Reunion Day

For three nights we have had Virga and Cirrus in a separate cage in close proximity to the big cage where CB and Foehn are housed. Last night, we switched cages - CB and Foehn spent the night in the small cage, and Virga and Cirrus in the big cage. This was to get them familiar with each others scent again, because today we wanted to try and get them together for the first time since Virga and Cirrus had their surgery two weeks ago.

We wanted to reintroduce them in the bathroom again (similar to the original introductions), so after breakfast M thoroughly cleaned the bathroom and we laid an old comforter on the floor. We decided to get CB and Cirrus together first as they are the two most laid back of the four. We brought them into the bathroom along with an extra sleeping pouch, and set them free on the floor. I was standing by with a large piece of fleece in case I needed to intervene in an altercation.  However, it wasn't needed. True to their nature, CB and Cirrus crawled into a pouch together like they had never been apart! Well, that was easy. Since Cirrus and CB were successfully reunited, we thought we would try to bring in Foehn to join them. M went and fetched Foehn from the cage, and we set her on the floor in a pouch.  Cirrus wandered over and stuck her nose in the pouch, and within seconds both gliders were crabbing and Foehn grabbed Cirrus. Without thinking I tried to grab both gliders, one in each hand, and successfully got them apart, but not without Foehn chomping down hard on a finger. Both gliders were frightened, and a few additional approaches to each other resulted in more crabbing.  We collected Foehn, who seemed to be the instigator, and put her back in her cage so she and Cirrus could calm down. Once Cirrus calmed down, we brought Virga in to see if she would be OK with CB and Cirrus. She slowly approached the opening of the pouch CB and Cirrus were in, and after only a brief moment of hesitation crawled right in and curled up in the bottom. She needed her sleep and no one was going to deprive her of that!  M carried the three of them around in their sleeping pouch during the afternoon so I could clean the cages. Foehn spent the afternoon in the small cage while we tried to figure out what our next step was going to be.


4:30 p.m.

M suggested we try and get Foehn and Virga together next.  That meant fishing Virga out of the sleeping pouch she was sharing with CB and Cirrus, and she probably wasn't too happy about that. We brought Virga and Foehn into the bathroom and set them on the floor with no pouches on the floor for them to retreat to.  It took a few moments before they saw each other, and there was no immediate reaction. They eventually approached each other, and surprisingly it was Virga who took exception. She crabbed and went after Foehn, who scampered up M's leg to the safety of her shoulder. Poor Foehn was frightened and didn't know what to make of it all. It was clear this wasn't working too well, so about 15 minutes later I decided we should try getting them together in the bathtub where it is easier to contain them. Initially there was crabbing and frightened gliders. I cupped Virga beneath my hand and on a piece of fleece so she could see but not move easily (and it also provides security for her). I did the same for Foehn, and moved them closer together. After a few minutes they both seemed to relax, and best of all there was no crabbing. A few more minutes later, I placed one of the pouches in the tub and they both crawled in without incident. There was a little maneuvering and a few brief "tsks", but soon they settled in to sleep!


6:20 p.m.

I had just finished a shower after working out and was getting ready to make some dinner when M poked her out of my office and called me. Foehn had come out of the pouch to take care of "business", and when she crawled back into the pouch Virga crabbed and lunged at her. Virga continued to crab, even at me, and despite a couple of attempts and one near success, Virga was not happy having Foehn around. They are now sleeping in separate pouches, and we are trying to figure out next step.


8:30 p.m.

We thought we would try to get Foehn and Cirrus together in the same manner as we did with Virga. Interestingly, it was Foehn who went after Cirrus this time. This may be a dominance thing among the females - Virga/Foehn, and Foehn/Cirrus. At any rate, after 10 minutes or so Cirrus and Foehn were OK with each other and went into the pouch.  There was still some crabbing, so I went and got CB out of his slumber and had him join Foehn and Cirrus. That helped and they calmed down. I then went and got Virga from M and she crawled in as well.  Unfortunately, Foehn was interested in running and jumping, and not in sleep, so she came out. Virga crabbed and one in a while lunged when she tried to return to the pouch, so it appears their differences have not been worked out.


10:30 p.m.

There continues to be dust-ups between Virga and Foehn, somewhat less so with Foehn and Cirrus. For our own piece of mind and their safety, we are going to have them in separate cages tonight, and we'll see how they are during play time tomorrow.