Hi All, I just bought a female mosaic and try to pair with my classic male. But I noticed that the female mosaic tried to ride on top of male, and she rubbed her head on male neck, which these behaviour are always done by a male supposingly.
Will a glider thought she was an opposite gender?

Hey Joseph. To answer your question yes, your "she" could be a "he." However an easy way to check is to see if she has a pouch. You can fihure this out by if you look at her stomach while she sleeps or while she holds on to the bars of a cage. If she has a little slit or hole on her tummy than she is a female.

If you paired them recently she may just be trying to scent mark the male. (Im pretty sure but dont quote me that,) this would be good because it would mean she likes the male as a colony member and wants to scent him as her own.

Also question did you do 30-day quarintine to make sure she has no illnesses that could spread to your male? If you didnt I would watch your male closely. He could get sick if she had any hidden sicknesses.

One last question, are you planning on breeding them? If so was that why you were confused on why she was trying to ride on him? If you are breeding I would make sure to have a rejection kit in case things go bad and I would recommend to get them lineage if they dont have it already.

Anyways I hope you enjoy your new little mosaic baby whatever gender they end up being. :)

"But I noticed that the female mosaic tried to ride on top of male" This is not a gender specific thing or even a breeding specific thing. Yes males can/do mount females, but younger gliders male or female will ride on older gliders backs as they do on their parents until they are mature.

So if your female is a bit younger than the male or if the male is a bit bigger than the female she may ride on his back indicating she's still got the baby mode going on.

I've had a 3 yr old female ride on her cage mates backs because she was considerably smaller than the other 2 were and the other two were not bothered by it all. The cage mates were a female of the same age and an older neutered male.


"and she rubbed her head on male neck, which these behaviour are always done by a male supposingly."


This is a video of the 3 yr old female that rode on backs mentioned above rubbing her head on the neutered males neck after they were introduced.

she's not rubbing HER scent on him, she is rubbing HIS scent onto herself. males have 3 scent glands, 1 on their head, 1 on their chest just below their neck, and 1 anal gland. Females have 2 scent glands, 1 at their pouch and 1 anal gland.

This is normal behavior for females that are introduced to a male (neutered or intact) that's not to say all females do it....but it's not abnormal if they do.

Right where she is licking you can see his scent gland, which is right where she was rubbing her head

Thanks for your answer. she is a female, got her pouch under her belly. ^^

Another question is that why my new mosaic female will fight with my female glider, but just doing well with both male gliders. (btw i have a family of classic grey - parents and one baby male). I have tried to swap their sleeping pouch and even exchange the cage. Currently i put the mosaic female with the baby male, then the parents are in another cage. Any other method that i can get those two female together without any fight?

quote:

---

Originally posted by joseph1021

Thanks for your answer. she is a female, got her pouch under her belly. ^^

Another question is that why my new mosaic female will fight with my female glider, but just doing well with both male gliders. (btw i have a family of classic grey - parents and one baby male). I have tried to swap their sleeping pouch and even exchange the cage. Currently i put the mosaic female with the baby male, then the parents are in another cage. Any other method that i can get those two female together without any fight?

---

I wonder for how long you have swap pouches. also the cages 8 inches apart
is a good idea. a colony will have an alpha or boss, he may not want another
glider in his colony, he may need more time to adjust to a new colony mate or
more time with pouch swaps and excepting another.
When we went to 8 gliders, one female spent much of the first day sleeping
outside the hammock. finally she moved back into the colony to sleep the second
day.
We went to 11 and one of the females was not accepted, they would all sleep
ok during the day, but at night 2 or 3 of the females would chase on female to top of large cage and that is were she stayed of two nights until we moved her out.

Currently we have 6 glider colony and 2 glider colony, the first introduction
a male and female fought. so we are doing more pouch swapping. but every time I have scent on my hands and arms the other one will get super excited and rub and mark their scent all over me. So I have 2 very strong alphas a male in one and a female in another, its not looking good for a combination of 8 gliders.

how old are all the gliders?

I wouldn't advise putting the new female in with an established breeding pair. Breeding trios can be very difficult for experienced owners let alone an inexperienced owner.

There could be many reasons why the females aren't getting along. One or the other could have something medical going on and the other senses it. The mom could have new babies in pouch or on the way and is protective. One or both just may not like other females. Etc...


Is the baby male neutered? Do these gliders have lineage?

My pair of parents are about 2 years old.
Baby male oop 25/11/18 (not neutered) .
Female mosaic oop 20/10/18.

I have swap their sleeping pouch and cage for almost one month. The female still cannot accept new glider. Maybe she is jealous :) I should swap their pouches more often i guess.