Food Aggression

Hello All,

Just a short back story before I go into the full issue:
Had a colony of 5 gliders, our little Ally (12 yrs old) passed away... a few weeks after that, bickering began in the cage. Also during that time, we came across a 5 year old lone glider who needed a home - and took her in. After a month+ of quarantine / taking it slow (especially with hierarchy issues still going on intermittently in the large cage) we introduced her, everything went well.

Fast forward a bit, our largest glider seems to have become food protective / aggressive. I have tried a lot of things - upwards of 12 different feeding areas, some on floor some hanging... then none on floor, etc etc. We have one glider that did receive some dominance bites on her back - and then I believe the rest groomed it into a bigger wound (almost healed now - she's currently separated). The largest glider still tends to pick a bowl (generally down lower in the cage) and protect it. She will chase the others away, in what sounds to be very violent - but we have seen her do it - it's just a crab & chase. Sometimes the crabbing will last for a few minutes if the other doesn't back down right away, but it's NEVER balling up or biting at tails/limbs/etc.

I am aware that some cages / colonies do have scenarios like this, and as long as no one is getting hurt, it's just kind of how it is... but this cage is in my bedroom (only have a 1 bedroom apartment) - so if I could try to find a way to quiet them down a bit it would be beneficial to all. Hoping maybe someone has some suggestions I have not tried yet.

Last night, I hung different pieces of fleece as 'walls' so that one food dish was not visible to the next - so if the protective one was at a bowl, she couldn't see the others eating. It was the quietest night so far, but still quite a bit of ruckus, lol.

Anyways, TIA for any tips / suggestions.



Jason

Sounds like you have a good handle on what is going on.

If the visual separation of the feeding areas helped - I would continue that approach and see if things improve.

Are you using small feeding dishes that only one glider can easily access at a time? I have been using the divided toddler plates for years and have never had an issue with any of my colonies.

I put the plate in the center of the cage floor and all of the gliders can gather around the plate at once, if they choose, without getting in another's way. If you are using small bowls you might try a larger plate that is more easily shared. Usually each glider grabs a piece of fruit or veggie and carries it off to their favorite place in the cage to munch on it.

Part of the noise may also be that the group is still working out their dominance issues with the changes in the colony population.

It is also possible that once your other glider has healed and is reintroduced to the colony that the arguing might begin again as they re-establish their hierarchy.

Yeah... I did have one of those cat-style bowls that just had two sections... the past week or two been trying the same plates you just described. The first night it was in it helped, but after that it seemed like she just chased whoever was on / near the floor of the cage, lol.

The visual separation did seem to help a bit. Also going to try to get a few of those divided plates and turn them into hanging ones (my hanging bowls are your typical toys that most vendors have - the little plastic baskets / etc). See if having large plates up high AND low help. Maybe a trip to Home Depot this week and build a shelf up high as well (need PVC - have a Glidearium 30x36x60).

I agree that they are still working things out - I have spoken to many people about this over the past few months, and some people said it had taken over a year after losing a glider for things to quiet down again.

I think that this stuff isn't THAT abnormal, to be honest... It just seems a lot worse to me since the glidearium is about 3 feet from my bed, lol.

Yes, the obvious answer is get a bigger place... all in due time!

Thanks for the response, Candy.

You could also try, if you haven't so far to place food inside prior to them waking up. This technique works, but I know sometimes schedules do not permit it, the problem I've had time to time.

Thanks Terry! Another good suggestion... which has been tried and hasn't been the solution.

Trying to think of what else I've tried to list here... I think we covered most of it now. What's weird is she's not even the first one up to eat... I know in a lot of colonies the dominant one will get up first to go have their first pick, but it's not even her.

I also don't think she's even the dominant one of the colony, I think Trixie is... but she's just protective of her food. She doesn't chase Trixie away AS MUCH as the others... Maybe Candy is right, they're just still working out other issues and the food protection is a side effect of it.

Sounds like the main issue, I'm going through similar with my trio.

I am all of a sudden having the same issue. Clarabelle the big sister in my duo has started crabbing and charging her smaller brother Carlos. I have had them for well over a year and she's a food bully but never violent or aggressive.
Now over the last week or so I've noticed she gets so aggressive at dinner and even now, I just heard her crab at Carlos over a eucalyptus stick.
Clarabelle has been to the doctor already this year for some weird constipation issues. That seems to be totally resolved, now she's gone from food bully to food crazy.
I don't want to separate them, but I'm getting nervous to leave them alone at night!

Sometimes it may sound worse than it actually is. My boy will sound horrible, crabbing, lunging and chasing the girls away at times, but not all the time. It seems to happen a lot, then cool off for a bit, then get frequent again. He has never hurt them and the girls will keep coming back to try eating with him often , even though there are other servings offered elsewhere in the cage. I was up to three stations for fruit and vegetables, but now back to two, since there is no difference in behavior. He doesn't try to prevent them from eating entirely, just from the bowl when he decides not to share something. Other times, I'll see them all eat fine together.

So Clarabelle would not quit charging and crabbing at Carlos. Last night she slept in the travel cage and carlos in the big cage. this morning i put clarabelle back in the big cage and she went from her pouch to carlos' pouch and there were no weird sounds at all.
Then tonight i put some avocado and egg mixture in their cage and came up a bit later and they were both eating from it with no drama.
these gliders are ridiculous.