black widow

Question
ok my name is mark and i had 3 sugar gliders. first we bought a male named
jasper, then we bought a male named leo( he was a WFB) i bonded them and
kept eventually they got along great. i had them for maybe 3 months together
before i bought a female named jill for jasper.i kept them seperated for a
while but jasper was the dominate male and i could tell he missed leo, so i
started putting all 3 together supervised of course until eventually they pretty
much all got along just fine. ive had them for over a year and jill is pregnant, i
want to know if when their pregnant should they be seperated? i've never
read anything saying they should. i came home from work one night and leo
was dead and jasper badly injured, but the female was fine. i took jasper to
the vet and they helped him and he perked up and seemed fine. i thought it
was a fight over dominance, so when i brought jasper home i kept him
seperated from jill for about a week. then when he was fine i put them back
together supervised at first then like normal. woke up this morning and it was
the SAME scene! she had killed leo and this time jasper wasnt dead, but
mortaly wounded. he was alive when i found him althought he passed about
15 mins later. she is still fine. they have a healthy diet. mealworms oranges,
seedless fruits, and the wambaroo diet for calcium, and they get plenty of
food. water is always fine and their in a cage 5ft tall by 3ft wide. im just
cruious why she killed the 2 males? shes not starving. i didnt know if it was
because she was pregnant and they pissed her off or what? i just cant think of
anything else. oh and when she has the babies do you think she will kill them
since she killed both of the grown males? how should i go about keeping the
babies safe?

Answer
Mark,

Yikes!  This is a very difficult situation!

I'm afraid Sugar Gliders have a very complicated social structure.  Two unrelated males usually do not get along, and adding a female to the mix just makes the situation even more volatile.  Are you sure the female killed the first male?  Normally a male show dominant aggression over the other male.  A trio of two females and one male is usually fine, but having two males and one female is never recommended.

Your cage seems fine.  The diet is good, but I would suggest adding more protein, particularly when the female is expecting joeys.  Chicken, yogurt and eggs would be good choices.  Does she eat fresh fruits and vegetables?  Check out BML.  Even though fresh foods would probably be healthier, it is hard to ensure that all the nutrients are provided.  

I can't really give you any guarantees about the safety of the joeys.  Providing extra protein helps, as does avoiding stressful situations for the mother. When the joeys are large enough to have tails and/or feet poking out of the pouch, keep the mother with you as much as possible.  Listen for signs of distress from the joeys.  Inspect them frequently to make sure they are not being attacked.  Only pull them for hand raising if it seems absolutely necessary.  It is next to impossible to successfully hand raise brand new joeys. If at all possible, they should be raised by their parents.  Since your female will be raising them by herself, you will need to help by "babysitting" from time to time to give her a break.  While they are very young, bring her food and water to her in the pouch so she won't have to leave the babies to eat.  

Please go to sugar-gliders.com for good information about hand-raising abandoned or abused joeys.

Even though you want her to have a companion, I would not suggest getting her one until the joeys are old enough to fend for themselves.  Please be sure to give her extra attention and make her feel comfortable and safe in her environment.  Given her past, I think you should try getting her a younger female companion.  If you are lucky, she will have female babies that can stay with her.

I am very sorry for your losses.  Good luck to you.  Please keep me informed.

Betty