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Date Posted: 08:07:43 02/14/08 Thu
Author: S. Patterson
Author Host/IP: bas9-toronto12-1177700918.dsl.bell.ca / 70.50.74.54
Subject: Re: Mean and nasty female flyers
In reply to: Dennis 's message, "Mean and nasty female flyers" on 20:50:26 02/13/08 Wed

Hi Dennis - here's my two cents. Hopefully others will chip in with their perspectives to help you with this problem you have on your hands.

Flyers (wild) are NA's most altruistic and social squirrel. Of course, agnostic behaviours do occur in flyers in the wild at certain times of the year (females become territorial from pre-estrus to about the time their pups are fully weaned), but not to the degree of which you are seeing. What you are experiencing is not normal flyer behaviour - you know that already.

In captive animals, abnormal same-species behaviours can manifest in many ways, some subtle and others not so subtle - but it all comes down to one common cause - stress. As animals can't talk to us, finding the source(s) of the stress(ors) can be problematic.

One is "stereotypic" - for instance, the all-too-familiar pacing behaviour you see large zoo animals exhibit (and the less noted behaviour of sitting still for hours on end).

Another is excessive grooming of a particular area of the body, to the point of exposing raw flesh. Or hair-pulling, scratching one area incessantly.

Another is agnostic behaviour (aggression), such as what you are experiencing. You've heard the expression "like rats in a cage". This refers to the cannibalism and other abnormal behaviours that occur when cage size does not meet the "load" requirements.

An enriched environment also keeps abnormal behaviours at bay. See http://awic.nal.usda.gov/nal_display/index.php?info_center=3&tax_level=2&tax_subject=169&level3_id=0&level4_id=0&level5_id=0&topic_id=1456&&placement_default=0 for lots of valuable information.

As you know, as animals age, the less adaptable to change they become. Your gals and the old male were first put together when all three were much younger, so they all "grew" into a status-quo state of existence as they aged. Changing this existing state (adding new males) when both females have this ingrained state of existence and, well, you should expect these out-of-character behaviours.

No studies correlating cage size and aggressive behaviour have been undertaken utilizing flyers as subject animals as far as I am aware, however many studies have found a direct link to cage size and this type of behaviour using other small rodents, primate, canines, etc.

In your case, there likely a few causes at play, however, I would be willing to bet that your girls' aggressive behaviour would radically diminish, if not vanish completely, were you to move the both them in a much larger cage, let them acclimatize, enrich their environment, and then add a male, the oldest one you have preferably. It's worth a try.



>I have two females I got in 2002 I think. These are
>the more
>brown colored females. They had no babies the first
>five
>years I had them. There has been 3-4 litters total
>between
>them so far. The male that was with them finally died
>of
>old age last year at about age 14. I always thought he
>was
>rather mean to the females about the food and treats
>etc..
>I think I know why now. They are helions. I put a new
>male
>in with them that was about ten years old. I found him
>dead
>in a nest box a few weeks later. I put a one year old
>male
>in with them and never seen him out of his nest box. I
>found him dead about three four weeks later. I left
>them
>alone a few months and put two new males in the cage
>with
>them. These guys were cage mates and I thought they
>would
>keep each other company till everyone settled in. I
>have
>only seen these two out of the nest box once. One of
>the
>females attacked them and chased them till they got
>back
>in the nest box. Then she stood guard awhile and would
>attack again if they so much as peeked out. The males
>are scared to death of the females. The females use a
>box at the top of the cage and the males are on the
>bottom.
>I now wonder if the first two males were too afraid to
>leave their box to eat and drink.
>What is really weird about these two is that the few
>babies they have had were the nicest, most calm, babies
>I've ever had. I kept one of the baby males last year
>to
>set up a new pair of yearlings as breeders. Anytime I
>put
>my hand in that cage, he jumps on my hand and is as
>well
>behaved as if handled all the time. Nothing like mom.
>These two females remind me of Mary's female that never
>gets along with her male Mr. Peepers. These are the
>only
>two I've ever seen behave this way.

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