In Reply to: New to the page, but old with gliders. I also have a question about problems with breeding. posted by Christal on May 04, 1999 at 00:44:26:

As to why this happens, I'm not sure, but I have a male/female pair that does this too. When they came to me, they were severely calcium deficient and the female had a scab on top of her head, kinda like where the male has his bald spot and it was slightly smaller than a dime. It took months for the scab to come off, and my vet had no idea what it was from or how to get rid of it. He said he would have to anesthetize (sp?) her and lift the scab off, and I felt that was alittle extreme, so I didn't do it. Eventually, it came off, long after the calcium deficiency was taken care of. Anyway, it came off, the hair grew back and everything was good. Well, one day, I heard them scuffling in the nest box and I peeked inside to see what was up - he was holding her by her head with his teeth and had opened yet another wound in the same spot, trying to breed with her. She was screaming and bleeding and trying to get away, so I separated them. She is better now, and when one of my other pairs has a male joey, I will save him for her. The agressive male is very sweet with humans and I will have him neutered.

I think you did the best thing with the male, if keeping him in a different cage wasn't an option. I would imagine that some females will put up with agressive breeding and others won't. Either way, keeping your female safe is the important thing. She is probably better off with you as her only companion.

KK

Follow Ups:

• Re: New to the page, but old with gliders. I also have a question about problems with breeding. Christal 23:47:02 5/06/99 (0)