Wake up times and feeding habits....

Hello fellow Glider lovers!

I apologize if I am posting too much. Things are coming up that I would love expert advice on....

Wake up times.... They seem to be waking up later and later every night. The room and the lighting is the same as the first night when they woke up at 9:30 pm. Each night since though they have been waking up later and later, last night they came out of the pouch at 11:20! They come out any later we'll be in bed already and won't be able to interact with them as much. Is there anything we can gently do to encourage an earlier wake up time? They are still awake when we go to work, they go to bed at about 8:30 am, so at least we get to see them in the morning for a little bit while we are getting ready for work. Would love a little extra time at night with them though.

The other question I have is in regards to their eating. Each morning the staple is 100% gone and so is most of the salad. When we come by their house though they go to the almost empty plate and look at us like they're starving. I feel so bad but I know they can overeat, so I don't want to give them too much, you know. We have witnessed a little bit of food stealing, but not bad. They both seem hungry though, not just one. We give them the amount of staple and salad for babies. Not sure what to do. I have been giving them a tiny bit more of the veggies in the morning for now... and they do eat it.

So this weekend, starting Friday night, I am going to stay up the whole night and observe how much each eats and when. It is still a little difficult to tell them apart but we do our best.

Thank you soooooooo much for reading...

What I did when judging their food was to keep increasing it a little at a time until there was consistently a little left each morning, but not much. Yes, there is an ideal, but it also depends on the glider and their activity much life there isn't a perfect answer for all humanity.

Even with that, mine are great at looking pathetically hungry in the hope of getting treats.

They could be getting up later for several reasons.

#1, Lighting too bright in the room.

#2. They are waiting for you to go to bed. They may be a bit overwhelmed with all the new attention they're getting.

#3. They are just being shy and unsure.

#4. Season change. It stays darker later in the morning...

#5. They are very young and will sleep 17-20 hours a day.

Mine did this when they were young. Or at least my first two did. Sometimes not getting up till midnight, but would be awake till 9-10 am. With naps all night.

This time of year through winter, they want to be fed by 5-6 pm. They will then take a nap and get up to play about 10pm- 2am. Will nap off and on the rest of their time time 6am.

Their spring /summer hours are 6- 7:30 want to be fed and go nap, and in bed for the day by 7am usually.

Last night Stewie was barking at 6pm to be fed. I was late.. they were up about an hour and went back to bed for 2 hours... Then back up wanting treats barking their heads off...

Dot is still a single (temporarily till we get back home), and she sits in her pouch and stares at her food for an hour. Like it's supposed to sprout wings and fly to her pouch...

Thank you both for the comments. I LOVE reading your words of Glider wisdom.

When they got older did they start to sleep less?

We tried tent time again (going for every other day so as not to overwhelm them) but I think it was too early because they just stayed in their sleeping pouch and slept. The whole time we were in there, not a cute little nose peeking out once. I think I heard some snoring though - Haha!

After we put them back in their house they didn't wake up until after we went to bed, so didn't get to see them at all last night. The good part however. . . No barking. The two nights before they barked between 4:30 - 5:30 am. So I left the radio on last night and no barking. Maybe that helped....

They do seem to stay up late in the morning though and look they are foraging for food. I thought they both went to bed for good just before I left for work at almost 9:00 am. I look down and there is Tika, in the area that we keep her food dish.. although the dish was gone since we clean it all up in the morning. I had even put some kibble (not a lot) in their snack tray earlier in the morning. Between the two of them that was gone in less than five minutes.

I want to leave some snacks in their house for during the day but they should be "healthy" ones, yes? If we just leave a bunch of kibble in there will it ruin their healthy diet? It is fun and interesting trying to figure out their habits, but a tiny bit frustrating too since we don't want to do the "wrong thing".

Thank you all for reading . . . .

You can leave bits and pieces of fruit and veggies they didn't eat the night before out for them. If the kibble is Pet-pro, it's balanced enough for them. Better to leave that than treats.

