My friend is having some trouble with her girls. She posted towards the end of the bald spot thread. Her situation is very similar, however there have been a few in the last few months.

Her question is not so much about treatment, she has been to the vet a few times, and has the wound care down. She is more worried as to why this keeps happening, and if she is going to have to keep them permanently seperated? They were together for 2 years with no issues.

I don't have any experience with this.

I will copy and paste her post from the bald spot thread. Please help??..


I am having a very similar issue. I found a wound on my Anastasia that looked like a mating /domanence wound. Separated them while it healed . When I brought her back to the vet for a finial check , we found a wound on Natasha, on her tummy. While at the vet Natasha bit Anastasia, but it was when Anastasia went to get in the pouch Natasha was in. I am certain at that time she was upset /scared and would have bit whatever came to close to her. I separated them again till they both were totally healed. I put them back together , they seemed fine. A few weeks later , another would on Anastasia in about the same spot as the first wound. I have never heard them crab at each other , and hardly even bark. They have shown no signs of aggression towards each other. One has been barking the last two nights now that they are separated again. It breaks my heart to hear her. I have had them together with no issues for at least two years, and they are two girls about the same age. They have both been to the vet and had atibotics . I have been told my two different people that I will never be able to put them back together. I pray that is not the truth. Anyone have any ensite ? Or had something like this happen ? Please let me know. 

Is she waiting until the wound is fully healed and the fur has grown back before putting them back together? If there's any trace of scab or anything "different" about the area her buddy might be opening it back up accidentally by over grooming it. If she's put back too soon it could be part of the reason why this is reoccurring.

There are a bunch of reasons why two females would be having dominance issues like this after such a long time together. But more info would help to pin down the cause. Does she have a big enough cage, with a safe wheel, enough toys, more than one sleeping spot and is she feeding enough/a good diet? How often are the girls allowed out of cage time? Has she noticed any food aggression between them?

I can answer a few of these.

yes her cage is nice, with lots of toys and a raptor wheel. It isn't a food aggression thing. I think she only keeps one sleeping pouch in the cage. She does give them regular out of cage time.

The second time Natasha bit Anistasia, they had been at the vet, and got their nails trimmed. But had been separated up until the night before. While at the vet's, they noticed a wound near Natasha's pouch. Then when my friend went to put Anistasia back in the pouch to go home Natasha bit her in a different spot.

They have now been back together for a couple weeks. Anistasia has a wound in the same spot as the original, which was a couple months ago.It is in an area where it could be a mating wound.

This is a picture I took of her original wound on june 16th.

the new one is small in comparison.

I do have more than one sleeping spot. It is one pouch and one parachute deal. I have never noticed food aggression and there is two feeding stations. They get a fair amount of bra time , they when giving opertunity to play with bathroom time. It never lasts more than 15 min , because they choose to suggies up and sleep. And Yes she had completely healed and fur grew back , not sure if maybe slight scar tissue ?

Okay, if cage/entertainment/diet isn't an issue, I'm going to assume the bites (aside from the vet stress bites) are happening in line with the heat cycles...either when the aggressor is in heat and mounting the other out of frustration, or perhaps the other way around.. Possibly the victim's heat triggers the other one to assert her dominance. If you know the exact dates the wounds first occurred you could try to map out their heat cycles (usually every 28-29 days for about 3 days of heat) and keep a closer eye on their behaviours during these times. If you notice aggressive behaviour during those times you could just separate them during those times. I've found with my girls, they tend to make weird noises when they go into heat -- either a long, raspy hiss accompanied by a quick clicking noise, or a mix of a crab/bark. I've also heard a long raspy hiss ending with a bark. Sometimes they wrestle a little more, or you might notice one climbing onto the others back a bit more. Basically any change in behaviour along these lines. Not every girl shows a heat sign, but I'm guessing one of yours probably will -- especially if the bites are corresponding with a heat cycle.

Do you know the history on these girls, in particular, have either of them mothered joeys?

In any case, if you're going to try keeping them together once the bites heal up, I would recommend getting a calendar and recording their behaviours nightly/daily. Just a quick note of anything that might be different. Then, if a bite reoccurs you can have a clearer idea of what may be the trigger. But there is a very real possibility that if she keeps reopen inch the same spot they'll need to be kept separate. Good luck.

Thank you for your response, I do think it may be heat cycle related, what would you recommend? I have seen Natasha get on Anastasia back. Should I introduce more gliders if so boys or girls ?

This is a picture I took of her original wound on june 16th.

the new one is small in comparison.

Ok, I totally didn't men to repost that, not sure how it happened..lol

Glidet, thank you so much for your response.We had discussed this as being a possible trigger, but aftwr reading your post and doing a little calender math, this is most likely the cause.This gives her hope that she can figure out a way to work with it, instead of Just keeping them separate.

She still has some questions, like how to go about the monitoring, and whether adding a glider would help with the dynamics.

For monitoring, it helps if she can have her gliders on her at any time during the day (even in a bonding pouch is fine). I find my girls can be vocal in the day (regarding the in-heat sounds). When they're more relaxed and sleepy in the day it'll be easier to separate before things go bad again.

Otherwise, I check on mine a couple times a night once they're active. Ideally with some time between the checks... For instance, checking on them once they awake, then again in a couple hours or so, and I always check one more time right before bed.

