Reuniting Gliders?

This is something I've been thinking about lately that could be answered from the breeder's point of view or the owner's point of view.
It's kind of a situational question so I will try to be as specific as possible.

Has anyone ever had a glider joey that they bought from a breeder be it hobby or USDA and then a few months to a year or more later brought that joey back near it's birth parents?

Do they recognize their young still?

Are they nasty or nice?

Do the moms still try to mother them?

This is something I have been wondering about continuously lately because my little girl Beeble was a HUGE momma's girl. She was upset for quite awhile once I got her home because I think she missed her mom. Well, my breeder and I have remained close so there is a chance that at some point Beeble may be around her mom again - do you think they would get along if they saw one another? I know everyone is really against gliders mixing but just out of curiosity has anyone ever let their joeys meet their parents again after they've grown up? Joeys that grow up living with their parents don't count - I'm talking specifically gliders who were bought, lived in a separate place growing up and then get to see their parents again briefly.

Thank you for your time!
I hope everyone is having Happy Holidays <3
Be safe

Good question I'm really curious to know.

A large part of it would be the personality of the gliders involved. I have my original gliders with the male now neutered. I also kept their first joey. He was with a mate for 3 years and he was neutered at about 2 because his mate was not a good mom. I lost her last summer due to a malfunction with my air conditioner and my little boy became lonely. I didn't have anyone else he could go with so I reintroduced him to his parents. They do great together, but, all 3 are very laid back gliders.

I don't know if gliders remember one another, but I'm leaning toward "no." I had twin sisters that grew up together here, then once they reached maturity I paired them each with a mate. They have been with their mates for almost two years now.

Anyway, I was thinking about your post because yesterday one of the twin sisters climbed on the other twin sister's cage. They are both very mellow, sweet gliders. But holy crap, the commotion they caused! The sister whose cage it was rocketed up out of the pouch and attacked. I had never seen that behavior from her before.

(Everyone involved is fine; it was just a lot of noise and commotion. But so loud and scary!)

Gliders don't do well in playdate scenarios; they are just not that type of animal. It's not worth the risk to even try it, IMO. What would you do if they DID have a joyous reunion and did not want to be separated again? It'd be heartbreaking to leave AGAIN.

Not to mention disease risks. Not saying the breeder you got your gliders from does not have healthy gliders, but I mean, why even chance it? I would not buy a joey from someone that was always dragging their gliders over to mingle at another person's house for glider playdates. As a breeder you should strive to keep a closed, clean colony as much as possible.

That was a really good question, Drea, and it's interesting to read the few responses so far

Not sure they would actually remember one another, but for the above reasons, I would not suggest even trying. The only scenario I would consider this is if the breeder was trying to re-home the mom. Then after proper quarantine, you could try to pair them together - to live together for life. That is the only time I personally would consider it.

I just don't think it would be worth the potential health and emotional risk to either glider.

I'm going to also lean towards no. I have never tried with joeys and parents but I did reunite twin once. One had found a home but about 1 month later the owner had problems and so I bought the little guy back. I still had his sibling so I decided to try and reintroduce them. It was the hardest intro I have ever done.

I guess I should stated even more clearly that this is never something I would "try" and I was only asking a question.
It came up in conversation and I thought it would make an interesting topic on here.
I understand that disease risks, aggression danger, etc.
I just wondering if it ever happened or had been done successfully after they lived in a separate home for awhile.
I didn't mean for this thread to go the direction it did (of danger/risks).
I thought maybe someone had done it successfully and would have a nice story of reuniting to share.
My apologies - I didn't realize the stigma attached.
I was merely curious.

In March 2011 we received two boys, a father and son. Dad had been separated from his mate and was depressed. He stayed in the pouch most of the time and would call out to her at night. In August 2012 mom and their two daughters were surrendered to to the same people who called me for pick up. We had already had "the boys" neutered. The grilled were quarantine and vetted. I think dad knew they were close. The re-intro was the smoothest ever. Dad and mom were fine. Dad an the daughters were also fine. The son was the only complication. Som was good with mom and one sister but he was rough on the smallest sister. We think he may not have been around her and the sexes were separated after she was dropped in pouch. We separated son and intro him to a pair of our girls. Dad, mom and daughter are still together. Son loves his new harem.
... and dad was quite proud of himself for "calling"
the girls home. He's quite sure they never would have foun him and son if he had given up.

Drea, please realize that when we respond to questions, it is to not only offer our opinions/experiences for the OP, but also for others reading the posts. I personally find it helpful for people to offer all types of suggestions and scenarios so others reading it get a complete picture of the situation/potentials involved. Please don't take the responses personal.

Sorry I guess I just felt a little put off.
I've been getting corrected quite a bit lately - it must have caught up with me.
I need to take a deep breath and remember that the point is to learn.
I appreciate all the information you give - you are certainly one of the people on GC who I have learned the most from.
Thank you & my apologies for taking it personal.

I find that I'm a lot more laid back about my gliders than most people are (apparently, lol). I also find that to be true of a lot of us that started with gliders 10+ years ago...oh the 'mistakes' we made.

I will give you your happy story, Drea.

