🌿 A New Chapter: Saying Goodbye and Starting Again

Saying goodbye to the era of Grove-born joeys wasn’t easy.

We knew neutering was the right decision for our boys—Papa, Benji, Junior, and Lucky—and we stood by it. Our family of gliders had brought us so much joy, but their lineages were unknown, and we didn’t want to risk contributing to the problems that untracked breeding can create.

Still, letting go of the possibility of new joeys stung.

Their arrival had always been a moment of magic: the surprise discovery of a tiny pink bean in a pouch, the early bonding, the joy of watching their personalities unfold. Losing that chapter felt like closing a door we hadn’t been ready to shut.

📬 An Unexpected Message

Then, on April 25, 2024, the unexpected happened.

A breeder we had previously worked with—one we respected and trusted for glider supplies—reached out to us directly. She’d seen a comment we made online about maybe wanting to breed someday and asked if we were serious about taking that step.

She was looking to downsize. And she had lineaged gliders available.

It wasn’t the first time we’d considered becoming official breeders. We’d spent months quietly researching—learning the ins and outs of glider genetics, browsing breeder listings, comparing prices, wondering what it would take to do it right. But up to that point, it was just a daydream.

Now we had a real opportunity. Not just any gliders—healthy, lineaged, well-socialized gliders from a reputable breeder we trusted. If there was ever a right time to take the leap… this was it.

🧳 Preparing for a New Beginning

We weighed our options carefully. After lots of back and forth, we chose two breeding pairs: one established pair (Susan and David Kerr), and one younger, just-introduced pair (Dottie and Dusty Starling). The breeder was kind enough to complete the introductions ahead of our pickup date to make sure the younger pair got along before we committed.

It was official. We were heading to Lubbock, Texas to bring home our first Grove breeders.

We arranged to make the drive on May 2, 2024, traveling overnight so the gliders could sleep during the long ride home. Despite a hiccup with forgetting our carriers (a panicked stop at Walmart solved that), everything went smoothly—and early on the morning of May 3, we met the gliders who would help shape the future of the Grove.

And there was one more surprise waiting for us: Susan had a baby in pouch.

The breeder had already let us know, and even used Susan to show us how to gently feel for in-pouch joeys. This baby, already well along, would make her way into the world just a few weeks later.

💔 Closing One Door, Opening Another

The road trip was exciting, but emotional too. We were making plans for the future—but that future didn’t include joeys from Papa, from Benji, from Junior. It didn’t include more babies from Marsha, or any more surprises from Mama’s line.

There would be no more tiny faces peeking from their mothers’ pouches—not from the gliders who had first taught us the magic of joeyhood.

That chapter was closing.

But we were turning the page with love and hope. Our Grove was growing in a new direction, rooted in everything we’d learned. We knew that, moving forward, we could do this the right way—ethically, responsibly, and with the same joy that had sparked our passion from the very beginning.

Next time: Meet the gliders of the Starling and Kerr families—and the first joey born under our new Grove Breeders program.
🌿 The Grove Keepers — Ashfern & Fable Quillvine, Grove Archivist

Dusty Starling in the pouch on his way to his new home in the Grove.