a turn for the worse!

[lilyofthedamned]

Last night we had to seperate elvis and the girls.  He attacked them no matter what they did. He went and sat in his pouch and would shoot out at them when they would run by. We took him out and put him in his old cage. The new suggie has been put on hold untill we figure out what to do. Elvis ticked and hissed at them constantly. He seems so much more stress free away from them. He's not even looking for them but they are looking for him. I think we might have to keep him a solo glider. He even attacked Pixy. I don't know what to do! I don't have the money to build another cage. I'm histarically crying because I'm so pissed and upset. :steam: Please help me!

[Marie]

What do you mean attacked?  Did he grab them?  Bite them?  Tail nip?

[lilyofthedamned]

ya! He pushed them up into a corner and just went off. He sat in the door way of their pouch and would not let them come near him. To me it seems like he's threatened by them. Since we took him out he seems so much more relaxed. When he was with them he was always looking for them to make sure they werent around him too close. He was ticking and hissing at them the whole time when he was with them and now he's stopped. His aggressiveness has been progressively getting worse over the past 2 weeks.

What were going to try is to rearange the large cage big time and wash things and clean it and then put him back in and see what he does. I'm going to first let him walk on the outside of the cage and see how he reacts to them. If he shows any sign of aggressiveness I will not put him back in. I'm not going to sentence the girls to death with him. He's bigger than them and could kill them if he wanted to.

If we have to, we will get him his own cage by himself. I just have to figure out how to get the money. You guys probably arent going to support this idea but it's what I think is best. He seems so much happier in a cage by himself. I now they are not sollitary animals but I think since he's been solitary all his life that it's all he knows. I think the girls are just too much for him. I know their is a chance he will not live as long but at least he will be happy and relaxed. If we must do this I will take him out of his cage with me as much as possible. I'm just going to have to train him to stay close to me.

Again, I don't think you guys will support my last idea but It's what I think is for the best for him and the girls.

[Marie]

But has he physically attacked them?  Are you sure you're not over reacting?  You say he's more aggressive to sweet p over Pixie (or is it the other way around), have you thought about maybe just keeping those two together and sweet P and the newbie together? 

I understand you wanting to seperate him, and we're not going to go off on one, at the end of the day it's your choice, but I don't see any evidence of 'aggression'.  He hisses and ticks, see ticks are a greeting, is it a crab hiss type noise or a pffft pffft noise?   

[lilyofthedamned]

He physically attacked them. I think he bit sweet P and pixy both. He's normally just aggressive to sweet p but he attacked pixy too. I've thought about seperating just sweet p but she is really attatched to her sister. I think it's a crab hiss with sort of a throaty sound. my mom thinks it's the pffft one. What do they both mean? He ticks at them before he attacks them so I don't think he's greeting them. But on the other hand he ticks at them when they are sleeping to wake them up and they still all sleep together. I don't think I'm over reacting because he's never been this aggressive before even to me when i first got him.

Do you think we should put them back together? We're doing a complete cage design change and we're thinking about putting them in when they are sleeping and seeing what happens when they wake up.

[Marie]

Leave them apart for now.  The pfft pfft sound is a get away, it's normally over food with my lot the hiss crab thing - I have no idea really (lol!) - my Dinx does it occasionally and it is never aggressive, when I hear it from my other suggies there is no aggression there either.

IF Elvis had NOT bitten the girls I would have said put them back together, however, AS Elvis HAS bitten the girls then I agree and you shouldn't put them back together.

Suggies are social animals, and 99% of gliders DO appreciate company, Elvis could be the 1% that doesn't. It is probably because he has been alone for so long prior to you getting the girls (not your fault I know, as I know he wasn't a joey when you had him).  But please don't think that is gospel, see how it goes, have the cages near to one another so that he can have SOME interaction, if he starts showing signs of depression or starts overgrooming then you will have to try again.

