And yes. Selling the females at regular price, does make sense to me. I understand why it is being done and I think I will make that change too. And as Gwen said, trusted people who I know who keep pets (Connie--you are a wonderful example) would get a better price, but someone off the street would have to pay the full price. I never even thought of that.

Thanks for bringing it up.

I agree, I think this has been a truly informative thread. Thank you, Eshaw for bringing it up!

Well ladies, I'm done playing devils advocate. I guess when all is said and done maybe the contracts are enforceable, maybe not depending on circumstances. I understand there are always going to be extenuating circumstances and that you feel you need contracts. Now I would like to say this, if I wanted to purchase from some breeder and they choose to use contracts I'm well aware of the fact that I would have to abide by their wishes. As far as this thread is concerned I think it's all been said.

I know I'm still really new here, but I thought maybe I could add something useful.

I'm okay with the idea of contracts in a lot of ways, and for a lot of the reasons listed here. I wish more pet breeders did that sort of thing, and not just for gliders.

From my own experience (though a slightly different animal ;)), I got my puppy four years ago when he was six weeks old because his mother's original owner abandoned her at a groomer. They abandoned her because she was pregnant. Thankfully the groomer was a good person, and the little guy found his way to me through a friend. Tucker's the sweetest little lap-cuddler I could hope for, and I love him dearly... but my worry is for his mother, and others like her. She was lucky, yes, but it could have been soooooo awful... and if I were her breeder, I'd have wanted a contract. I'd have offered to take her back. How awful to abandon an animal, because something PREVENTABLE happened to them, instead of keeping them and finding homes for the unexpected puppies. >.<

More specific to Gliders, though:

I've been looking for a girlfriend for my Nox, because I know he really shouldn't be alone. I've done a lot of research, and like to think I'm pretty informed for a newbie. While I haven't found much I could afford, I try to at least peek at the questionnaires that are out there for people to read (regardless of whether I intend to apply there for adoption). When I see questionnaires with things I don't know, I hesitate and do a little research on the bits with which I'm not familiar. I mean, what if, right? These are all things I should know! I'm MUCH more confident now than I was a month ago, and I feel like the little 'research lists' I've come across have contributed to this.

For example - I did know about the problems boys can have with their penises (Thank you forums!) but didn't really know what an 'inverted' pouch was. O.o One questionnaire asked something about medical problems, and one of the links in a simple google search led me to an explanation (Here and at Suz's actually!). Kinda scary, but I'm REALLY glad to know now, before it's ever needed.

When I first started looking, I took a good long peek at Craigslist to see if there was anyone in the area who needed a home. Granted, I only found one less than 12 hours away from me, but when I called... I was kind of shocked. His answer was "Oh, that? I got rid of that weeks ago. That ad is still up?"

I'm an animal person, and have been since I was a kid. I was raised that if you adopt a pet, it's your child. It becomes your family. My puppy has been spoiled from the day I got him, and sleeps under my blankets every night. It's... kind of heartbreaking for me to hear someone talk about a little creature that way. If someone wanted to ask me some questions to make sure I wasn't going to abandon the little girl (or my current boy!) on the internet somewhere, I couldn't really begrudge them that courtesy. Besides, I might learn something along the way.

This reminds me of my old neighbor (we had a falling out lol) and she had an old dog named Molly. Well when Molly was younger she had puppies and they tried to make sure all went to great homes. Well they found out that one (Bailey) was given to a family member of their friend that adopted her.

She had been sent to a farm near Langdon, ND and was an outside dog. Now being a border collie and with stickers in the fields it wasn't a good mix Barb was able to locate her and found her covered in stickers (it's the plant thing and we called them stickers growing up haha don't know the spelling of the true name) to the point where she had to be shaved and heavily pregnant. These people were kind enough to give her back but that's because they simply didn't want her :'( had they decided they wanted to keep her things could've gone downhill fast. Well, and Barb is the kind of woman you don't want to anger as she brings the drama.

But I think you get my point, had the people wanted to keep Bailey she would've been left to suffer covered in stickers and probably watching her babies die one by one as they were hit by cars, taken by predators, etc. It would've been a sad existance for her.

She could've ended up like Pepper (a dog on my great aunt's farm) who had litter after litter and eventually got so malnourished that she died. Had I been older I would've taken her but sadly I was 8 at the time. It's sad when an 8 year old knows something is wrong with an animal and wants to help but the adults don't care enough about the animal to do anything.