Hello all, This post may belong in bonding and Relations... wasn't sure.

My boys haven't had any issues in a while. But recently, oh say over the past week or a little more, I have noticed Olly becoming pouch protective when going to bed in the morning.

Oscar tries to get in the pouch with him and Olly will make some threatening noises and chase Oscar out. Oscar goes to another pouch for a bit and keeps trying to get in the pouch with Olly. Takes about 3-4 times of being chased out before he can get in.

I thought it was the type of pouch I was using - I was leaving their Glider Carrier in the cage to get it scented. They were sleeping in it and it was zipped up a bit so it may have been hard for them to see who was coming into the pouch.

I took their carrier out and they are just using regular pouches now. There are 2 in the cage. Behavior hasn't changed.

Any thoughts as to why Olly may becoming pouch protective?


THANKS!

I have 3 gliders (2 females and 1 neutered male) and one of my girls has suddenly become pouch protective. She will crab and chase the other two out (never injuring either of them) if they attempt to climb into the pouch with her. Have no idea what has brought on her sudden "pouch protectiveness". She's a little over a year old and is behaving normally every other way, so I just figured it is who she is. She does eventually allow the other two in, but like yours...it takes several attempts. Unless you are seeing injuries, other unusual signs of behavior or unless someone more experienced tells you differently...I would just be sure to do as you are doing when it comes to having more than one pouch in their cage.
Best to you and yours,
Terri

Thanks for the reassurance! Yeah, there has not been any injuries yet, but that's what I fear. He sounds really nasty when he's chasing Oscar out of the pouch.

have you tried a different style of pouch.. maybe an open environment where they have more room, and can see when another glider is approaching? there are a lot of different variations of the open environment pouches (OE)..there may be one that could be better for them.. you may want to try the bucket pouch or the box pouches.. they still have sides but they are open on the top and half the height as a regular pouch.. if the cage mate sees that it is her coming in he may be less startled with the invasion.. I will try to post a picture from my phone.. sorry don't have the pics on my computer

Hi Bourbon,

I had tried multiple pouches in their cage and watching what time they go to bed. I thought about different pouch styles but since I check on them 10min earlier and watch them go to bed earlier they seem to be ok.

Weird, isn't it?! I have watched Olly chase Oscar many many times, but over the past week or so, since monitoring, things seem to be ok. Haven't heard any crazy noises or chasing.


I have a sewing matching and have been trying to find a pattern for the pouch protective glider- no luck. But I have an idea in my head for a protective pouch pattern I saw on ebay. I haven't been successful yet as I am an armature sewer.

I will continue my search for a 'bucket' pouch or 'box' pouch pattern- we will see what happens . I'm crossing my fingers since things have been ok over the past week or so.
Thanks!!!

You probably won't find a pattern but they are not that difficult to make..I cant upload a pic from my phone sorry

Wow! So it's just a more shallow pouch and a wider opening. I had seen a triangular pouch- hadn't thought of this style.

It's funny because Olly will always be the first to bed and Oscar follows soon after and I have felt Olly just doesn't see or smell Oscar coming into the pouch and is the reason for this- i am not sure how this behavior developed but I'm ready to have solutions on hand if needed.


So your pouch looks easy enough to make and I have scrap fleece to play around with- I'll try your idea of a longer more shallow pouch and see.

They have been favoring a certain pouch lately so probably wouldn't hurt to change it it up :-)

Thanks !!

Good luck