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 Momma SG is carrying her 1st baby.

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SugarMountainMomma

SugarMountainMomma


Posts : 24
Join date : 2012-09-13
Age : 64
Location : Phoenix, AZ

Momma SG is carrying her 1st baby. Empty
PostSubject: Momma SG is carrying her 1st baby.   Momma SG is carrying her 1st baby. Icon_minitimeThu Sep 13, 2012 6:37 pm

My babies are about 11 months old. I got them a little later that recommended so I had a hard time bonding with them in the beginning. I was very dilligent and patient with them. Eventually they stopped crabbing at me and stopped biting me when I tried to handle them. I am not able to hold them in my hands as they squirm away but they take treats from my fingers, they greet me at the cage door every morning and seem happy enough to jump out onto my shoulder where they run up and down my body. I take them out to play for at least 20-30 minutes every day. When they are out they pretty much have free run of the den. When I come near to them they usually jump from where ever they are playing onto my shoulder.

About a week and a half ago while they were playing outside the cage I was emptying the dried fruit from their sleeping quarters as I usually do and she ran inside the cage and attached my fingers. It wasn't like she was looking for food but aggresively. A day or so later out of the blue she bit me on the cheek and again the next day she did the same thing. I noticed small bulge in her tummy which confirmed my suspicions. The next few days we had no incident but today when I took her back to the cage she attacked me again. She didn't just nip me she hung on like she was trying to take a chunk of me with her. She bit me 4 separate times each time breaking the skin.

This is my first experience with an expectant mother. Should I not take her out to play for a while? I'm afraid if I do she'll get to where I can't handle her at all not to mention as soon as they know I am awake they jump to the door and make noise until I come to let them out. When the baby is OOP how long should I wait to handle it?

Any advice you can give me would be helpful
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BCChins
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BCChins


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Location : Connecticut

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PostSubject: Re: Momma SG is carrying her 1st baby.   Momma SG is carrying her 1st baby. Icon_minitimeFri Sep 14, 2012 6:50 am

If it were me I would go back a few steps and maybe do some cage bonding and offer lickey treats like yogurt from my finger but never let it run out. I would do maybe 2-3 finger fulls in the morning and then again at night. Softly taking to her often is helpful. Go back to a slower pace with her and see how that goes.
Just take things slower for a few days and maybe do some tent time with her and offer her meal worms in the tent.
As to if this is because she is pregnant I am not sure if could be.

Where did you get them from? Do you have there pedigree's?
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SugarMountainMomma

SugarMountainMomma


Posts : 24
Join date : 2012-09-13
Age : 64
Location : Phoenix, AZ

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PostSubject: Re: Momma SG is carrying her 1st baby.   Momma SG is carrying her 1st baby. Icon_minitimeFri Sep 14, 2012 11:44 am

Hi Brenda,

Thank you for answering. I purchased the babies from a local gal who is not actually a breeder. She had several pairs but said she wasn't actaully trying to breed them. She said she didn't want anymore so was selling the babies as they were born. She told me they were 8 weeks old but because the bonding process was so difficult I suspected they might be older than she had led me to believe. Before decing to make the commitment I read every website I could find. I even took them to the vet to make sure they were healthy.

As directed I used the bonding pouch for several months as I was lucky enough to be working from home at the time. I spent time handling them every day. Eventually they stopped crabbing at me and biting me but they've never been what I might call handleable. Every morning they greet me at the cage door. I give them as many yogart drops as they want, usually 3 or 4 then they are ready to get out for a little exersize. At night time when it's time to feed them, she's the one who greets me at the door, again I give them yogart drops. They love them. They will usually climb onto my hand or arm, sometime they jump to my shoulder.

Until a week or so ago she had never attacked me and when I say attacked I don't mean just biting, she agressively comes at me. Including this morning she has now attacked me 5 or 6 times. As I said earlier the 1st 2 times was just my hands when I tried to clean the dried grape skins from their bed. Oddly enough if I wait to do this when they are in the bed she doesn't attack at all, just moves out of the way and lets me do it. The last few times she has attacked while out of the cage with no warning at all. I have at least 5 bite marks where she has drawn blood on my hands, neck and face.