My first breeding pair, Kira and Dakota, were great parents. Kira was the kind of mom that even got up when she heard her son and his mate's joeys crying because she wanted to take care of the joeys (she only had 4 joeys before I got her mate neutered because of health issues).

Of her family, only her mate and one of her sons that I have here are still living. But she was a very special girl. Her first set of joeys was a boy and girl (Pascal and Amber). I kept Pascal and Amber went to a very good friend of mine who visited about once every month or two with her for the first 2 years of Amber's life. Mom and daughter would snuggle up together every time Amber came to visit. Amber then started breeding, so she didn't come over as often...but more from Amber's side later.

Kira's second set of joeys were Ozzie and Chip. They went (together) to very close friends of mine also. For about the first year, they came over about every other month. Every time they came over, I took Kira and Dakota into the tent (all of us crowded in, rofl) and Kira would come out and once Chip and Ozzie smelled where they were, both would start crying like joeys calling their parents. It was one of the most adorable things. Kira would race over to the pouch and clean their faces and check them all over (it looked like she was making sure they were well taken care of). She would crawl into their empty pouch and look all around (like she was making sure their pouch was safe). Then she would go up and sniff at the boys people and nuzzle them like 'You are still doing a good job with my babies.' Yes - literally every time she would go through this process. Then the four of them, parents and 2 sons, would play for an hour or so. They would go into their separate pouches when they got tired and the boys would go home. None of them ever cried after they left (at home) and the boys family said they only ever heard the boys 'joey cry' when they were here to see Kira.

Well, when the younger boys were about 2 1/2, Ozzie died (he became jaundiced - liver problems). They wanted to find a new joey for Chip, so I recommended the breeder friend of mine that had gotten Amber from me. He was the kind of breeder that carried his joeys all around together and knew which joey went to which parent...no, I don't know how, but he never made a mistake with it. So he had 5 joeys that were of age at the time, so I took Chip's family over to his house with me to see if there was a joey that Chip and they liked. They (2 humans, Chip and the 5 joeys) all got in a tent and played for about 20 minutes. There was one joey of the 5 that they said they both really liked and had noticed that Chip had been the most interested in following around as well....Well, it ended up to be Amber's single joey (yes, Chip's nephew). So they took Murphy home and the boys were bonded immediately.

The first time they brought Chip and Murphy over to see Kira, we weren't sure how Kira would react. Chip started his joey cry and Murphy came out of the pouch. Kira nuzzled and loved all over Chip then went over to Murphy, smelled him, looked him over then nuzzled him too. He was immediately accepted. Now...I don't know if there was actually a family scent that Kira recognized from Amber or just from his being with Chip for a while, or Kira really was just an extra special and accepting glider, but Murphy was quickly adopted and always welcome.

They came to visit about 2-3 times per year after the first year and I would keep the boys when they went out of town. They played together each time without incident and went home the same.

To address the above concerns - yep, it was a risk. But at the time I didn't know better and to be honest, with some of the experiences I had with my gliders when I was starting out with them, I'm glad I did not. Most of my favorite glider stories are those that others 'wouldn't approve of', and sadly, I am usually too afraid to tell them because I know how some would feel/react, but they are my stories of time with my gliders.

In some cases I just didn't realize the risks, in others - I knew (ahem...know) the risks and am adult enough to be able to weigh the pros/cons and accept the consequences of my actions/choices and not blame the gliders or other situations if something were to happen. I also realize with some things I have been lucky where others have not and likewise have not been lucky where some have.

(ok, stepping down off the soapbox, lol)

I think it just depends on the gliders.

And like Gretchen, I dont always like to share because I dont always follow the crowd. So without giving all the details...


When Frodo was put in the glider room with his mom and sister, after they had been separated about a year (they live in same house but never meet, he was all about being friends. Mom greeted him, then ignored him. Sister ignored him until he tried to pull her tail, then she smacked him across the face. Literally smacked. Wish I had videoed it.

Thank you sooo much Gretchen.
I knew there had to be at least one of those type of stories out there.
That was exactly what I was looking for.
When I studied scent oriented animals a lot of times I read that they could SOME times reconnect with their young because of their ability to scent mark, or have a family scent.

Your story was a joy to hear.
I completely understand all the risk, dangers, and the fact that that isn't normally ok to do but in your scenario it sounds like you got to see some pretty amazing things
Thank you for sharing with me!

And Jill - that does sound hysterical.
I've only seen Beeble slap Weebay once, and it was because he stepped on her face. For the most part my twins love each other very much.

Before these forums came to be, people didn't know how to do things correctly,they just went w/what seemed rite.
Many gliders suffered as there owners did also, but eventually,people started getting together & learning from each other to whereas we now have forums,& gliders are getting better care from their owners,& living much longer.
Every household,I am sure,will do things different once in awhile,too.
Your inquiry didn't bring about too severe of answers back in the negative,as far as my take on this post.
This is what a chat forum is all about,everyone giving advice,opinions,directions,etc.
JMO

Thank you for your opinion Josefine.
I cant imagine how hard it was for new glider owners before we had the forums.
I am always interested in hearing about other peoples gliders and different ways that others do things.

I totally understand where you are coming from with this, but wish you would share because what you have to say may connect with someone who needs to see/hear it!