GliderCENTRAL

Biting/clawing holes in pouch lining

Posted By: SarahW

Biting/clawing holes in pouch lining - 08/17/09 03:08 PM

Hi all,

One of my gliders has started biting or clawing small holes in the lining of her summer pouches.

I always keep at least two pouches in the cage, a warm fleece one and a lighter summer one. My gliders have been opting for the summer pouches lately, and one of them has, in the past week, started biting or clawing small holes in the linings of the summer pouches. Over a day or two she will make it bigger if we don't catch it.

This is problematic because I am running out of summer pouches, but more concerning is that once a hole about the size of a quarter exists, she squeezes through it and gets trapped between the lining and the pouch and will not be able to find her way out. This frightens her a lot and could also be dangerous (so it frightens me a lot too!). So far this has only happened once (fortunately around 6 in the morning, so we heard her struggling) and my boyfriend was able to cut her out of the pouch.

Thoughts? Suggestions? I'm at a loss and terrified she will do something during the day while nobody is home to hear her and rescue her.
Posted By: SugareeErin

Re: Biting/clawing holes in pouch lining - 08/17/09 03:39 PM

You need to check pouches every day and remove immediatly when they start to become worn or damaged. A hole like that is very dangerous and even a loose string could kill your babies.

You could get them something different to sleep in like a basket, and offer fleece blankets.
Posted By: minkasmom

Re: Biting/clawing holes in pouch lining - 08/17/09 03:51 PM

As Erin suggested, I'd get her an alternate place to sleep until it "cools down" (that's going to be awhile in Oklahoma, I know). You could get some plastic embroidery hoops at Wal-Mart (I'm thinking the diameter is like 10" to 12", cost is less than $1.50 each) and make a "no-sew basket" for her (and other cagemates) to sleep in. Invest in a remnant piece of fleece and get the LARGEST mixing bowl you have to be your "template"...cut a circle, then make little cuts toward the center about 1/2" apart (if I'm explaining myself right, you can envision a fringed circle) then tie the fringes to the embroidery hoop--the part that DOESN'T have the adjusting screw. Tie it in 3 different places with a 1" wide piece of fleece to hang. This would be the coolest (temperature wise) thing I can think of with the MINIMAL amount of money required to construct it.

The $64.00 question is WHY she's suddenly doing this...look around her "environment" and carefully review EVERY DETAIL: has her cage been moved, is there a new/different smell or sound that's happened within the past couple weeks? Are you using a new detergent? Diet change? Something has to be triggering this behavior...your challenge comes with trying to figure out WHAT it is.

GOOD LUCK!
Posted By: Jackie_Chans_Mom

Re: Biting/clawing holes in pouch lining - 08/17/09 04:05 PM

Make sure that you are keeping plenty of blankets in her pouch. Often, with gliders that do this, they are trying to bury to feel safe. If you put 2-3 larger blankies in their pouch, they will stop chewing.

If that doesn't work, also make sure you keep the pouch away from the side of the cage - hang it from the top instead.

I have two major chewers. Sometimes, there is nothing to do but replace the pouch. Other times, lots of blankies works.

We are pretty close. If you find that you need new pouches right away, give me a call. In a few hours we could meet and get some to you.
Posted By: SarahW

Re: Biting/clawing holes in pouch lining - 08/17/09 04:17 PM

I'm not sure why she started this, but a good candidate is that she is on some medicine for a recent UTI, and that started right before this pouch chewing happened. We put her on meds and the UTI is clearing up, but she is not done with the meds yet. So far she has not been interested in chewing through fleece.
Posted By: SarahW

Re: Biting/clawing holes in pouch lining - 08/17/09 04:20 PM

The blankets idea is a good one; I don't know why I didn't think of it. One of them moved all the blankets into the other pouch a few nights before this happened!
Posted By: gliderma

Re: Biting/clawing holes in pouch lining - 08/17/09 04:30 PM

maybe the pouch smells like medicine? Try giving her a fresh one each night with lots of blankies.
Posted By: sugarlope

Re: Biting/clawing holes in pouch lining - 08/17/09 07:59 PM

I have one that chews through pouches with any kind of 'stuffing'. dunno I agree with what has been said, blankets are a great idea. It could also be something like problems with her teeth.
Posted By: silverwolf

Re: Biting/clawing holes in pouch lining - 08/20/09 05:39 PM

I had a my male that every once in a while will start doing this. I had him checked no health problems it seems that every once in a while I get fleece with a smell that he doesn't like and he will chew every pouch made out of it. Blankets do help though it gives them a distraction.
Posted By: SarahW

Re: Biting/clawing holes in pouch lining - 08/24/09 01:07 AM

Since switching to slightly thicker fleece pouches and adding blankets for them, we've had no problems with pouch lining biting! Hopefully this trend continues!!!
Posted By: SugareeErin

Re: Biting/clawing holes in pouch lining - 08/24/09 01:38 AM

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