Male chasing Female

Question
I know its normal for the male to chase the female to mate, but we believe the female is pregant and has possibly 2 in her pouch (we're not sure though) but the past day or 2 the male has been trying to mate with the female and it seems like the female is trying to run away from him, but can't.  The male just jumps on her and she can't go anywhere, and he continues to bite her neck, which i believe is also normal.  Do you think we should just let them be and let them do what they do, or should we be a little concerned and think about separating them?  But then again I have no clue if that would be good to do with a glider that might have 2 joeys in the pouch...Please let me know what you think, Thanks.  They have had joeys before in the past a few times, but with a different owner.

Answer
Hello Joe,

Thanks for your question.  Since your gliders have had joeys before, I wouldn't worry about the behaviors you describe.  Do keep watch, however, and take out the male temporarily if it seems that the female is overly stressed by his advances.  Just take him out for an hour or so to give both gliders a chance to calm down.  Put him back in and see how it goes.  

It is possible for gliders to have three sets of joeys going at once:  one in the womb, one in the pouch, and another set nursing.  Marsupials are amazing - the mother can have milk appropriate for all the joeys at once.  This happened to my gliders once, when one baby was considerably younger than the other.  Fascinating!  

The male and other gliders in the colony all take part in the care of joeys.  A lone female has difficulty caring for babies.  Young joeys are not left alone, so a single mother doesn't have the opportunity to leave the babies to eat, play, or relax.

Good luck to you.  Please keep me informed.

Betty