I will say mine stay up longer at a time. They eat, exercise, and play, eat some more, play, etc. It seems like hours when trying to sleep in the same room. They also like to just sit and catnap where they can watch their surroundings, both inside and outside of the cage. If they see moving shadows, they become very alert and twitchy. Their tails are high and on alert. It could be a branch outside the window moving... Sometimes they'll bark at it.

A couple of scenarios for you... Please comment.

Today we heard a lot of TSK-ing. It seemed like more than normal but then again we are normally only home during the day on the weekend. I told the little ladies that if they keep TSK-ing I would have to separate them. This was not just the normal "TSK, TSK, TSK, TSK". It was the TSK but then eventually one started that kind of squabbling (not crabbing) sound, sounds like someone is either getting hurt or extremely annoyed. So I ended up putting them both in a bonding pouch and had Daddy watch them for a while. All was good but then TSK-ing started again. So I separated them into two separate pouches. (We are not yet to the point where I am comfortable just letting one ride on my shoulder around the house.) So while they were separated they both moved around a LOT. Ignored the treat in the pouch and the apple. They have been extra bonded since we got them, as so they should be being sisters. I could tell they did NOT like being apart but I wasn't trying to punish them, just give them a break from each other. So the one being "picked on" (for lack of a better word) could have some peace for a second. I only kept them separated for about 10 minutes. I didn't want to stress them out so much they became sick. So I took both pouches, opened them up and let them run about in their house. One thing I can say.... no more TSK-ing so far.

My other scenario is that one of the girls, I believe Astrid, was still up all the way until about 5:00 pm. Tika had gone back to bed/pouch but Astrid stayed up, seemed like she was foraging for food. I saw her eating some bok choy, so I went and got her some more, which she took and ran off to eat. Then later, about 4:30 pm, thinking they were both now down for the count, I took all their dishes out and cleaned the area. I went back to the cage and Astrid was sitting in the area where we normally keep their food. She looked so lost, like "where's my food?". I brought her some more bok choy, nope. Brought her some pine nuts, yep.
Then she went back and played on the wheel for a while, finally retiring for the "night" about 5:00 pm. I have never seen one of the girls up so late. I was going to chalk that up to a rough "night" with the TSK-ing and the bonding pouches. Health wise she looks and acts normal. Moves fine, has good balance, bright eyes, cute pink little nose....

Overall, it has been a joy having them as part of the family. They seem bonded. . . . then they don't. . . .then they do . . . then they don't. I would like to fast forward a little to where they are more bonded but I believe that we are blessed that they are as bonded as they are, only having them with us for 7 weeks. So we will be patient.

Thanks for reading. . . Again... any comments on anything above would be awesome. I love hearing all of your stories.

P.S. We are pretty sure that between the two, Tika is the more dominant sister. So when they are both out playing Astrid goes along with what Tika wants. Once Tika goes to bed Astrid usually stays up a little longer by herself and plays with and eats what she wants.

So it sounds like they may be going through puberty. Starting heat cycles. They go through this about every 28- 30 days for about 2-3 days. Plus they may not cycle at the same time.

At this point, I would leave them together, but provide 2 sleeping pouches so they can have separate sleeping if they choose.

If you have weight scales, I would also weigh each one either daily or every few days to make sure there isn't a problem. Weight them the same time of day and keep a log. A few grams +/- is normal. Especially when they snack and potty/poo.

I would also make sure to offer 2 feeding dishes in separate areas of the cage. There could be some food aggression at night as well. Do you keep kibble in their cage for daytime snacks?

I know this sounds a little much and maybe a little scary, but it's better to be safe than sorry.

Is being up at odd hours part of puberty or her cycle? The last two days Tika has been up when we get home and stays up for a while. In the 8 weeks now we have had them that hasn't happened. Maybe it is the change in sunset times?

