Risks of Breeding
There are a few risks in breeding sugar gliders, the first one is mating wounds. A mating wound will occur when a male bites down too hard on the female's neck. If you notice this and your female has an open wound, take her to the vet immediately to prevent infection and separate them for at least a night. Talk to your vet about the particular amount of time they should be apart. If the male is doing this frequently then it would be best to neuter him.
- Another risk is that the mother will reject or cannibalize her baby. Rejection is when the mother stops caring for her young and cannibalization is when she eats them. There are many reasons that a mother will reject or cannibalize her young. A few reasons:
- The mother does not feel safe. The owner could be handling the babies too much or have her cage too close to another cage. It's best to not do any introductions when a mother glider has a joey in pouch or is still nursing her young.
- A poor diet with lack of protein can also be the cause. Make sure to feed your mother glider every night and add extra protein to her diet.
- The mother can "sense" that her baby is sick and stops caring for it. Many rejected joeys that have been hand raised have had a short life full of illness to support this idea.
Also, make sure not to try to open the pouch to see if your glider has joeys in pouch. This could dislodge the joey from the teat and kill it.
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