My gliders and I just spent our first night away from home since they've been with me. They had a smaller than usual cage in a bathroom all to themselves, and filled with their usual toys, pouches, etc.

When they woke up last night, I let them out to explore and play in the bathroom. Winky, who tends to be a little anxious anyway, climbed to the highest point she could find and froze with her ears flat, eyes huge, and with paws in a death grip on the curtain rod, apparently terrified.

I eventually got her settled down a little and back to playing in the cage. Yoda was having fun the whole time and nothing but excited by the change in scenery.

Around 3:30am I awoke to a barking fit, and went in to check on them. The room smelled weird. There was a sour scent to the air that was very different from the usual glider funk. I spoke softly to Winky and gave her a yoggi, and that calmed her down enough to stop the barking for the rest of the night. When I went back in for morning play time, the sour scent was still in the air, but both of them enjoyed a good hour of out-of-cage play time before curling up in their favorite pocket for the day.

I went back into the room a few hours later to check on them, and the sour scent was gone. The room smelled the way I expect a small room with a glider cage to smell. I wonder if Winky had been so scared that she was emitting a fear hormone or something like that, which was that sour scent.

(Or maybe I've been spending so much time with gliders that I've become more scent-oriented myself. LOL)

Has anyone else experienced a change in scent from their gliders?

Yes. I think they call it skunking.

Mine will do this the first night in a strange place. I try to take things from home and have a bit of their stink on it. I also have a fleece throw I cover up with and toss it over the cage too.

If it was skunking she would smell skunk not sour. Not sure what you were smelling.

Is skunking a very strong lingering scent?

No it isn't like a skunk, it is more of like they spray you smell it and then it is gone.