New and questions!

Hello

My name is Morgan. I work with various exotic animals in my job. I used to work for a company that did lots of education and outreach with animals like reptiles, Roos, kinkajous, lemurs, etc. So about two years ago I rescued a male glider while working with that company. People would often inform us of exotic pets they didn't want or knew of that were being neglected. I had researched gliders and was so happy to adopt the little guy. I was just concerned he had been alone most of his life...and I didn't want him to continue to be alone. Sadly where I was living there wasn't really anywhere to get him another companion. He is bonded with me and quite the character, as most are.

This summer however, I ventured into the opportunity to rescue another glider--a female. She had been mistreated by a large number of kids for several months to years it seemed. She was SO frightened of everything when I got her back in July. I slowly worked on spending time with her in non stressful ways, bonding techniques, etc., as well as slowly introducing her to my male, Klaus. She didn't want anyone at first, but after a month she was happy with Klaus and I was able to trust them together. So now they room together and keep each other company--they seem content with one another. So stinking cute, and Klaus is much happier I think, thank goodness.

SO, Violet still isn't bonded to me, although she tolerates me lol she just hasn't gotten to the point where she is comfortable letting me hold her. But, we had to move states in September and I know that was stressful on them, so I'd been giving them space to relax.

Yesterday, I was feeding them some insects and noticed something--I have no idea how I hadn't seen it before. I felt like Violet had been staying in her pouches a lot more. Anyway, I noticed she had two--pretty large--puffy lumps on either side of he pouch! I thought I knew what they were but I did more research last night. I will do my best to maybe post a photo here as well if I can. But I'm preeeeetty sure she is Pregnant!

NOW, if you've made it this far, thank you and kudos to you reading my novel lol I'm so happy and excited, but as you may imagine surprised! I didn't think she would get pregnant so quickly, with the move and all.
So my questions now that you know our life's history:

1. What are your best recommendations to help violet and/or Klaus while the joey(s) are still in pouch?? I've done research, but I wanted to ask under my circumstances. Even just pointing me to the best info you think exists would be helpful!

2. How do you think I should handle my relationship with Violet right now? Should I just continue to give her lots of space as to not add more stress? Or is there a way I can continue to work on bonding with her during the pregnancy? My priority is the wellbeing of my gliders obviously, but if there's a way I can keep bonding with her I'd love to.

3. What to do with the joeys once the time comes? I have no idea the laws around Gliders in Chicago, but I will research them over the next few weeks. I'd like to keep them. But is it an okay idea to keep them all in one enclosure once they mature? I feel like that is a stupid question, sorry. I just don't know if I should prep another enclosure for the babies and mom, or move dad, or keep them together? I am not sure yet and some guidance would be much appreciated!

Again, if you made it through the post, thanks for reading. And thank you to anyone in advance who responds to my post. I really really appreciate any input or advice in answers! Thanks all!

Cheers

If you have any other questions please ask them in the appropriate sub-forum.

Welcome to GliderCENTRAL!

Thank you so much!

Morgan,

As Kimberley (who is very knowledgeable) has given you amazing advice, I'll second everything she has said.

I still consider myself fairly new at gliders, so take what follows for just that. I adopted four balls of fur from a breeder back in January this year. All four have completely different personalities, so I had to learn to approach each one differently to make progress. I just thought I'd share some ideas that seemed to help my most timid glider finally make a bond with me.

Even when both my girls would come to me & Arthur would accept pets & scratches, Merlin would still shy away from my hand even for treats. A treat through the bars, if I held still, would occasionally work... but it was still a grab & run.

So, I started using that to my advantage. I palmed a few treats in the hand for him (I had to use my other hand to keep my other balls of trouble occupied). After he grabbed one from my fingers, I would leave my hand right where is was & move another to my finger tips. He learned to stay there (within a stretch & grab range). I moved my hand to the inside doing the same technique.

After Merlin was comfortable with that, I stopped showing extra treats right away. He would stretch... & there was nothing! He would sniff & smell them, but couldn't see them. Merlin would give up & move away at first, but after a few times he tried to explore a bit to find where the goodies were. As soon as he touched me, I produced a new one. Initially, he would jump away when I moved, but he figured that game out quick.

When Merlin stopped jumping away, I stopped having the extra treats. He would crawl on my fist to find them & I would open my hand slowly to show him nothing was there. It took a while, but soon Merlin wasn't jumping off when he realized there was no more treats. Instead, he would give me dirty looks while sitting on my hand.

Just like the process was a bit to type, this is a very slow strategy. After 10 months, Merlin is just now coming to me on his own. If you try this, you'll probably get more than a few nips since you'll smell like the treats that Violet (love the name) is craving. Talk the whole process, softly in the beginning & move up to normal conversation.

Like I said, I'm of limited experience, but this finally brought Merlin out of his shell. Good luck & keep the stories of you duo (about to be quartet) coming :D

P.S.: We LOVE pictures!!!

Your glider names are so precious!
My mother actually named me Morgannah ❤️
Morgan is much more common though!

I love your advice. Great use of positive reinforcement training
I tried taking photos but it was pretty blurry. And I'm new to this and honestly couldn't figure out how to add them to my post!
>.<

Haha!

I use yogurt (full flavor no artifical sweeteners) or honey as a licky treat on a small spoon or straw, or finger. If it's on your finger don't let her clean it down to skin at first, she may mistake you for food.

Daddy will help raise the joeys. He gives Mom a break.

If you plan on keeping the joeys, I would consider the size of your cage. How big is your cage?

I think it would be great to keep them and have a nice colony.

As far as bonding with your new female, it may take time and patience. We are bonded to Fiona more than Dot. It is just her personality. She prefers her cage.

Feather gave you some great advise in the quote box. I'm not sure if you could see it all, you can scroll down inside the box.