family family

My cousin's daughter spent the summer with us and fell in love with the joeys. I'm sure they miss her now that she is gone. My 17 year old kitty died this summer as well. Two family members are missing from the household. I know the gliders have noticed the missing clan members.

I moved their habitat into the empty back bedroom in expectation of a new kitten we will be introducing to the family tomorrow. The thought of an overly curious kitten's claws catching one of the baby's through the cage bars terrifies me and made me resolve to keep them in a separate room until the kitten can be declawed.

Now however, after a ton of reading, I wonder if it's as scary and dangerous as what I was imagining it to be. Perhaps the kitten won't have to be declawed to exist in the same room as the glider's habitat.

I've read lots about cats being introduced to gliders with the bars of the habitat between them and the stories are encouraging. I suppose I will make the call as I diligently watch over everyone.

oh those sweet babies

They are about 6 months old now and sweet as ever. They don't grumble at me when I pick them up in their sleeping pouch. They tend to become wide awake and peek out (usually upside-down which is SO cute!) before venturing out of the pouch to climb into my sleeve. They let me stroke their face's with a finger and have become very gentle as they "groom" my hands. They always pay special attention to the tender skin around and under my fingernails so I am VERY glad they have grown out of that nipping stage… it hurt!.

They sleep most of the day and are awake most of the night. I love those sweet little possums. :)

desktop joeys

new toys!

A big thank you to Shelly at Doodlebugs Treasures for creating a beautiful custom orange tunnel and hammock for the joeys. :) Below are some daytime pics (being nocturnal, they are SO SLEEPY) from their first encounter with the tunnel. I removed older toys to make room to hang it inside the habitat. They ♥ new things to explore and play!

adventures of a sleepy day

I couldn't sleep last Sunday night and so thought I would play with the joeys for a little while, which would make sleeping the rest of the night easy. It didn't work out that way when Jäger got past me AGAIN. She is such a little escape artist! Fooks immediately started barking for her to come back. Jäger was full of energy (it was only 4-something:am so the sun was a long way off). Cro got up since there was all sorts of barking and lights and scuffling going on. :( oops

Jäger got out into the main area of the house since one of the boxes I had placed to block any escapees had moved just enough for a joey to wiggle through. I found her shuffling down the hall (hardwood floors don't give a little semi-winged beastie much traction when waddle-walking on all fours). She turned and went between my feet when she saw I was after her. I finally caught up with her went she climbed under the easy-chair rocker in the dining room. I used Cro's bat-catching-net to scoop her up gently so we could deposit her safely back into the habitat. It was about 5am when the house settled down and I could let Buddy Cat come back upstairs.

I slept very well for the rest of the night (which was only a couple of hours after all of that). Poor Cro had a sleepy day at work!

two little furry babies in their sleeping pouch

a jumble of feet

big fun

I decided to play with the joeys at 5ish this morning. They were hopping with excitement, knowing that I was about to open the door to play before I'd even donned the sweater sleeves that I wear to keep their sharp little toes from digging into my skin.

I sat on the ottoman in front of their habitat and started to open the door when immediately Jägerbär launched out and onto my shoulder. At the same time, Fuchsbau climbed onto the arm that I was beginning to extend into the cage. Grrr. With one determined-not-to-let-go joey on my arm and the other headed down my back I wasn't able to keep Jäger from climbing to the floor and away.

As soon as I could disengage from Fooks I shut the habitat door, picked up Buddy (our cat) and made the rounds to shut the doors to the bathroom, extra bedroom and to downstairs. I set Buddy down on the other side of the door to the stairs before returning to look for the escaped joey. Jäger did not want to be caught and returned to the habitat!

Cro got up and together we waited and listened. She was clearly projecting a "WOW, THIS IS SO FUN!" attitude as she explored behind and under furniture. Her fuzzy little face would pop up for a peek once in awhile before ducking back down for more exploration.

Long story short, Cro finally recaptured the escapee and spoke gentle words as he returned her to the safety of the habitat.

I think I might turn one of the extra bedrooms into a "glider room" soon so that they can be out for a bit and learn to glide without being free to explore the whole house.