If you get a calendar or a schedule book exclusive to your gliders, that will make it easier. Note things like: noises, behaviour, eating habits, any changes. If one is sleeping by itself, if one is wrestling more, if one seems more hyper, if one is fixating on the others cloaca, etc. eventually this info will help you establish a pattern in behaviour. For instance, maybe your girls don't eat as much when one is in heat. Perhaps they sleep separate when one is, or maybe one gets crabbier during her cycle... The more you record, the easier it'll be to tell when one is going into heat. Then when the heat cycle occurs, you could either 1) give them more out-of-cage time to wear them out, 2) keep a closer eye on them to separate if you see the mounting behaviour.

As for adding another glider, it's hard to say. Every addition will scramble the cage dynamcs, of course. I would probably stay away from adding another female, since you already have such a dominant girl. I would suggest a male, neutered. Ideally if you found a male who was neutered after he was already mature (or find an older intact male, neuter him, wait for his hormones to settle then intro). If he still has his urges to mate, he'll most likely still mate with whichever female is in heat...which could in theory reduce some frustration for the girls, or at least shift the dynamic so she isn't as focused on the one glider.

But there's still the risk that alpha girl wounds the new cagemate, too. If you get another glider you will have to be prepared for the possibility that the alpha girl stays the same, and possibly needs to be housed alone if she keeps opening up her cage mates.

Thank you so much for your posts. Everyone else she has talked to has automatically jumped to the conclusion that the need to be forever seperated. She knows that there is a strong possibility, but she wants to know that she has tried everything she can first.

As far as adding gliders to the colony. I have two options for her at the moment. My rescues just had twins oop,she was here when I saw them for the first time. There is one male and one female.They won't be ready to go for a few months.I also have two intact males that are around a year to to two years old. I would be giving her the gliders, but I know that she doesn't have the money at this moment to neuter two males. The least expensive vet locally is 133.00 per glider. So the intact male option would be 266.00. The twins would allow her time to monitor her girls and she would have time to save up for the neuter. Plus, I think she really wants to add them to her family. Of course she could also look elsewhere for a glider friend, and that would be cool too.

I know that she will make the best decision for her gliders, even if it isn't what she necessarily wants, and I know she will love the older boys just as much if she goes that route.

The next question is, what would you think about the twins joining the girls?

I think based on what I've heard on these gliders, the two boys (after their neuter) would probably be the safest bet. They would have to be neutered before she brought them in though, so they don't turn on each other when they smell the females in the house. Having two males would change up the dynamic and will give her other gliders to focus on (instead of focusing all her energy on the one girl).

With two males, if alpha girl "pairs up" with one of the boys but continues to open up her cage mate girl, you could split the pairs into two cages 1 pair female and n male in each; that way they would both have company. This is based on the theory that the dominance bites are caused by a frustration during a heat cycle.

With the twins, you'd have to neuter the male before he is mature so you won't risk inbreeding with sister. Plus you'd also need to keep the joeys away until they're more or less the same size as the current girls, so they can defend themselves if need be. The alpha girl will try to dominate the joeys and if she opens up a Joey or smaller glider she could do more damage quicker...especially compared to an older male who would be more able to hold his own. The other risk with the twins is you're bringing in another girl, who might get injured as the alpha girl tries to put her in her place. Since the boy would be neutered before he's mature, he won't develop his urges and you'll basically be adding an extra two girls to your cage....two gliders that may not challenge the alphas dominance and instead be dominated (and possibly wounded) as well.

Under no circumstances should these girls be paired with an intact male. I know you didn't mention anything about that but I just need to stress that this situation would most likely end up with all the girls joeys being pulled by the dominant mom, and she could turn on her female cagemates further if she gets the mother instinct on top of her already dominant personality.

Just some thoughts off the top of my head.

I always try to keep gliders together whenever possible, so I understand her desire to do so as well. I hope some of my rambling speculation has been helpful and I sincerely hope your friend will be able to figure out a plan for her girls.

Thanks for the advise . I will consider it carefully . I would have never put intact boys with my girls . I love babies but have no desire to have my girls have babies. I will most likely try the two boys. Have you ever heard of them doing this during there cycle ?

I do have one girl that gets a bit vicious during her, and her female cagemates heat cycles. When she's in heat, she'll play wrestle, bite paws and climb on the back of every glider in her cage. It's sort of funny to me that she is the alpha, since she's living with two older girls (one retired breeder) and two neutered older boys (one retired breeder as well). She is normally my most docile glider (to me), but she turns into a little hellion to her cagemates during that time of the month.

I have separated her during the heat cycles in the past, but I find I don't have to do it every month...but everyso often their heat cycles line up close enough that there's more spats and crabbing than usual. So I separate for 3 nights to save me from having to run to the cage in a panic at every crab :)

When the other girls go into heat, my alpha girl immediately mounts them and bites and grooms their neck. My gliders don't resist though, so there hasn't been any wounds aside from some small tufts of fur being pulled out. She is also a small glider naturally, I think that makes her a bit less of a threat. She is coming up to her 1 year mark in a couple months though, so I suspect she may get more aggressive as she matures.

I had hoped that my boys in the colony would settle her down but she dominated them, too. But I think spreading her aggression out over the colony keeps things in check more so than they would if she only had 1 cagemate.