Val is a genius!

I told her as much, too! Of course, her reply was "it's about TIME you realized that" LOL

We've always had some bickering going on between the Six Pack, namely between Bug and Penny. I have been attributing it to overall personality and just the fact that they're females.

A few nights ago, I heard more "leave me alone" crabbing than usual so I went down to investigate. First thing I see inside the cage is Penny, racing from side to side, hissing...then anytime anyone would hop in the wheel, she'd try to bite their feet through the plastic As soon as I get to the front of the cage, everyone bounds over to see me, which starts a HUGE crabbing fit from inside the pouch on the door. Once it stops, I listen - and I hear chomping. Upon opening the door, I find my sweet little Bug, inside the pouch, munching on her dinner. :( I'd noticed in the last couple of weeks that there was an abundance of crumbs and shells in one of the pouches, but hadn't thought much of it. I feed my gliders in several places throughout the cage. Generally, there are 3-4 dishes hanging on the side of the cage, and I use 2-3 hanging food dishes from the ceiling of the cage. So I couldn't possibly have a food aggressive glider, could I?

The next day, I called Val and asked for her thoughts. First thing she says to me is that Bug being in the pouch, says to her that she's afraid to eat out in the open and is having to hide to have her dinner. She suggests that I add more dishes, putting staple, fruits and veggies in each dish that's in the cage. She also suggested a kitchen, with only one entrance. By the end of the day, I had a nice kitchen made and had picked up some more dishes. That night's feeding was 5 dishes hanging on all sides of the cage, high and low, three hanging food dishes, one of them with multiple levels and a kitchen on the floor of the cage with a plate. Every single station had every food in it, both staple and produce.

That night, and each consecutive night has, so far, been a rousing success! There is very little, if any, bickering going on. Penny (who I think is the aggressor) has calmed greatly in a very short amount of time, and best of all, Buggy is out eating in the open!

I've never seen Penny actually chase anyone away from a dish. Away from the wheel or the Monkeycliner, yes. Food, no. So, food aggression didn't even cross my mind. It was a great learning tool for me, in that things are not always as they seem. Don't just count on the aggressor showing off their skills. You might not see that. But paying attention to the behaviors of your other gliders just might be the sign you need.

And I still think Val's a genius.

Yes!!!!

In all seriousness, I'm very glad this worked for you. I think that we might sometimes emphasize foraging opportunities for the gliders that might lead to behaviors. So, when that happens, I tend to go back to basics. Having all the foods in each dish ensures that each glider can get what they want/need in the dish/location they are most comfortable with.

It's certainly working for us - made such a huge difference!

Glad to hear it! That's what I do in my food aggressive cages - I have multiple stations away from each other and make sure each dish has all foods.

I'm VERY pleased with how things are going - the dynamics have completely changed!

Wonderful! I have a food aggressive 4 pack & practice this type of feeding as well as creative ways to make them work for their food ~ making it take longer & each one gets to their dinner @ a different time. We very rarely have grumbles in that cage for several years now. So glad things are working for them now!