Hey everybody! My girlfriend and I are new to the forum but have been using it as a reference for a while now so decided to join. We have found ourselves in an unusual situation. After much research and studying I bought my girlfriend a sugar glider for graduation. The pet store in which I bought him from had two sugar gliders both male about 2 months out of the pouch(not related) with very little handling experience. At the time I could only afford one of them so I bought one. His name is Link and we have had him for about a month and we love the little guy he is not quiet fully bonded to us but he is pretty much there. Anyway we found out that one of my girlfriend's friend bought the other male glider that Link had nested with at the pet store. Now she does not think she can take proper care of him so she is giving him to us. We gladly accept because we had planned on buying the little guy anyway. We have plenty of room we just built a huge cage, but our main question is will they be able to remember and rebond quickly or will they be territorial with each other. Should we attempt to bond first or neuter them both to prevent any conflict?? Any insight that could be provided would be awesome.

It really depends on how long they've been apart. They may remember each other or they may not. Also are they neutered? Neutered males aren't as aggressive and smell better. Since you're new here what kind of wheel do you have and what do you feed them?

They are not neutered, at the moment we only have the one glider(Link). they have been apart for about 5 weeks. For the wheel I am not sure on the type but its quiet wheel solid base with no holes to prevent injuries. My girlfriend just order a Wodent Wheel though because he doesn't use his wheel a whole lot. For his diet we give 1 or 2 variety of fruit a night about 1 tablespoon, about 1 tablespoon size serving a veggies and same amount of dry pellets. For treats we switch between plain yogurt, mealworms, and honey. We also give him gliderade 1-2 times a week.

First of all cancel that wodent wheel now. Those wheels can harm/kill gliders. Go ahead and search wodent wheels and glider injuries on Google. Please get a glider safe wheel like a stealth wheel. They are pricier but absolutely worth it. I think the reintroduction should go well it hasn't been that long. Just make sure they are supervised if they ball up and fight make sure you separate them. Also pellets are not good for glider (any kind of pellet) anyone on this website will tell you that. Their throats and stomachs just aren't make for pellets. Over time your gliders can become malnourished and get lumpy jaw from eating pelletsYou can search in the diet section on this website for approved diets. Most of them are a blend of eggs, honey, and protein powder. There's even a just add water version from critter love. That protein mixture is called a staple. You can prepare a batch and freeze it in an ice cube tray. Pop out one cube for 2 gliders. It will melt and the gliders will lick it up. If you feed them a blended staple plus the fruits and veggies you won't need the gliderade at all.

While two intact males can get along, it's always riskier than two neutered, or even one neutered one intact male. Since they've been apart for 5 weeks they probably won't remember each other. Do either of them have a bald spot on their forehead, or a scent gland on their chests? If they do, it means they're mature already and are more likely to be territorial to another male.

I would recommend neutering both of them before trying intros. It'll cut down on their stink of trying to outmark the other male, as well as reduce aggression.

When you do intro them, be sure to pouch swap to get both f their scents intermingled and then intro in a neutral environment like the bathtub. Search up intros in this forum, there's a lot of great details to get you on the right track!

Update on the reunion of our gliders. We recently just moved into a new apartment and received Gizmo about 4 days ago. Gizmo slept in Link's cage with his own pouch for the first night then Link's pouch for the second rest. We just built a huge cage in which link has spent the last four nights in with his own pouch and Gizmos. Both cages have been next to each other and both of them have been spending a lot of time look at each through the cages. We decided to put gizmo into the big cage and see how they reunited. At first the slowly sniffed each other out then the quickly started to what I believe was play fight the balled up and we're slapping and lightly biting and occasionally hissing. Is this a good sign? Both have developed bald spots and there was no food in the cage when we introduced them? Do you think it is working?

If they ball up fighting they need to be separated. They can do some serious damage to each other if the fight continues.

If they are both intact males - you need to make arrangements to have them neutered soon since both are already maturing.

You really should intro in a neutral environment like the bathtub. Putting one into another's cage is an easy way to make them more territorial, as the new glider is in a new cage he doesn't know, and the original feels like an intruder is in his territory, and he needs to defend.

