Hi, well to start off I have a family of sugar gliders, the mother and father are 2 years old and there joeys are 6 weeks old (today!)
well someone came over to my house and gave me this really old sugar glider, this poor little girl is 12 years old!
They said they wanted her to be happy and with other gliders but i dont know how to introduce them with joeys involved.
Shes in a tiny cage right now and I feel really bad because I dont have another cage I can put her in, I want to get her in with my other gliders soon but I dont know if they will get along. shes really old and I dont want her or the joeys to get hurt.
I have another pair (there 10 months old) but when I even put her tiny cage near there cage the male started going all crazy, he was marking everywhere and he was crazy!
what should I do!
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Either of your younger females may well kill the older female. The only sure-fire solution is to buy or make a nice big cage. For three or four gliders (read on) 5 feet wide by 3 feet deep by 8 feet high should be enough. Don't keep ANY number of gliders in a cage less than 4 feet square! Put another nesting box in your original cage with the joeys. Transfer your female to the new cage. Have two nesting boxes for this cage, but only use one and swap them every few days, so the old female's scent is on both of them. Put the two joeys into the tiny cage for about three to four days, and whichever nest box is not being used in the big cage with the old female, use that. Finally, in the middle of the day, transfer the joeys from the tiny cage (in their nest box) into the big cage. Make sure there are plenty of NEW branches, ropes and toys in the cage on that first night, and that there is plenty of food scattered around the cage ready for night-time. When the ten-monthers have their first joey(s), do the same thing and transfer one of the joeys to the big cage. This will create a varied group - although with one than female, your joey quota will go down - as competing females will eat joeys from each other's pouches about 20% of the time (this happens in the wild too). I know this is complex but gliders can and will kill each other if you don't take care, and it is over in a flash. This way creates less friction.
I wouldn't do it. Not at least until the joeys are weaned. If you stress out momma, then she might reject the joeys or cannibalize them. I wouldn't risk putting them together with the joeys. Once they're weaned you could try it.
Keep their cages next to each other for a little while, and then if they take interest in one another (as long as it's not negative), you can try intros. But FIRST!!!! You need to quarantine. The older glider needs to be kept in a separate room for about one month, then taken to the vet for a wellness exam. You wouldn't want the gliders you have right now to get sick with something that the newcomer may have, would you?
After the quarantine, THEN do intros.
When I get my new male to put in with my girls (he's neutered - no babies), I'm going to keep their cages side by side for a while, then take them into the bathroom. Put a drop of vanilla on their shoulders and introduce the new girl to one glider at a time. If they all seem fine with her, then you could try and introduce more to her at a time until everyone is together. Good luck! :)