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Introducing a glider buddy

Sep 27, 2012

 Introducing a glider buddy

My husband and I recently adopted a sweet un-neautered male glider, Grizzly Bear. We call him Grizzles for short. We got him checked out by our vet, built him a nice big home, and have spent lots of time with him so he got comfy with us (he's sleeping under my shirt as I type this :)). Now that we feel he is well adjusted we were thinking about getting another glider since they live in colonies typically. Just wanted to reach out for advice on the topic because 1. We don't want to get a female because we don't want to breed them and we really don't want to fix him if we don't have to. 2. He has been by himself most of his life. He is about 5 years old and the couple we adopted him from had him for two years as an only glider and I believe he was an only glider before that too. From reading posts on here I know it can be tricky to introduce other males due to dominance. Just really torn about the whole situation because I would love for him to have a companion, but not sure if he would want that.

 Comments

avatar
Oct 03 2012 : 02:31:21 PM
bschuettler
Thanks! Our vet specializes in exotics so I'm fairly certain he can neuter him. I will be calling to make sure. If not I will look at the Vet map to look for others in the area. We still have the original cage that he came with when we got him. It's smaller (3'X 3'X 2') but it would work for the 30 day period. Then they can move into the gliderarium once everything checks out and scent swapping. :)I was just worried that since he's been alone for so long he might be like "mom why is there another glider here?" and not be too happy about it. Like you said though he would probably be VERY happy. I'm definitely going to look into neutering and letting him recover and then finding a glider buddy for him to re-home (I'd rather adopt an unwanted one around the same age). Thanks again for the advice!

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avatar
Sep 29 2012 : 05:32:45 PM
petluv15
Chances are he will LOVE to have a buddy, but either way he has to be neutered first. Two males will not get along introduced at this age. Neutering is typically a very simple procedure - if you post on the main forum about where you live, I'm sure someone will know of a reasonable, experienced vet to talk to. you will need to get a second cage set up - the first step of getting a new friend for him is quarantine with fecals to check for parasites when the new glider first gets home and then again in 30 days. They will need to be kept in separate rooms or at least very far apart during this time. After clean fecals, you can move the cages closer together(but at least 10" apart to prevent tail injuries) and start scent swapping blankets, pouches, and eventually swap cages so that they learn each other's smells. There are lots of posts about intros on the forums to read in the meantime, but first step is neutering him and getting a second cage set up for a new buddy.

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avatar bschuettler
Gender: Female
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Member since: Sep 27, 2012
Posts: 406
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Being mom to all of my four legged babies. :)
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