GliderCENTRAL

Frequent mating, but no babies

Posted By: justin

Frequent mating, but no babies - 11/07/14 01:16 AM

My gliders have been mating regularly for over a year now, and still no babies!!! Neither glider has any sterility in either family line, so how do I go about finding out what is wrong?
Posted By: CandyOtte

Re: Frequent mating, but no babies - 11/07/14 03:48 AM

There are many reasons they may not be producing joeys.

The first thing that comes to mind is - does your male have a bald spot and chest gland indicating that he is indeed an intact male. Many times folks are sold gliders that have had a pom on neuter so they assume the male is intact.

The second possible issue to explore is their diet. If the female is not getting adequate nutrition she will not be able to support the growing joeys to a point where they are developed enough to be OOP. If the joeys are lost early in their development while in pouch you may not even notice that they were there.

What are you feeding your gliders?
Posted By: justin

Re: Frequent mating, but no babies - 11/07/14 02:14 PM

To the first question, yes, the male has a bald spot and chest gland. As for their diet, it mostly consists of mixed vegetables, instant HPW mix, some fruits (blueberries, banana, apple), glideraid once or twice a week. The male will eat just about any source of protien, but the female is very picky and will not eat mealies, but will sometimes go for the crickets. The female's favorite treat is the goldfish crackers, so we got her the ones that are wholegrain and high in protien. The male will eat them as well, along with pine nuts and sunflower seeds. They both like the dried fruit (mango, pineapple, kiwi).
Posted By: Feather

Re: Frequent mating, but no babies - 11/07/14 04:36 PM

Is your female bigger than your male? My Tucker is shorter in body than his wifey, T'Pol and it took them a year to have one joey and they haven't given me any since and it is now over a year since the only joey has come OOP.

I think that when Tucker thinks he is where he is supposed to be his butt doesn't reach hers. Technical difficulty.
Posted By: justin

Re: Frequent mating, but no babies - 11/07/14 07:02 PM

she is fatter, but they are about the same height and length.
Posted By: GliderNursery

Re: Frequent mating, but no babies - 11/08/14 03:57 AM

How old are they? I know you said "for over a year".

There are also some gliders that, for unknown reasons, appear to not want to be parents. These females may never allow the underdeveloped fetus to migrate to the pouch, or they (mom or dad) could be pulling them.
Posted By: justin

Re: Frequent mating, but no babies - 11/08/14 07:05 PM

They are almost 2 now. We have had them for a little over a year. The couple we bought them from had them since they were 3 weeks oop.
Posted By: GliderNursery

Re: Frequent mating, but no babies - 11/08/14 08:44 PM

Are you 100% positive he isn't a pom-on neuter? I know you said he has a bald spot and chest scent gland, so I'm assuming he is intact. Don't laugh, but have you felt to see if there are testes in the scrotum? Its possible, even if sterility isn't in the lines, that he could have underdeveloped testes, which could prevent him from actually impregnating her. With the level of testosterone in his system, he would still have the urge and attempt each time she goes into heat.

Can you provide a link to their lineage? I can take a look to see if there is something there that could trace back to a sterility issue from known sterile lines. I know you said they don't come from sterile lines, but it never hurts to have a second set of eyes look at it for you. If you'd prefer, you can PM the lineage to me.

If you find that he is totally intact and normal, there is no sterility issues, then it would be my guess that they just don't want to be parents. And although there are some gliders that have waited a long time to reproduce, it likely isn't going to happen with this pair.
Posted By: hwh4ev

Re: Frequent mating, but no babies - 11/09/14 07:42 PM

i have read that the hpw instant does not even have the wambaroo powder in it. it is also full of fillers and preservatives, junk food.

i would try a more glider proven staple and offer a little more of the staple/vegs/fruits.
good treats are live crickets/canned crickets/grasshoppers.

a better diet may help your problem.

are either of the gliders over weight?
Posted By: CandyOtte

Re: Frequent mating, but no babies - 11/09/14 09:53 PM

Quote:
it mostly consists of mixed vegetables, instant HPW mix, some fruits (blueberries, banana, apple), glideraid once or twice a week.


While it is true that instant HPW (from exotic nutrition) does not contain Wombaroo High Protein Supplement as it name tries to imply, I do not think it has a lot of fillers. It may or may not be a good diet - it is still relatively new so there are not long term observations of gliders fed this product long term.

If it is SIMILAR to the original HPW - is may not be very high in calcium and like original HPW it may have a ratio about 1:1 or roughly equal amounts of calcium and phosphorus. If so, feeding the frozen mixe vegetables every day may be too much phosphorus - throwing the overall balance of the diet in to a lower amount of calcium than phosphorus.

Try offering a wider variety of fruits and vegetables and include some higher calicum foods a few nights each week. Spinach or other dark green vegetables, bok choi, okra, broccoli, papaya would be good to include.
Posted By: Srlb

Re: Frequent mating, but no babies - 11/12/14 12:51 PM

If gliders are not happy with each other, even though they do not fight, they may choose not to have offspring.

Also, you stated the people who had this pair prior to you getting them, had them since they were 3 weeks OOP.
First, that is way too young to be taken away from mom and the gliders may not have received the adequate nutrition that was needed at that time.

Secondly, if they were both 3 weeks oop are you sure they are not a brother/sister pairing?
© 2024 GliderCENTRAL