[Rhianna]

could this noise mean "where are you?" Holly sometimes does it if I have put Gizmo or Spice back in the cage at playtime coz of a nip, and she looks aorund while she does it, smelling the other gliders.

[Marie]

No I don't think so, Dinx does it when I'm around and sometimes when I disturb her sleep bless her, it seems to be another type of hello, maybe a surprised hello 

Of course ... we could all be talking about completely different sounds, suggie sounds are soo hard to describe!

[Rhianna]

i know! Hollys is similar to the pfft pfft noise, but it has a chirp in it. she doesnt look annoyed or aggressive or anything when she does it and as i said, its usually when she is looking for something.

[lilyofthedamned]

The sound your holly makes sounds like a sound my elvis makes before he starts to crab.

We're going to try and put elvis in with the girls again and if he makes that pffft sound or lunges at them than we will take him out imedietly.

[Rhianna]

how long did it take for you to introduce them again?

[Tracey]

OK!  I'm confused now!  You take him away because he's being aggressive, you say he physically attacked as in BIT one or both of the girls, Marie agrees with you that you should split them ... so you decide to put him back in?  Why did you bother to even ask for advice if you're not going to follow it?  

I just don't get it!  I seriously hope you are over reacting and Elvis was just being grumpy.  

No offence like ... I'm just confused is all!?

[lilyofthedamned]

how long did it take for you to introduce them again?

It took about 3-4 months to introduce them.

He physically attacked them. I think he bit sweet P and pixy both. He's normally just aggressive to sweet p but he attacked pixy too. I've thought about seperating just sweet p but she is really attatched to her sister. I think it's a crab hiss with sort of a throaty sound. my mom thinks it's the pffft one. What do they both mean? He ticks at them before he attacks them so I don't think he's greeting them. But on the other hand he ticks at them when they are sleeping to wake them up and they still all sleep together. I don't think I'm over reacting because he's never been this aggressive before even to me when i first got him.

Do you think we should put them back together? We're doing a complete cage design change and we're thinking about putting them in when they are sleeping and seeing what happens when they wake up.

Leave them apart for now.  The pfft pfft sound is a get away, it's normally over food with my lot the hiss crab thing - I have no idea really (lol!) - my Dinx does it occasionally and it is never aggressive, when I hear it from my other suggies there is no aggression there either.

IF Elvis had NOT bitten the girls I would have said put them back together, however, AS Elvis HAS bitten the girls then I agree and you shouldn't put them back together.

Suggies are social animals, and 99% of gliders DO appreciate company, Elvis could be the 1% that doesn't. It is probably because he has been alone for so long prior to you getting the girls (not your fault I know, as I know he wasn't a joey when you had him).  But please don't think that is gospel, see how it goes, have the cages near to one another so that he can have SOME interaction, if he starts showing signs of depression or starts overgrooming then you will have to try again.

no! I said I THINK he bit them but I couldn't see it because they were fighting behind a corner pouch. Marie said if he did bite them then seperate them but if he didn't then they are ok.

Before anyone was up I placed elvis's pouch in the large cage with the girls. No body was up so I went downstairs to get some toast. I went up about 10 minutes later and the girls had crawled into elvis's pouch with him. They have been fine tonight. No lunging, a little hissing but not the Pffft kind, but he's still ticking a lot though. He's even ticking when they are not near him and he didn't do that when I had them seperated last night. He's not being aggressive at all right now but we'll see how he does the next couple of nights.

What is normal aggression for a glider? Maybe I did over react and the way he was acting was normal glider aggression.

[Amalthea]

Could it have something to do with the moon cycles?  The moon was full last week.

[lunar]

Maybe you should try and catch it on video and post it on here to set your mind at rest. I think maybe you might be overreacting - mine sound like they are killing each other sometimes but its just marital squabbles!! Theyre mostly all bark and no bite. But if you got a definitive answer from somebody in the know on here if they got the chance to see a little video footage then you might not worry so much, or at least know your doing the right thing if it is aggression and you are taking Elvis out to live on his own.

Just an idea.