If they're introd in the bathtub they will be more on edge, in unfamiliar territory where no one has the upper hand. Plus, it's easier to separate them quickly in a tub than it is in a cage.

Some chasing, climbing on backs, crabbing, slapping will probably happen as they try to establish dominance. But vicious balling up where they are clamp biting needs to be broken up before damage is done.

If they keep balling up you'll probably need to do neuters before you can keep them together. Neutered males are much more docile and easygoing than intact mature boys.

So another update... we reintroduced them in a neutral environment and we noticed a strange behavior. Gizmo the older of the two who already has his bald spot. Link is starting to develop his bald spot but is still younger. When we introduced after they sniffed each other out Link climbed onto gizmo's back which I have seen pictures and videos of young gliders doing to parent gliders. What does everyone make of this behavior?

Link may be trying to tell is older companion - I am moving in and TAKING OVER. It is likely that this is NOT the same as a joey clinging to a parent to be carried.

He is trying to declare HIS dominance.

The have all ready balled up on a previous meeting - watch them very closely as their behavior could escalate to a full fight very quickly.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record. . . .

I would have BOTH neutered and give them a month or so for their hormones to drop before attempting further introductions to avoid the fighting that might erupt suddenly between two mature male gliders.

Another word of caution - when you do put these two guys together - The cage you put them in together MUST BE THOROUGHLY CLEANED first. If you put them in a cage that either of them has occupied since the last complete cleaning the CAGE becomes its original resident's TERRITORY and it is more likely that he will defend his right to be the dominant male.

Thorough cleaning includes a full soap and water scrub down and rinsing very well with a hose. Just wiping the cage bars with vinegar and water may not be enough - unless the cage is rinsed wiping just spreads the original glider's scent in a thin but complete cover of the cage surfaces.

The vet bills for glider fight injuries are going likely be MUCH more costly than the price of neutering both guys.

So I know this is an old thread but I just wanted to update and ask some more questions and figured it would be pointless to start a new thread. Link and Gizmo the two male gliders that we have been trying to introduce since August 2015 have gotten no where. They are well bonded to us now and also have been neutered and we slowed down on introducing them. We have followed all the helpful advice and procedures to try and get them acquainted but no luck. They are in cages right next to each other with space so they cant grab each other. We swap pouches, toys and even cages and we notice as soon as we switch cages they rub there head all over the cage to out-scent each other. We let one out at a time and they will interact while one is still caged and they are fine. The times we tried to introduce them we did so in a neutral area no toys. They would start fine and even groom each other for a bit but the one would upset the other and they would fight. Any advice anyone has that could help would be greatly appreciated.

I'm just wondering about the "they would fight" statement.
How bad was it, our gliders make noises back and forth at times when they are bothered.
Were they balling up? If they were getting along, could you have jumped in a little to soon? did you give them another shot right after this tiff.

We introduced our link and gizmo to sophie and big mama. At first try gizmo tried getting frisky with big mama. big mama got mad. We tried again with Link that NIGHT. after a bit they were sleeping together, gizmo was added and we had 4 happy gliders. every month or so link or gizmo (neutered males) get frisky with big mama and she gives them a little what for!

so I could be wrong, but my first impression if they were getting along for a few minutes, was the fight could have been a small fight and you jumped the gun, but I wasn't there and you don't want them hurting each other.

p.s. my wife did the introductions, she got it done in 7 days, I get NONE of the credit just so I'm clear on that.

Thank you for the reply. This was definitely fighting in the 'balling up' sense. They would latch on to each other and start biting each other like crazy and when we would separate them I could feel how hard they were biting and it felt pretty strong to me. There is a lot of hissing when this is happening also. I believe that they have play fought before with light slaps and clinging but always leads to them balling up. We always stop the fight hold them for a minute to calm them down and try again 2 or 3 times with the same results. To me is seems they both want to assert their dominance and they are going to prove they are the alpha male. Any insight that could be provided I thank in advance.