separating baby

I have a 7 week old baby girl, will be 8 weeks next weekend. she has a family to go to when she's weaned, but I don't see her out of the cage much right now. She's still housed with mom and dad and aunt. Before she goes to her new home, where she will be an only glider, should I pull her from mom and dad's cage to make sure she is coming out and eating on her own and so that she will get used to being by herself? I work with the teenager's mother who is getting the girl, so I"m right here in town if they need anything. Just want to make sure she's ready before I send her off. Any ideas or suggestions?

I would not separate them from mom and dad. Babies can take up to 10 weeks to wean. If you have not seen the joey out I would wait. I only let my joeys go when I have seen them out eating on their own.

I also perform what I call the pee/poop test. I take the baby out to play with me and they MUST pee and poop on ME before they go anywhere!!!

Paula

Some joeys are just late bloomers. You might want to hold onto her until your positive that she's eating on her own. Like Paula said, some can take up to 10 weeks to wean.

Or some, like my little girl, can be early bloomers. She opened her eyes at 6 days oop, tail was getting very fluffy at 3 1/2 weeks oop, is eating/peeing/pooing on her own at about 4 1/2 weeks and now at 7 weeks has her "own" pouch away from mom and dad.

Actually, they should be able to urinate and defecate on their own at about 3 weeks out of pouch, so using that as a determining factor could be very unreliable. If you haven't seen the joey out and about eating on its own, then you should hold off on letting it go. You can try offering some food to the joey while holding it to see if the joey is willing to eat on its own or not - that may be a better indicator for you.
HTH

I've been trying that. she seems to have no interest at all in licky treats from me, but she did take a yoggie this morning and tried to eat it. She has been out some, but not a lot, unless she comes out after I've gone to bed. I did see her drinking some gliderade before as well. I hadn't planned on separating her until I knew she was eating and drinking on her own, but once she is, would it be a good idea to separate her for a little while before she goes to her new home, so she's used to it?

thanks for all the info and advice!

You can do it either way. Some breeders do separate the joeys for a few days before sending them to their new home. Others, like myself, leave them with the parents until they are ready to go. I always send fleece blankies that have been in the pouch with the parents so the joey has their scent for a while.