Hello All,
My older female glider Lillian passed away on Sunday morning. She was sharing a habitat with a younger male, Hector, whom she treated like a son. She was the calm and sweet one who spent her time assuring him that everything was okay. When Hector started crabbing, she would cover him as “protection” and start bathing him.

So he is now alone. I have concerns and questions on what to do next. So far, Hector seems to be okay, crabbing as usual and now eating like a pig. Is his behavior so far an indication of how well he will handle his loss? What should I be looking for as far as red flags that he is not doing well? Has he just not realized she is truly gone? It has only been two days.

I also have a solo male, Freddie J, who lives in a habitat next to Hector’s. He is super calm, does not crab at all, and seems content living solo. I should mention, Hector is not neutered.

The first thing I am going to do is get Hector neutered. My thought is that it may calm him down, stop his stinky-ness, and keep him healthier. He has an appt in a bit over a week to have this done. Is that too soon or too much on him right now?

But, the bigger issue, what next as far as housing. I guess I have three options, all dependent on what Hector feels most comfortable with.
1. Keep him solo
2. Try moving the two boys in together (after Hector is neutered)
3. Find a senior female looking for a male to take care of

What are your thoughts on all of this? Hector’s response so far. Neutering him. Future housing.

I’m kind of a a loss right now.

Hello,
I'm looking through the posts because I'm in a similar situation. I had 2 females together and the older of my 2 just passed away over the weekend. I'm heartbroken as she was the social one of the two... honestly the other is sweet but very shy and we never socialized her well. I hate the idea of re-homing her as I've never done that for any of my pets, but I don't feel it's fair to keep her alone.

If you decide that you want a female to try with your male after he is neutered made we could see if they would be a good match? My girl Wonder is about 5 years old. She was always very friendly with my other glider and has never tried to bite us, but we also don't push her to socialize with us if she doesn't want to.

Good luck with your boys!