I just picked out and purchased 2 joeys from a breeder in town. She suggested we get a travel cage to start out with. Do any of you have suggestions on which cages would be good to start out with? They come home 1/27

In my opinion, you don't have to start out with a starter cage. But some folks feel a big cage is overwhelming to joeys.

I do recommend always having two cages, one that they will live in long term of decent size, and a temp / hosipital / small cage for emergencies, healing, and separations, and traveling.


If you get a normal good size cage, set the cage up so you can access the sleeping pouch easily without knocking into a bunch of toys to get to it. Some folks put the sleeping pouch right on the door in the beginning so it's super easy to access.

A major thing you will want to avoid, in any cage, is chasing them around in the cage to catch them for "bonding time". It's easier and far less stressful to just take them out of the cage in their sleeping pouch after they have gone to bed for the day, until they get used to you and their new environment. Then transfer them to a bonding bag.


Cage tips

Bar spacing no bigger than 1/2 inch

floor grate so they aren't walking in feces

door that swings out not up and down for their long term cage

smaller cages will usually have doors that slide up and down, they are called guillotine doors.

If the cage has small feeder doors that slide up, ( most bird cages have these ) those will all need to be secured with zip ties, gliders can and do figure out how to open them and escape the cage.

Ferret cages have bigger bar spacing usually 1", gliders can easily get out of, or get stuck. Any cage that says ferret on it avoid.

no cages with hamster tubes and tunnels.

avoid rabbit hutches, made of wood and galvanized steel.


This cage in the link below would make a good starter / temp cage size, however I'd remove the shelves, wheel, and little house on top. The wheel is unsafe for gliders, not sure about the little house and the shelves just aren't necessary, removing them will give much more room inside the cage. Good for the initial few months.

Any temp cage about this size with half inch bar spacing and bottom grate and tray would be good, just so you have an idea of what a starter temp cage is...
http://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcostore/product/small-animal/small-animal-cages-habitats/prevue-hendryx-three-story-mint-green-small-animal-cage#


This one below, remove the wheel and lil house and shelf as well, but also an adequate temp / hospital cage. This one is probably a better size for a hospital cage, when a glider is healing or recovering we try to keep their activity limited.

For a starter cage for 2 joeys, this would be "ok" for a month or two but not much longer than that.

http://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcostore/product/small-animal/small-animal-cages-habitats/prevue-hendryx-two-story-red-small-animal-cage

WARNING** If you belong to glider groups on facebook or even here and post pics of them in this size of a cage, be prepared for people to tell you they need a larger cage! Some will not be nice about it either.

It's very common for people to freak out over small cages because most feel bigger is best. Some may even have issue with the first cage I put a link too. I for one have no issue with small temp cages, but I also know first hand that they are beneficial to gliders with medical issues, a lot of folks don't understand this.

Long term cages:

This is my preferred long term cage, very well made, good quality, heavy cage. I live in an Rv and have issues with cages that are to tall for my living space. I have 3 of these cages and only that is on the stand because the ceiling is high enough in that one spot. The other two are on the floor.

http://www.exoticnutrition.com/brsuglca.html?gclid=Cj0KEQiAy53DBRCo4en29Zvcla0BEiQAVIDccwkKJzuK6qZo1XNMgQlqKw8bLa-8TnF0AhQkmjMb_RkaAtSh8P8HAQ

So when looking at long term cages, keep in mind your living space and what will work for you. There are cages that are much taller and you can add units to them to make them even taller, those are usually critter nation cages. Double units are called DCN cages, if you add another unit they are called TCN ( tripple critter nation )

But for two gliders, a brisban is more than enough room for long term living.

Hope this helps some, and Congrats and good luck with your new babies!

Thanks for this cage information! The Brisbane is what my breeder recommended and what I purchased. It's good to know that a travel cage can be purchased very inexpensively.