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HELP!!!! food aggressive glider

Posted By: Anonymous

HELP!!!! food aggressive glider - 09/16/09 05:19 AM

So I have a female glider that is being very very food aggressive. I think she might have a baby in her pouch so I was wondering if this could be the reason that she's being so aggressive. She's never been this mean about food. She bit me several times tonight when I was trying to get the food bowls out of their cage. She is in a cage with another female and a male, and she is fighting both of them for the food. Since she attacked me when I tried to get the food bowls out I put some fruit on the top of the cage hoping to distract her long enough to grab the bowls, and she started biting and crabbing at the other two. She has never been this aggressive so I was just wondering if anyone has any ideas why she is doing this and what I can do so she doesn't get in a bad fight with the other two gliders in the cage. Any help as soon as possible would be very very much appreciated.
Posted By: Dancing

Re: HELP!!!! food aggressive glider - 09/16/09 05:54 AM

There could be any number of reason this is happening. I've had it happen several times with different cages of gliders. What I usually do is offer MORE food and put it on several different plates/dishes in different parts of the cage. With three gliders, make sure you have atleast 3 dishes right now. She can't guard all of them. Also, make sure you are basically over feeding them. Gliders will act this way if they are hungry or feel they might become hungry. And glider's dietary needs change throughout the year. Sometimes they just want more to eat, sometimes less.

Pregnant females need more food to support the growing/nursing joeys. When I have a pregnant female/male pair, I will feed enough food for 3 gliders. If I realize she has twins ip, I will up the amount to enough to feed 4 gliders. I often over feed and end up giving the left overs to my chickens but this way I know without a doubt that mom and joeys are getting what they need.
Posted By: Jackie_Chans_Mom

Re: HELP!!!! food aggressive glider - 09/16/09 12:18 PM

Another way to cut down on food aggression is to have food in the cage BEFORE the gliders wake up. This means changing your schedule to feed earlier, but is well worth it for keeping the peace in the cage.

I have had two extreme food aggressive rescues come in. There are so many things you can try to decrease it. Try putting the food in earlier AND in many different dishes as Teresa suggested, and if that doesn't work, come back and we'll give you more suggestions. Most of the time, these two will do the trick.
Posted By: sugarlope

Re: HELP!!!! food aggressive glider - 09/16/09 06:42 PM

I agree with Teresa and Val. Food aggression often occurs at the changing of seasons with some gliders. Their amount of intake actually changes (whether due to change in temperature, lighting, or something else) and if they notice they have less food left over, or no food left over, they start trying to hoard.

Make sure to have the food out every night before they get up. By not having to wait for food, they will learn food will always be there and they don't need to worry. Because you have a food aggressive glider now, feed more than they can possibly eat for a while until they settle down. Separate bowls in glider kitchens (and preferably at different heights in the cage as well) will make it more difficult to protect all the feeding stations and means the other gliders are more likely to get to eat.

Realize that once a glider starts trying to hoard and protect, they are actually eating less because they are so busy fighting off the other gliders, they don't eat as much, so the cycle will continue for a while. The longer a glider has been food aggressive, the longer it tends to last, so don't worry about a shift in attitude for at least 1-2 weeks (potentially longer if the aggression has already been going on 2+ weeks).

Now that you know you have a glider like this, pay attention to their eating habits on a daily basis. If you notice that they are eating more food than they have been lately (for 2+ days in a row) increase the amount of food you put in and it should keep this from happening.

My kids shift their appetites 4 times a year, seasonally. Their appetites go up or down depending on the season, so I feed more or less food in reaction and have not had fights for a while now. thumb
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: HELP!!!! food aggressive glider - 09/16/09 08:55 PM

Thank you all very much! I was having a panic attack last night! I have my battle wounds to show off today, but nothing to serious. Once I got the food in the cage she calmed down and shared the bowl with the other two gliders, thank goodness. I have more than one bowl in there but they all crowed around the same bowl and she was just fine sharing. I'll have to get more bowls to put in there and ones I can put in different levels of the cage. Thank you for your suggestions. My baby has never been so angry. I will watch her eating habbits more carefully and if I'm not home to feed them before they wake up I will have someone else at my house do it. Once again thank you all!
Posted By: sugarlope

Re: HELP!!!! food aggressive glider - 09/16/09 10:57 PM

I meant to say too - the boy I have that is this way will also attack and crab at me when he is being food aggressive. He NEVER crabs or bites me at any other time (never has). So I hope things start to settle down for them (and you) quickly, now that you know. smile
Posted By: Dancing

Re: HELP!!!! food aggressive glider - 09/17/09 04:06 AM

Could she be pregnant? My Gianna gets like that but only when she has joeys (usually only when they are oop but still nursing). She is in a non breeding situation now and I never have any agression from her. She just got so protective of her joeys, she didn't want me or anything else invading her territory where it could be a threat to her babies.
Posted By: tacasper

Re: HELP!!!! food aggressive glider - 09/23/09 04:46 AM

I have one food aggressive glider and I started putting dried fruit and snacks in the cage so that he wasn't starving when I brought in the meals. That helped a lot.

I'd also make sure that if you do think that she is with joey/s that there's no fighting amongst the trio. She could be lashing out because there is tension. The other female could be jealous of her joeys or visa versa.
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