GliderCENTRAL

Tricky Gliders

Posted By: RelaxEnjoyLife

Tricky Gliders - 09/17/19 05:04 AM

Hello,

I am a long time lurker, first time poster. Long story short I have 2 colonies right now. I have a colony of 3 (two neutered males [Yasu and Sho] who are brothers and a female [Kiba] who lost her mother 6 months ago prior to the two males) and a new colony of 2 (recently neutered male [Hai] and pregnant female [Yuki]). The colony of 3 gets along well but the alpha (Yasu) is territorial and can be defensive around food. The colony of two (plus one on the way) does well on their own, but the male has not bonded with us yet. The female, Yuki, is a sweetheart though. We have had the new ones for 3 months and the male, Hai, still lurches at us and bites. We have spent lots of tent time and pouch time and he is slowly coming along, but he is being stubborn. Our original female, Kiba, was slow to bond and bit so we are used to that process and are taking the same steps we successfully used with her. We have also tried to slowly introduce the two colonies (very slowly) but it isn't going well. We started with the cages out of sight of each other in the same room and they now sit next to each other, but out of reach. We have swapped pouches and food bowls as well. Tonight we tried to introduce the two alpha males (Yasu and Hai) and they almost instantly balled up. We separated them, but stayed in the tent with them for a bit. They didn't interact again but just did their own thing in the tent until we removed them.

I have read the forums, watched videos, etc on bonding and introductions, but I am looking to see if anyone has any further tips for us. Should we wait until the joey is born to really try introductions? Will this cause problems trying to introduce them at that point? Should I try introducing Yuki (pregnant female) to the others and leave Hai by himself for a bit? I don't want to cause too much stress to Yuki and cause any harm to the Joey.

Any words of wisdom are welcome.
Posted By: KarenE

Re: Tricky Gliders - 09/17/19 02:15 PM

:welcome: and so glad you decided to make your first post. I certainly understand your concerns about combining these two cages. Especially with joey/s on the way.

Combining colonies like you are wanting to do with two alpha males is very tricky. Your males already have their territory established, so as you saw in the tent very quickly, they aren't going to be friendly easily, if at all.

Add into the mix the females who are already spoken for by each male plus any joey/s and those joey/s are definitely in danger as well as the mom if you try to introduce before the joey/s are OOP or possibly even before.

If there is some reason you must have them combined, I would definitely wait until the joey/s is a good size and fairly independent. I would introduce the females first with all the appropriate pouch swapping, tent time, etc.

Then the matter of introducing the males is going to be your hurdle. You will need to pull out every trick in the book and even then they may not adjust to each other letting just one take the alpha position.

Introducing the females first may make it easier along with pouch swapping in that both males will get used to the smells of the other cage. You will need to take it very very slow with the understanding going in you may not be able to combine them.

Hope this helps.
Posted By: RelaxEnjoyLife

Re: Tricky Gliders - 09/20/19 09:35 PM

Excellent. Thank you!
Posted By: KarenE

Re: Tricky Gliders - 09/21/19 01:33 AM

:urwelcome:
Posted By: Ladymagyver

Re: Tricky Gliders - 09/21/19 01:05 PM

Sorry I'm late to help, and I agree with Karen completely.

How recent was Hai neutered? I ask because Yuki although she has a Joey now, may have embrios in stasis (can be held up to 6 months ). It may be a good idea once this Joey is weined, to wait a bit longer. If the Joey is a male, you will have to have him neutered. He may be able to move in with the other colony sooner than his parents.
Posted By: RelaxEnjoyLife

Re: Tricky Gliders - 09/21/19 08:23 PM

That is good to know. Hai has only been neutered about a month. When we got them at the beginning of August Yuki was already pregnant from what the previous owner told us. So, the baby could be OOP soon.
© 2024 GliderCENTRAL