Repetitive Behaviour

[Rakuen]

For awhile now my 9 month old glider has been displaying repetitive behaviour, most of the night she just does backwards flips off a branch to the roof of the cage then back down to the branch and she does this most of the time, I was worried that she was getting bored so I bought her some new toys which she has taken a slight intrest in, but she still does her backward flips more than anything else she does when in her cage, she does come out for play time every night although over the past month or so I have been ill which meant I was sleeping alot of the time, so she didn't come out as long as she would usually and some nights I'd be feeling too ill to get her out at all , also she was on her own for about 5 months (I know it shouldn't be done but I spent loads of time with her and my breeder gave me advice on keeping her happy while she was alone) but now she has her baby sister in with her which I thought might cure it but she still does it a fair bit.

So basically I was just wondering if it is a sign of boredom or if it's just something she enjoys to do?
And does anyone elses gliders display any behaviour like this?

Hope that all makes sense and thanks in advance for any help

[jungleflockmom]

Does she have a wheel in her cage?

Company in the form of a human w/out of cage time is particularly important to singletons. If a cagemate is possible, she could have company even when your schedule or health prevent you from being her company.

[Rakuen]

Yes she does have a wheel, which she has started using a little more recently.

She has her baby sister in with her now, but she still does it 

[jungleflockmom]

I'm sorry, you did say in your original post that she has her baby sister. We see lots of repetitive behavior in gliders that would benefit from a bigger cage. Do you have your gliders in the large flight cage that I've seen posted on SL? If so, that's certainly a generously sized cage.

[Rakuen]

I don't own the flight cage, but my cage is slightly similar heres a link to it:
http://www.premierpetsonline.com/showdetails.asp?id=5053
I haven't put the ladders or shelves in, Instead I have branches and corner hammocks, so that there is more room for them to jump etc.

[jungleflockmom]

Nice cage! Maybe moving the branch and increasing her out of cage time -------I'm assuming that she looks healthy and is eating well, plays well w/out of cage time, etc.
Marie, lou, any ideas?

[Marie]

First time on since Friday - sorry! 

Repetitive behaviours are habit forming, so despite having given her a friend she is now in the habit of back flipping.  To break the habit I would remove the top platforms so she can't bounce off that to the roof and back again. 

[Rakuen]

I'm assuming that she looks healthy and is eating well, plays well w/out of cage time, etc.

Yep she seems perfectly fine in herself.

To break the habit I would remove the top platforms so she can't bounce off that to the roof and back again. 

I've got them loads of new toys so I was going to re-arrange the cage a fair bit and take out some of the older toys and switch them around with the new ones every so often, so when I do that I'll move her jumping branch and put it lower down the cage and she how she goes. I'll update you to let you know if shes stopped!

Thanks both of you

[loulou]

We have a male that used to repeat a huge circuit round his room and it did worry me for a while but changing the layout soon stopped it, i think he got into a routine and just knew that little circuit and continued doing it. Try playing around with his cage a bit while hes out so when he goes back into it its a completely different cage. worth a try anyway sorry i cant be of more help, bit useless really LOL if that doesnt work we will all come back to the drawing board