This morning while playing with them I had a thought. The first time she attacked me out of the cage was a about a week ago. I had brought a huge box of pecans home and they were exploring them. I wondered what they would do if I cracked a couple of them. I had read nuts are okay as long as you don't give them too many, it makes them fat. They seemed to like them. The first time that I remember her biting me was that day. I had helped open one of the nuts they had been eating and a few minutes after I put it down she bit my hand then later nipped me on the neck. The next day she bit my hand again and then attacked when I was trying to put her back in the cage. Out of the blue she just ran up and bit me on the neck and immediately went for my face. After another bite to the hand I finally got her into the cage. The next day she didn't bite me at all. Then again today when I helped crack open one of the nuts she bit my hand. After that she just kept being agressive and before I could put her back in the cage she bit my neck twice. I'm trying not to show fear because then she wins but I must admit I am a little nervous. I'm wondering if I should not try to handle her at all until after the baby comes.

As for your question regarding the pedigree. Please excuse my ignorance but I am still kind of new to all this. When you say pedigree are talking about their birthdates? The gal was not able to tell me when they were born. She said because she wasn't really breeding them she didn't keep track. When I pressed she was evasive like maybe she didn't want to tell me which also made me think they were older than 8 weeks old.

Again please excuse my ignorance. When you say tent time, I'm not sure what you mean. I've seen the tents they have for sale on the websites. They are expensive so I don't own one. Could you explain why you think it would be beneficial? I've never fed my babies meal worms or bugs of any kind, again could you explain why you think they would be beneficial? As for yogurt on the finger, I am more than a little reluctant to try that at this stage of the game only becasue I don't want to be bit again but if you think it will help I will try it. At this point I am willing to try almost anything as I love my babies and enjoy interacting with them. I don't want to lose the bond we have already built.

I apologize for my long windedness but I thought if you had a clear picture of what was going on it might be easier to determine the problem. This is the first and only website I have joined and am really desparate to find help. Again, thank you and I will truly appreciate any help and advice you can give me.

Sincerely,
Becky
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Something_To_Believe_In
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Something_To_Believe_In


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PostSubject: Re: Momma SG is carrying her 1st baby.   Momma SG is carrying her 1st baby. Icon_minitimeFri Sep 14, 2012 4:49 pm

When she says "pedigree" she means a lineage chart - a family tree.

It sounds like you are allowing siblings to breed, which could be part of your problem. In short, Inbreeding causes all sorts of health and behavioral issues in gliders. We very strongly recommend that only those gliders with verifyable lineage (family tree) going back at least 5 generations with no common ancestors in those 5 generations be bred to each other. Again, this is very strongly recommended and is only so because it is what is best for the gliders.
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SugarMountainMomma

SugarMountainMomma


Posts : 24
Join date : 2012-09-13
Age : 64
Location : Phoenix, AZ

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PostSubject: Re: Momma SG is carrying her 1st baby.   Momma SG is carrying her 1st baby. Icon_minitimeSat Sep 15, 2012 12:29 pm

Actually now that you mention it I remember she said he was a week older than she was which led me to believe they were not siblings. In our initial conversation I mentioned that I wanted to breed them at least once so I could give my daughter a pair. You would think even a non breeder would know you can't breed siblings so I assume she was telling me the truth.

I have been spending more cage time with her as you suggested. Yesterday I bought several baby toys, (pacifiers, straws, connecting rings, rattles, small bath tub toys, etc) some beads and fleece to make them some toys and cage items as suggested in other forums. I even added several treat cups so there are different places for them to forage. They seemed very interested in their new toy box and all the new hanging items. They quickly learned how to disconnect some of the rings from the chain I made and have not thrown anything I put into their bed out.

Any other suggestion will be helpful. Thanks...Becky
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BindiAndScrubbie

BindiAndScrubbie


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Join date : 2009-12-14
Age : 51
Location : South Florida

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PostSubject: Re: Momma SG is carrying her 1st baby.   Momma SG is carrying her 1st baby. Icon_minitimeSat Sep 15, 2012 10:08 pm

Start saving your juice and milk rings from their empty containers. Make sure you cut them off so they are not a full circle as most gliders love to 'wear' the rings down their body. You want the rings to have an open end so they never get stuck. Anyway...many gliders love to play with and chew them and hey...they are free in a way. I always take mine off, give them a wash, and stick them in a drawer. I have a never ending supply. ;)
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