Over the years there have been several breeders to tell me that their gliders are not breeding because they are overweight.
I would like to do more looking into this. As I had one glider here that did not take into breeding. We figured it was due to her weight and she would never be able to carry joeys. Due the male she was in with always wanting to breed, I did separate her from him and she went to a new, wonderful home. The new owner put her in with a very laid back male, and lo and behold, this glider has just produced two very sweet, gorgeous babies. Neither of us ever THOUGHT it would happen...once again, do to her weight.
I also have Dapple here, who is my FLUFFIEST of all gliders. Its not diet related by any means, because he gets just less then everyone else, and his corn intake is very very slim. He is easy over 200 grams, and after him and Takara had their first set of joeys, I thought for sure that would be their last...wrong, they had another beautiful little girl, Miss Pickles, and just produced two more beautiful joeys that just came out of pouch on the 14th of this month.
So, if it is not weight related, what COULD be the cause of some of these gliders to not breed??? Could it possibly be they just dont have a *connection* with the mate they have been put in with??
I also had/have some gliders who have been in with mates, none of them overweight at all, yet choose not to produce....
I have ruled out weight, and diet...anyone else have any suggestions or stories such as these you would like to share.
By overweight, let me share some pics of Dapple I just took. (Right click on pic to enlarge)
well arn't you special for proving the theory wrong in your home!!
Seriously though I have a pair of WFB that have not produced in over a year. prior to that they had 5 joeys, 1 single and 2 doubles. Roxy is 3 years old and Rocko is almost 3. Roxy weighs 80 grams and Rocko weighs 233 grams. I was told weight could be a factor. She goes into heat every 4 weeks and they breed for 24 hours or so just like always.............just never any joeys.
Taz and Sadie are also 3 years old and their last few breedings have produced nothing and they are about 80 to 90 grams. They have had numerous babies though.
We can speculate all day long it "could" be anything.
My Pepe is 178 grams, his mate Bittah is only 92 grams. They successfully had 23 joeys over the course of 5 years... so another example of a heavy male still able to produce joeys.
Oh, Im not saying weight doesntplay a part in it, I am just wondering if that is ALL it could be...
Just trying to hear different peoples experiences and stories....
I just found it to be something that Dapple, as large as he is, *could* still breed.
And yep, we could sit around and think of things it *Could* be all day and never have the answer, but if there are alot of things in common, it could possibly help us to start looking at different avenues.
I do believe it was Sheila who had some issues with Males (I may be wrong, its been known to happen )
But even with the female thing BeckiT, the one that was over weight that went to a new home hasnt lost any weight, but after going in with a different male, she produced two beautiful babies??
We have a pair that are two years old and just now the female has two joeys in-pouch (due oop anyday now) for the very first time.
The two things that we know have changed in their situation is: 1. The male had actually gained weight right before we found out she was expecting. He's not obese, but he definetly shows a little more "fluff" than he ever has before.
2. The other thing that changed not long before we found out she was expecting was a new cage. The cage they were in before was 4ft tall and about 3ft wide. They seemed happy in that cage, but we decided to get matching cages for all the gliders. We put them in a bird.com flight cage which by cubic measurements isn't that much bigger than what they had, but is taller and sets on a stand instead of the ground.
I don't know if either of those 2 things mentioned above has anything to do with it or not, but they had always mated every 4 weeks and we never saw any sign of a pregnancy or baby in pouch. Now, 2 years later, she is waddling around the cage with two babies ready to come out anytime.
Re: Overweight Gliders able to Breed?
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#751443 03/18/0904:26 PM03/18/0904:26 PM
I always had problems when it was the female overweight. I have had a few overweight males but they never had a problem breeding. My theory was that maybe since the female was so big that the male could properly 'reach' the female. Maybe in your case the new male was 'more equiped' and could reach her but the other male couldn't.....again, just a theory....
I had 2 fluffy females who bred just fine. And I have 4 fluffy males who are also daddies.
Just a thought, in over weight female humans some are really irregular in their cycles, just like really skinny female humans are. So that could play a role as well. Just a guess though really.
I have taken in a few rescues who are fluffy as well and thankfully they never have bred (but both male and female were very fluffy!)
Re: Overweight Gliders able to Breed?
[Re: ]
#755572 03/26/0911:46 PM03/26/0911:46 PM
Just a thought, in over weight female humans some are really irregular in their cycles, just like really skinny female humans are. So that could play a role as well.