

-We protect those, who cannot protect themselves