In Reply to: One week's progress posted by Wesley on April 24, 2000 at 06:03:53:

Maggie sounds like a typical youngster!

I have had my gliders for 6 months.
I purchased a female and a male. My husband and I were
traveling at the time, with two large dogs.

While traveling I carried my gliders in a belly bag.
In the evenings I would let them out to play in the bathroom
(the only place avaiable with two large dogs in the hotel room)
At first they would do nothing but climb up to the shower curtain
rod and stay the whole hour I had them out. I just left them
while I prepared their food and cage for the evening (which
also stayed in the bathroom with the door closed)

Once home, I carried them in the toe of a sock I had cut off
pinned to my shirt. There they stayed all day. Around nine
in the evenings I would parpare their food and let them out to play
for two hours.

It took approx 1 month of this routine for my gliders to feel
comfortible with us.

I had problems with feeding in the beginning. Young gliders
are picky eaters. Buy fruits you like. If your glider will
not eat it you can and change it often while Maggie is young.
Try the same fruits and veggies over and over again. What
she won't eat today she may eat next week.

Be sure to wash your hands before handling her. There could
be a smell on them she doesn't like. I also made it a point
to pick one shirt and pair of pants that I wore only when my
gliders were out playing for a week at a time. Their scent
was always on me until I washed my clothes. My gliders still
sleep in the toe end of a sock. Each time I change this out
for washing I take the clean sock and rub the inside of it
on my body to transfer my smell to it.

Maggie's cage behavior sounds like she is upset. This could
be because she is young and has been removed from her known
surroundings. Gliders do like a normal routine. If you carry
her around all day while she is sleeping, pick a time to feed
her and let her play for at least 1 to 2 hours in the evening
then put her in her cage for the night. If she is still up
in the mornings, (I always check on mine when I first get up
to remove remaining food) get her out and let her play again.
If you keep your times and routine the same she should settle
down. I even give mine a vitamin yogart drop around 6 in the
evening. If I'm late they are awake and waiting for me.

Some foods I found my young ones liked:

watermelon, avocado (very ripe, low fat yogart with fruit,
low fat cottage cheese, apple sauce. I mix in one dish
yogart, cottage cheese and apple sauce with apple juice
poured on top.

One other thing to remember. Don't keep her cage close to
any appliance that may make a sound that you can't hear but
she can. TV, frig, etc.

Be paitent, it will take some time for her to bond. I have
never been able to call mine and have them come to me. When
I let them out to play in the evening, I just stick my hand in their
cage and they climb on. When they jumb off to go play, I
place their food dishes inside the cage, change their water
and bedding, then latch open the door so they can go in to
eat and drink any time during their play time.

Sugar (the female) will run around on the floor and have very
little to do with us while she is out. Too busy exploring!
Roid (the male) never gets on the floor and stays on me or
my husband most of the time. He does chase Sugar around now
that they are at the mating age.

Hope this helps!

Regards,
Gayla

: I've had Maggie for a week now. She is showing significant
: improvement with the concerns I intially had when I brought her
: home. She has stopped making the barking noises, as if she
: has accepted the fact she won't find her mom or siblings again.
: She enthusiastically eats grapes, drinks apple juice, eats these
: little pellets the nice lady we bought her from gave us.
: I have just a few questions for you more experienced glider
: owners out there.. does any of this sound familiar to you?

: Maggie will sometimes sit perfectly still in her cage with her eyes
: wide open. She will not respond to calls, but she will move again when
: she is petted or a grape is thrust in front of her nose. She does this
: often, and long enough for me to wonder if there is something wrong with her.

: Maggie will crab loudly, seemingly in her sleep, when she's in my pocket.
: I have been reading with her in my breast pocket and she will scare
: the bejesus out of me with that loud noise. When I open up the pocket,
: however, she will still be cuddled in a ball with her eyes shut.
: Is she having a ni.aspare? Is she cold? I do nothing to disturb her.

: Maggie will not eat anything I've given her except grapes, water, apple
: juice and the little biscuits she came with. I've tried yogurt
: (with and without honey), apples, pear, cantaloupe, watermelon, baby
: food (chicken w/apples), raisins, tomato, and a few other things.
: She's only one week weaned now. Is she finicky? Is she just struggling
: to adapt to a new diet?

: She sleeps all the time. She seems to get excited just when we're trying
: to put her in the cage for the night. We are awake nighs, so we generally
: put her to bed around 8 a.m. Is it because she's young? Is she not active
: enough?

: Lastly, she will not come when called and often will not climb onto my hand
: when I offer it to her so she can sniff it. I was told to handle her constantly,
: since she is so young. I keep her with me at least 8 hours per day, in my pocket,
: in my hand, in my lap, etc.. sometimes she will climb on me. Up my sleeve, down
: my neck and into my shirt, especially in my hair. I set her on a napkin so she
: doesn't make a mess on me when I take her out of her cage, but I'm still worried
: to let her run free on me. BUT, will she bond to me if I pick her up when she
: doesn't want to come on her own? Do I leave her alone, by herself, until she
: decides to come to me, or do I pick her up every afternoon?

: Oh yes.. one last question.. I've tried to place her high up in her cage, on her
: ladder or the branches in her cage. She is good at going straight up and will
: climb upside down on the bars of her cage, but then she can't get down! She will
: climb in circles until she gets tired of hanging, then she hangs by one foot and
: wiggles her front paws frantically. This scares me, so I help her down. Should
: I let her take care of herself to learn these things? I want her to learn her cage
: but maybe she isn't coordinated enough. Is she just a little dim?

: I wonder.

: Any replies, however small, would be appreciated.
: Thanks.

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