How do you know if a glider is happy or not?

When reading about their sounds, sometimes it seems that a glider sound can mean different things. Barking= scared, heads up or just talking. Hissing= come here or leave me be! etc... so is it safe to assume that if a glider is making that very little popping click sound they are happy or content?

The reason I ask is because my little Buttercup has acted a little off the last couple nights. We are still bonding, she doesn't usually act first for attention, meaning it takes some coaxing on the human side for her to start socializing. She will take food from fingers, run around on you, sometimes allows being held. She has only approached the cage door once for me, usually I need to offer her a yoggie to come closer and some of the time she runs and hides to eat, sometimes she stays close. I thought she was getting over the running and hiding the last week or so but the last 2 nights she doesn't want much to do with us humans. She will act timid or scared or sad like and go off to a corner. But also if she does come out and you get to hold her or even her in the pouch, she clicks/pops. So is she scared or happy or what?

Let me add that we are also slowly adding a retired pair (M&F) to her cage so she can have glider friends. Right now they are separated, we have pouch swapped a few times, and now the 2 cages are touching with them all able to touch through the bars for a few supervised hours a night. She and the neutered male seem interested in each other they each look and play through the bars, last night she either gave him or he took her yoggie through the bars. They seem to be getting along great so far but havent had any uncaged interaction.

Overall she has just seemed a little off/sad. Do you think she wants more interaction with humans or gliders? Does this just happen periodically? Her sounds say shes happy/content, shes just not as active and hides a bit more. I'm just not sure, am I being paranoid?

Also, what do you recommend as the next step into getting all of them into the same cage?

I'll gladly answer questions and encourage all feedback.

Clicks and pops are happy sounds. You may notice her making them while eating a favorite food or treat also.

Thanks Feather for your response. What if she sees you then runs off and hides... while hiding behind the wheel or in the corner for example, she sits and stares at you and clicks and pops? I get mixed signals like that from her sometimes.

It sounds like she wants to be with you but is still afraid of you. Be patient she will come around.

My two girls use to do this a lot. They were fine/happy once they came out, but were 'shy' while still in their home. Merlin is just now getting to that point. (Arthur is just Arthur.) As Kimberly said, patience is your best option.

Their little popping/cooing sound is my favorite. I wonder if they also use it as a submissive "hey I'm friendly" kinda thing or an insecure happy noise, kinda like how cats will purr even when they're kinda scared? She sounds like a happy suggie though!

They would be more likely to crab their little heads off if they were scared.

Yeah maybe shes just not all that sure about us yet. Shes being a bit more friendly the last few days, more "her" normal. It seems she gets in these little moods where her signals are a bit mixed for a couple days then shes good again. Little fuzzbutts...gotta love 'em!

Disclosure : I am not familiar with intros when there is a retired pair. But I thought I would get this thread focused in that direction.


Your next step is to intro in a neutral place. Like the bathtub. Timing and scent neutrality is everything. Also intro 1 retired glider at a time.

Be prepared to scrub a cage down and clean sleeping pouches to remove all scent so there is no territory issue.

Intros are best done in the morning before they go to bed for the day. It would be a good idea for you to be available to listen in throughout the first day in case an issue comes up.

I'm leaving out a few details that need to be filled in by an expert. I am just preparing you for what lies ahead.

Good luck!

Also when dealing with a retired breeding pair, I have found if the retired male doesn't want to play nice and his mate does, let him live alone for a week or so. They tend to change their mind about being nice after being away from their mate for a couple weeks.

Thank you, this sounds like good advice. We will try some one on one glider bonding in a neutral area as recommended. I thought intros separately would be best even though they can see and interact with each other through the bars. There haven't been any problems with their cages touching, we started out with them about a foot apart for fear they may grab and fight through touching cages. It was never a problem. They've been pretty good so far.

It's interesting that you say, Kimberly, that the male may be more resistant to click with the new female. Their behavior is just the opposite so far. My retired male, Falcore and my original female, Buttercup seem more friendly (still through the bars) than Buttercup and my retired female, Smores. Smores will stay in the pouch later than Falcore. During their waking period there is a lot of hissing for about 30 minutes off and on. He will go off and eat and play. When Smores finally comes out she doesn't interact much with Buttercup, I thought she may be a bit of a silently jealous female, she never starts a fight but doesn't initiate play either. We'll just keep things slow. And I will make sure I'm home the first couple days they share a cage just in case.

for the advice!

My experience is from introducing a colony of 9. The male that was in a mating situation wasn't amicable until he spent two weeks alone. His wife was fine.