So, I have 3 gliders: a 4 year old female (Jilly) and pair of ~7 month old females (Cookie and Nugget). The 7 month old girls are sisters.

About 2 nights ago, Cookie started hissing/crabbing at Nugget any time Nugget went near the food bowl and she'd chase her off. I'm not sure if they started actually balling up, because whenever I got up to see what the heck was happening, they'd stop. I assume Jilly is getting bullied as well, but I'm not sure.

She has NEVER acted like this before.

Last night I tried to give them 2 separate bowls -- first on the same level, then on completely separate levels where they couldn't see each other. But Cookie STILL goes after Nugget whenever she eats. So tonight, I had to separate them completely.

Any idea what could be causing this? What can I do to keep them from fighting each other over food?

what diet are you feeding?

The Pet Glider diet. I blend a couple of fruits, veggies, and a little yogurt, serve with whole/coarse chopped fruits/veggies, usually with hard boiled egg. I change it up every 1-2 weeks

are you using the vitamin supplement from tpg and if so are they actually eating it or eating around it?

I give them a vitamin supplement from Sun Coast Gliders, not TPG. This kind:

www.sugar-gliders.com/home/350-blueberry-fortifier.html

They do seem to eat it all.

Ok first, please don't take this the wrong way I'm not being snarky or snide I'm just explaining.

If your not using the tpg supplement you aren't feeding tpg correctly and the gliders may not be getting what they need from the diet your feeding.

Tpg's supplements are designed to provide essential vitamins and minerals that their diet specifically needs to be balanced. Other brands ingredients are not calculated with the rest of the diet, tpg supplements are.

So I would suggest either using the tpg supplement or change diets to one that doesn't require supplements being sprinkled on such as bml, or critter love.


If the gliders dietary needs aren't being met that is a good reason for food aggression to start. It may seem sudden but it's probably not. What I mean is, what ever they are lacking from their food was at ok levels before, over time those levels have dropped in their body and aren't being replenished.

edit:

not following a specific diet correctly is not uncommon. Diets can be very confusing and there are a lot of modified versions online that shouldn't be used but are anyway. Any diet whether it's bml, tpg, critter love etc... should be followed to the letter of the creator of that diets directions.

The ingredients and measurements are there for a reason, once either of those are modified it's no longer the same diet or balanced.

I see, so I'll order the supplement from TPG. I didn't realize that could be a problem. When I adopted my first glider, the shelter gave me the Sun Coast supplement (which she'd been on from her previous owners) so that's why I've been using it. I had no idea it wouldn't be compatible with other diets so thanks for the info. Hopefully this will fix the aggression issue :(