In Reply to: Re: Glider Bites posted by Andrew Meadows on July 10, 2000 at 19:19:59:

I think getting him neutered would be the way to go! If that doesn't calm him down i would check into getting him a companion. When you introduced the female before, did you put their cages side by side so they could get use to each other being around or did you just put her in his cage? Gliders are very territorial, they will fight to the death when an intruder enters their territory. Introductions take time! I personally think gliders are much happier with a companion of their own kind, and it might redirect his attention to her and away from you guy's. I would try the neutering first and see if it helps, introducing gliders takes time and patience and it's not always an easy thing to do. Good Luck! Let us know what you decide.

: : How long have you had him? My male did the same as you are describing, but my situation was a little different. My male started biteing viciously after introducing a female to him. We had an extremely close bond prior to that. Did you or your wife have a close bond with him prior to this biteing episode? I don't think i can be of much help to you, maybe someone with more knowledge will respond, i can only tell you about my situation. After months and months of wearing long sleeve shirts and gloves we finally decided to get him neutered and hope for the best. We new either way that we couldn't get rid of him, whether it helped or not. We got him neutered a little over three months ago and about 2 months ago we threw away the gloves. I have also heard that in some cases neutering didn't help, the glider stayed mean, so i understand your concern, if you have to get rid of him at least un-neutered he could be sold as a breeder. I really hope the best for you and the glider! If you had a strong bond prior to this episode and you haven't introduced a female for him to be protective over I just can't figure out what could have triggered the attacks. (T.J.)

: Thanks for the input. My wife in particular has had a close bond. It sounds like the nuetering has begin to work for you. A little more info on your experience would be appreciated. We did purchase a female for him shortly after we got him but they almost killed each other and after several days we gave up. That was, however, a long time before he started biting. We had also read that either close attention or a playmate was required so we decided to stay with our paying lots of attention every night. Anyway, whatever else advice you may have would be great. Thanks again.

Follow Ups:

• Re: Glider Bites Andrew Meadows 18:35:14 07/11/2000 (0)