So, I believe my female is pregnant.... Here is the kicker...

My male is neutered. I got my female back in October from a guy who could not care for her and he only had her a couple of months (maybe not even that long), He was feeding her fruit & nuts . Her age is unknown, the previous owner was thinking around 2yrs but really wasn't sure

I've had her with my neutered male since November. There are no man bits to be found.... none.

I have a neutered male and an intact male in another cage, but they haven't had any contact, so I know nothing could have happened there.

So now I am seeing quite a bulge on her underside. I've heard of gliders "holding" onto joeys for long periods, but this long?

Thanks for any input on this! Hoping they aren't males, I have enough males!

Here's a theory:

If she got pregnant at the previous owner's place, according to the Merck Veterinary Manual, gestation is 16 days. Say you got her halfway through October, and her egg was fertilized the day you got her. November 1st is when the joey would have migrated into mommy's pouch. It says they stay in pouch 70–74 days, which is more than two months, which is right around now. And if she "held" on to the joeys for any length of time, it's totally plausible that those bumps are babies, if she had any contact with male gliders with her previous owner.

If you know for a fact that the previous owner never let her have any contact with any males, I'd start to worry about some other kind of growth, in which case you should definitely take her to the vet to get it checked out.

Ok. I will get her checked out and try to get a closer look. The previous owner was very brief and was just more concerned about re-homing her quickly unfortunately. He didn't give me a lot of detail because he didn't have her long himself.

She's not bonded to me like my other gliders. She's shy and reserved but not mean and doesn't bite. I'll see if she will let me take a closer look at her underside.

Thank you for your help! I will hope it is babies and not a growth. I honestly don't wish to deal with either of those scenarios!!!!!

It has been said that gliders can hold joeys in stasis for up to a year.

I had one hold a joey in stasis for about 5 months. Talk about a surprise.

woah! That's a long time! And it would definitely explain a pregnancy at this point

Oh my gosh! Definitely keep us posted! This is very interesting.

Well, she is definitely pregnant. There are 2 large moving lumps in her pouch for sure.

Will her cage mate be OK to stay with her?! Is he going to maybe think they are his? Now I am terrified he might hurt them since they aren't his. Is that a possibility?!?!!!

Ahhhhh, what a mess!!

I'm already putting together a joey rejection kit for just in case.

If anyone could provide links to any important info I should know, I would greatly appreciate it.

Thank you Karen!

This is certainly interesting, I suppose you won't know for sure what exactly happened at this point but hopefully you will have two healthy happy little joeys.

I've also heard that it can take a while for males, after being neutered, to loose the ability to breed (a month or so). If he was neutered not long before you got her perhaps he could have gotten her pregnant.

Help......

The babies are officially OOP and now my male won't leave my female alone. He keeps trying to mate with her and she is crabbing at him like crazy. I put him in a temporary timeout to give her a break (30 mins). Any ideas of what to do? Is this normal? I don't want her to reject the joeys because he's being such a brat and stressing her out. He's been EXCELLENT with her and the babies up until today. They became OOP yesterday. Any advice is appreciated.

Well, I assume it's an attempt to mate. He keeps climbing on top of her.

Yes it is very normal - MOST glider pairs mate shortly after the joeys come OOP. It is possible for gliders to have new joeys IN pouch while the OOP joeys are still nursing.

If he has already been neutered you don't need to worry about that - and they will calm down in a day or so.

Thanks. The timeout seemed to help. I didn't hear any more crabbing after I released him from his timeout. He's neutered so no more babies thankfully.

Was curious how your Joeys are doing, as well as the proud Mama?

sugiemom to Stuart

OH my! She is a wonderful Mom! I am very thankful. They are OOP for a solid week now. A male and a female. I'm already looking to schedule the males neuter for when the male reaches age. I would like to keep them but we shall see I'm not sure if I would like the add to my already 4 and make 6. I already have a hard time making sure I play with everyone each day.

And I need to add that "Dad" has been fantastic as well! He is an amazing little helper and doesn't leave her side.

Great news!!!

The babies. They were 2 days OOP in this photo. I've been holding them a few minutes each day so they get use to being handled. The little boy seems to be a momma's boy, he hold on to her for dear life while the female is perfectly fine with letting me pick her up haha.

ohhh gosh they are adorable!!

Waaaay too cute.

Ok... So my babies are 3 weeks OOP now. What age can I start taking them to work with me to get them socialized?

I handle them daily but I would like for them to get use to other people handling them as well. I work in a small office so I only have about 3 other coworkers near me that would help me socialize them. None of them have other pets either.

Thank you!

Are you going to be taking mom and dad with them?

I would not take them without mom and dad until they are 7 or 8 weeks old.

Yes, they would be with Mom and Dad. I've got a large bag that I tote them around in. Would that be ok? I could bring them 4 hours at a time.

Yes, that would be ok as long it is ok with your boss and co workers.

Oh yes. My other 2 go everyday. They love my gliders 😊