I have owned lone sugar gliders since I was a child, and I have been aware of this forum for a while but until now I have only navigated to this forum via google searches. So forgive any ignorance of this forum's standards (I mean, ebay in 2019 seems pretty nonstandard as far as forums go).

So a few years ago I got a female and unneutered male. Then 10 months later I got another female. At the time, I didn't realize that the older female had a baby, and hence was territorial. The older female attacked the younger female and has always attempted to attack her since. The original pair is now a family of 5, including 3 (counting the dad) neutered males. I guess due to scent, the lone female thinks all 5 will want to attack her. And so all 5 basically don't like her because she is defensive towards them but the mom really is out to get her regardless. The youngest male from the family is nice and would get along with the lone female but only if she didn't act aggressively towards him. I am unsure if this is possible but I have never really tried to get them properly introduced before, besides having the cages close together (this actually might not help, even though I cover the bordering sides with towels).

Since the female has become such a recluse and clearly scared of the 5 glider family at night (they do accidentally get out and so she has had some of them climbing on her cage for some brief moments), I have several questions: Should I try to get the lone female to get along with this friendly and peaceful youngest (neutered) male? If so, how? Should I move the cages further apart to help the lone female feel safer at night? Should I try to get another glider to live with the lone female? If so, how should I go about selecting a well-suited friend and introducing them?

has the single been to a vet for a wellness exam?

There could be something "off" with her making her be aggressive to the others to keep them away and them aggressive to her to keep her away.

That would be my first guess and thing to rule out before advancing to any more intro's and risk exposing any other gliders to something she may pass to them.


Then there are just some gliders that prefer to remain single for what ever reason.
I have a female that has tolerated some cage mates, and not tolerated others, including injured another female. She's only gotten along with one other female long term. She is currently by herself and very content to remain so providing I give her enough bracelets to satisfy her hoarding habit

I've done quite a few introductions here with my own gliders and other peoples gliders, using many different intro methods. Since her last cagemate passed I've done a couple soft intro's with her. She almost liked a neutered male for a minute then balled up. He was the last one I tried to put her with.

At that point she has made it very clear she prefers to be by herself and seems much more content than forced to live with a glider she doesn't fully accept.

I'm not one that follows the unrealistic belief that single gliders have to have cage mates. I believe the owner needs to know the glider well enough to recognize when the glider is telling you it wants to be single or telling you if it needs or wants a cage mate while also bearing in mind the safety of any cagemate youd select for the glider to live with.

She was my very first glider, I know her very well and I also know she is not above causing another glider injuries to get the glider gone from her cage. For the safety and well being of my other gliders I will not introduce them to her, unless she changes her mind and shows me she needs a cage mate, which I doubt will happen but we are always watching her behavior just in case.

So my advice..... move the cages farther apart, but keep them in the same room they will eventually be less territorial with each others presence but it takes time.

Figure out why the one cage has escapees and fix or replace the cage to prevent that from happening.

IF she has a clean bill of health and you DO continue trying to pair her up scent swap by swapping pouches between the cages. It will be difficult to only scent swap the neut male and her because he is in an established colony. So you can do some one on one with two separate bonding bags and the two gliders during the day to see if they will warm up to each other.

Don't rush things and if after all that she still shows that it's not what she wants listen to her.

I have a similar situation with my colony of 3 females. They have been together since they were young. Athena is a few months older than the twins Serena and Explorer.

During the day, they all sleep together peacefully. The problem arises when the food arrives. Athena will hiss and then run Serena away from the food. My son says this is showing the twins that she is dominant but I don't understand why it is just Serena she chases. Granted, Serena likes to steal the food but the sounds I hear always makes me worried that Serena is being hurt.

When I go to the cage; Athena stops.

This happens regardless if I put the food on different levels. Athena just goes to the other level.

I have separated Athena from the twins a few times but never for long; they seem to want to be together.

I haven't had them to a vet in almost a year.

Suggestions?

What diet are you feeding?

I use the Critter Love diet

Are you using the complete or original?

Are you using one of the critter love salads with the staple? Or different fruits n veg?

Is the food plate clean in the morning or is there still food left on it?

I use the complete.

Yes, I usually use 1 of their salad recipes but there are times that I don't have the ingredients on hand and will substitute something else. Also, they don't really eat any of the greens that are on the recipes; despite what I do.

