Hello,

I am most likely being paranoid, but I thought it might be a good idea to see what others think.

For the first time tonight, my bonded pair that I have had for two years have started to fight? They are both girls, and I have never seen them do this before. Marci (my alpha) keeps chasing Mable away from her. She makes like a bark/hiss sound and will just chase her. She was doing it in the cage, so I let them both out in my room but she still kept doing it. I ended up putting Marci in the cage and leaving Mable out. I put one of the food bowls out of the cage, but obviously this is not a solution.

I have heard that gliders will chase away sick gliders, but Mable does seem healthy. I just got done going to the vet with my new pair I brought home too, and I would rather not have another vet bill. I will take both of them if need be.

My new gliders are also in my room in a separate cage. They are a boy and girl, and I read somewhere on this forum that girls can get aggressive with each other if a boy is near by? He is neutered, but I guess it can still happen.

My other thoughts are that I have started to separate the food bowls, because Marci is obese and Mable is underweight; It seemed that Marci was hogging all the food. I’m wondering if because I was coming home late from work tonight and didn’t put the wet food in before they were both up that Marci is showing food aggression? I mean I have been late from work before and they have dry food and water in the cage.

I’m kind of nervous to put them back in together, because when I got home my Mom said that Marci started chasing Mable around the cage (about ten minutes before I got home) I saw it myself when I came into my room, and then Marci wouldn’t even stop after they got out of the cage.

I’m hoping it’s just an off day, but they’ve never been that way before and they’ve been together for two years. I can’t stop thinking about Mable possibly being sick, or having to separate them permanently.

What are your thoughts?

The bark hiss is a sound they make when they are in heat. It is possible your female is in heat and doesn't want her buddy around her so she chases her away.

I agree with Karen and Feather.

Make sure there are 2 sleeping pouches in their cage too. It may not hurt to have a time out cage for Marci to spend a couple of days in if this keeps up after a couple more days. Heat cycle is 2-3 days.

Marci may need some out of cage play for more exercise too.

Do you have a glider safe wheel for them?

Marci could also be bored. You may have to change up their cage a bit. Add some toys or a ball pit. Hide some of her favorite fruits and vegs from their diet here and there to encourage foraging.

They do have a glider safe wheel and plenty of toys. They thankfully ended being fine the next day, and I even found them sleeping together. I do have an extra sleeping pouch in their cage, so they can separate if need be. I can’t help but be paranoid sometimes lol

It might be because they are not getting as much out of cage time. I am trying to bond with my new pair, so I don’t let that out for as long as I used to. Hopefully they will all be together in a couple months and I can have play time be longer for all of them.

I'm glad they're getting along again. They probably smell the new gliders and may be a bit edgy.