I'm going through similar issues with my 2- 5 year olds and Stewie (20 months). It's the weather/seasonal conditions.

These guys always get up between 5-6 pm. Now it's irradic. They will wake up between 7-10 pm for a snack out of their dinner plates, and back to bed. Till12-1 am. Then they'll play for a few hours, chill out, nap, and so on. Basically they are sleeping more.

Many mornings they will be in bed by 6am and back up at 9 am for about 30-45 minutes. I plan on starting a weather log, sun, wind, clouds, rain, storms, etc daily. Their weight hasn't changed and up till last night they've cleaned their plates.

I'm not disturbed yet, but want a log of weather, how well they ate, sleep times (that I'm aware of). They are all due for an annual check up in February. I may even keep track of when I wash their water silos( usually every 2-3 days).

So is it normal? No, but yes, they can change their sleeping habits. Use your best judgement.

Thank you for sharing.

Tika seems to be keeping to their "normal" routine that we had seen the last eight weeks. As of a few days ago, Astrid seems to like to stay up longer and get up earlier. Almost like she is up most of the day. She seems fine when she is up... normal balance and jumping and playing on her toys and wheel. Also seems to be hungry a bit more. The TSK-ing has stopped, it only did last a couple of days. They are both about 5 1/2 months old now, so chalking that up to the "cycle" you were talking about. Is part of their "cycle" odd sleeping hours or staying up a lot?

For water we use water dishes. We have two that we check daily and clean and refill almost every other day. For the catch-all try at the bottom, we clean it by hand every day.

Is staying up part of their cycle? I'm not sure. I haven't associated that with cycle unless something isn't quite right.

Could they be bored? Maybe they want some one on one time with you? Has your schedule for giving them attention/treats changed?

Gliders do hide illness very well, and I'm sure you know that once we notice they are sick, they start on the downhill real fast.


If you are really concerned, you can observe this. I find it's the best indicator of many sicknesses: clean drop pan at least every other day if not daily so you can see...
I would observe if they are pooping normal. I mean, watch them poop. If there seems to be a lot of strain, that can be a red flag, especially if it is a constant. Also look at the poo, is it too soft or hard? Is it made up of tiny little balls compacted together (not good)? or more 'loaf ' like ( good as long as it holds together well when dropped)? Watery poo isn't good either.

Watch for: Some gliders will hiss when they pee. If it's painful, will be a bit louder, and if they are in pain, you will see it in their body language. They kind of arch and look stiff in that position. They may also lick their cloaca a lot.

If you're still not sure, take samples of potty and poo in for testing.

Thank you again.

I put their food in with a more complete salad this morning. I was keeping the greens out until the morning for the last week and then giving them fresh greens (which they would eat on sight) in the morning. The way I was keeping the salad in the refrigerator was making the lettuce wilt before I could give it to them. I just made a new batch of salad last night and am storing it a different way, so I am giving them everything at once again. She wasn't up as much this morning as she has been. When we got home though she was up and begging for food. I gave her a green bean, a mushroom and some more kale .. she took it and ate it all. This is when she should be asleep. When she wasn't eating she was playing and finding snacks to eat. Her motor functions are fine, she is thinking normal (watched her work a toy to get a specific treat out), she is balanced, not lethargic at all, poop is normal (I see it every day when I clean their tray), she jumps fine and she exercises on the wheel.

Tonight at tent time she was extra excited and energized!!! Jumped all over us while her sister hung out under one of us and relaxed. I mean non-stop, took a couple breaks to drink some water that I always bring in with us, but did not stop moving practically the whole time. Towards the end they both laid down and they have been sleeping since being back in their house.

I have a poop sample and will be dropping it off at the vet tomorrow, just in case. I just would rather be safe than sorry. When I look at the list of what to look for if your glider is sick, she is the opposite, but the mommy in me would feel much better knowing her poop is being tested.

Thank you for reading again..