Yes, I clean their feeding trays daily (I have 2 as I put food in both trays to prevent the argument.

I meant are they eating all the food on the plate leaving a "clean plate".

If all they are leaving is the greens they are likely sucking all the juice from the greens leaving the insoluble fiber behind.

You might try adding another portion of staple and salad if both plates are relatively "clean" the one glider may not be feeling very full so shes chasing the other off. I would add 1 extra portion of salad to one dish, then an extra portion of complete to the other dish or divide one portion of each for both plates for a few days and watch and see if that helps with the agression.

You can also use more than 2 feeding plates and put them all over the cage or even a glider kichen to put the food in so the one cant see the other eating.

The complete is very very thin and watery compared to other diets at least thats what I found when I used critter love complete. I always gave a little more than the suggested portion because it seemed like my guys were hungry, hungry to the point of eating fruits n veg they refused to eat before critter love and they were eating all of it on critter love. 2 of my 3 cages got extra complete and extra salad and they still cleaned their plates most nights.

The other thing you could try is switching from complete to original critter love. The origional may be more filling from the fresh ingredients as opposed to all powdered ingredients in the complete.

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Originally posted by Leela

I meant are they eating all the food on the plate leaving a "clean plate".

If all they are leaving is the greens they are likely sucking all the juice from the greens leaving the insoluble fiber behind.

You might try adding another portion of staple and salad if both plates are relatively "clean" the one glider may not be feeling very full so shes chasing the other off. I would add 1 extra portion of salad to one dish, then an extra portion of complete to the other dish or divide one portion of each for both plates for a few days and watch and see if that helps with the agression.

You can also use more than 2 feeding plates and put them all over the cage or even a glider kichen to put the food in so the one cant see the other eating.

The complete is very very thin and watery compared to other diets at least thats what I found when I used critter love complete. I always gave a little more than the suggested portion because it seemed like my guys were hungry, hungry to the point of eating fruits n veg they refused to eat before critter love and they were eating all of it on critter love. 2 of my 3 cages got extra complete and extra salad and they still cleaned their plates most nights.

The other thing you could try is switching from complete to original critter love. The origional may be more filling from the fresh ingredients as opposed to all powdered ingredients in the complete.

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Thank you so much. No, the plates aren't always empty? I give an extra portion in each tray hoping that helps. I put 1 feeder in a glider kitchen and have put the other tray in different areas only to have Athena chase.

I agree the complete is watery and haven't used any other diets so I can't compare. What do you use currently? I may look into the original.

I feed a diet called Glider Gumbo that a friend of mine makes. Originally I fed Bml but after a couple years they quite eating it so I switched to Gumbo.

I tried critter love complete for a while, Peggy was kind enough to send me enough for all of my gliders for about 6 months to see if it would help with a ongoing medical issue Im dealing with.

Unfortunately the diet change didnt help its a bactarial infection not food related, and my guys stopped eating it as good as they were so I went back to Gumbo. Ive had the best long term luck with Gumbo and its easier than bml
( for me) to make.

I dont typically state which diet I feed mainly because I feel owners need to chose a diet based on what diets fits their budget, prep time, freezer space and gliders best rather than what I or someone else feeds. But if youd like to give a try I will post a link to her facebook.

Gumbo is $7.50 for the mixed powder then you add 3 boiled eggs , honey, apple juice and water blend for 5 or 10 minutes then freeze serve with fruits n veg I usually use the bml fruits n veg because my guys eat them the best but Im not super strict and give them random safe fruits n veg once in a while. A double batch of gumbo lasts my 5 gliders about 4 weeks I think.

The only other thing I could suggest if the other things arent helping or switching to original doesnt help is to take em in for a wellness exam to rule out any medical and dental issues the one glider may sense but isnt visible to you yet. Gliders can usually tell long before any physical signs are visible to the humans.

But if youd like to give a try I will post a link to her facebook.

Yes, I would like a link to her FB. Perhaps they are getting bored with the food.

https://www.facebook.com/shirley.smith6684 Shirly is amazing ! you can tell her Carla sent you.

Shes a long time breeder one of the first to breed carmels in the us and she did rescue for a number of years as well. In the last couple years they have downsized and are no longer breeding but she is still quite active in the community on fb. If you give it a try lemme know how your gliders do with it