Ponchess's joeys are coming OOP in about a week. She is very shy around other people and she bites everyone except me if they put their hands or fingers anywhere near her. And at night if anyone comes into the glider room besides me she will either go into her nest box or just hold still until they leave, she won't even finish a mealie, if she is in the middle of eating it she just drops it. She just really does not like anyone but me at all. I was thinking that maybe I should wait for a while before showing other people her joeys. What do you think? If you think I should wait how long do you think I should wait?
Thanks in advance!! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thanx.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thanx.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thanx.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thanx.gif" alt="" />

Anyone??

Definitely wait...she's leting you know that she is in no way ready to share her joeys with anyone but you. Any disruption to her routine, especially if she is that adamant about keeping "strangers" away, could be harmful to her joeys. I'd wait until she's ready...she'll let you know.

My typical rutine here, once the babies are oop... I wait until Mom and Dad leave them in their sleeping pouch. Then i scoop them up and play with them while leaving mom and dad in the cage. At this time, i have my husband handle them, or anyone that might come for a visit that wants to see them. My moms and dads are fine with this and do not seem to mind. This way, i do not have my mom's out hanging onto their babies for dear life.

Most of my girls though are fine with coming out during the day and showing off their babies. I have a shy girl, but she trusts me. So i really do not have the situation that you do. If whatever you try seems to stress out mom, then leave her alone. You dont want her to get upset and reject the joey(s).

On the other side of the coin, the less you handle them, the more "wild" they will be when they grow up. So if she gets nervous and doesnt seem to ever want to let you mess with them, you will just have to sneak them out at some point. I wouldnt wait longer than 3 weeks oop to start handling them. The longer you wait, the harder it is.

That is great advice from Kayla. She does have a shy mommie, but mommie let me hold her babies for a bit on first meeting. Mom didn't want anything to do with me though, she ate worms the whole time!

Naoshi's really good about showing off her babies, & will sometimes even open her pouch for me. Sydney's got her first IP & will let me hold her, but Punkin has her first IP, & curls up like a hedgehog anytime anyone is in the room. All gliders are different, but the one similarity is they'll all let you know when it's ok to handle them or the joeys. Joeys IP is a very fragile time, & having recently lost a joey IP...well, since Ponchess' joeys are not even OOP yet, I would still recommend not disrupting her or her routine.