My Sugar Glider Is Sick!
I
never thought it would happen to me, but it did. My sugar glider got
sick and I was barely prepared to handle the problem even
after ten years of owning sugar gliders. Because of
my own
experience,
I thought it wise to share what I learned in order to help
you be
ready for some of the things that may very
well happen to YOU.
These
images you see are just a few examples of things that can
happen
to your pet. Sugar gliders are not the easy to keep animal that so many
people claim they are. It is common for any of these maladies
listed below to happen to YOUR pet even when kept and cared for
properly. As a sugar glider owner,
you absolutely must be aware of the various health issues that your animal
faces and be prepared to prevent when possible and
respond when needed.
Proper
keeping helps to minimize many possible health issues, but
some
can happen regardless.
A simple unmanaged nail
caught in a pouch can painfully rip the nail from the flesh
and
get infected or become necrotic,
or it can also allow the animal to break and mangle its
fingers or
limb which can lead to possibly chewing it off to get
free.
This happens. Sugar gliders are
smart little critters but they are not smart enough to calm themselves
to figure out the best way to get free, they simply freak out
and
yank, yank, yank and bite, bite, bite.
There are actually a lot of dietary issues including obesity, malnutrition and hypocalcemia.
A simple bite from another animal in the cage can
turn into a hole, an open wound, stretched skin, infection and
eventually death. An
average person might think that a simple bite to the skin would scab up
and heal but it doesnt. One of the many things that an owner must know
about their sugar glider is that they fixate on things. An open wound
is an invitation to clean it. If the animal can reach it on its own, it
will do so and will end up making the issue much worse than it would be
when left alone. If the animal cannot reach it, others in the cage will
jump at the chance to continually clean it, and in doing so will
stretch and rip and remove the skin thusly making the wound much more
severe and life threatening. The first step in addressing any wound is
to remove the animal
from a group cage and also use an e-collar
if necessary to prevent self mutilation. An open wound means a month or
more of solitary
confinement so the owner must have extra cages and supplies available
for this possibility. The same
holds true even for wounds closed by a vet. Glue and stitches are
foreign to
the animal and will immediately be ripped out making the wound even
worse than original. The owner must find a way to keep the animal and
others in the cage from grooming the area until it can heal closed with
no scabs.
Overgrooming is when the
animal presents with a stereotypy
in the form of endlessly grooming itself in a specific area which wears
that area down to the skin or possibly much worse including self mutilation. This behavior
often
arises from mental stress created from improper keeping. A small cage,
loneliness, poor diet, lack of exercize are all things that must be
addressed. Often adding an exercise wheel, ongoing mental
stimulus, larger cage or a cage friend will
resolve or prevent these kinds of issues.
A tail
is very fragile, and once it has been bitten, it has also been
broken. It will begin to dry up and will need a surgical amputation to prevent infection
and death. Very rarely can a tail be repaired.
A bump under the eye is most likely a dental abscess which if left alone can
burst and cause necrotic tissue and death. The eye may often have to be
removed..
THE LIST GOES ON
The possible health issues are expansive. Here are some
items to become familiar with:
Unmanaged nails get caught
and ripped off
Toes swollen, bitten, infected, broken
Mating or fighting wound
Puncture wounds on patagium
Tail biting, chewing, amputation
Dental abscess
Eye scratch, penetration, ulcer, infection
Ear bites
Hind leg paralysis
Malnutrition and dietary issues
Overweight
Overgrooming and other
mental/stress issues
Self Mutilation
Accidents around the house
Other household animal/pet attacks
Urinary tract infection
Oral tumors
Mastitis
Giardia
Parasites
Inverted or swollen pouch
Prolapsed cloaca, genitals, bladder
Teeth trimming, Wing clipping
Please
learn as much as you can about this animal before jumping into
ownership and be ready to
prevent and also respond when necessary. Sugar gliders will need vet
attention in their lives for one reason or another so you must be able
to provide that. If
you see signs of any of the maladies presented here,
please go see a
vet
immediately.
These
items listed above are brief and only a few of the many things a
sugar glider owner must know to be successful. This post
is designed to start you on the
quest for
learning. You are welcome to visit the Sugar Glider Encyclopedia
and come read through, search and join in any of the forum
discussions. And the sugar glider chatroom is often busy in the
evenings for real-time interaction with other owners.
You are welcome to come discuss this article to add/modify
some of the content or simply leave a comment.
Please read our other introductory articles: Christmas Sugar Glider , Sugar Glider Cages
Life is full of questions, never be afraid
to ask any of them. Please never stop learning and always share what
you learn with others.
Responses:
I just
wanted to say thank you for for your post. Many people don't
realize what can go wrong with gliders, they also don't realize they
are not good pets for kids or alot of people really. They require ALOT
of care and work. - Christy
Thanks so much for posting this. I adopted a glider from craigslist and
he came in a horrible tiny $15 bird cage. -Taylor
What
an excellent post! Thank you for being so caring and putting this
together in one place! I have 6 girls. 4 are in the
Oriental Tall and the other two in the Brisbane. Everybody
has
plenty of room! Kudos to you!!! Whomever you are!!! -Evelyn
Thanks for that. I often see glider sellers on CL who are
unable to write a simple declarative sentence, free of spelling and
grammatical errors. Seems to me that these folks do not
possess the knowledge and skill needed to care for such a fragile
animal. -Dr R Hamilton
Thanks
for the info. I always wanted a sugar glider, but after reading
this, i think i will leave to someone better able to care for them.
-Rebecca
Thank
you for the craigslist post about cages!! We are considering
gliders, but have a lot to learn! -Gabrielle
Hello,
I just wanted to say "thank you" for your craigslist post on
improper sugar glider care. I own two gliders myself and it was
actually painful to see some of the conditions that other people were
forcing their gliders to live in. Hopefully your post will educate
current owners and make potential new owners more conscious of the time
and work involved in keeping gliders happy and healthy. again
thank you -Christine
Hi,
we have just recently found out about sugar gliders. I do not think
that we are going to get any though because believe it or not we did
think of some of the things that you mentioned. I think it is awesome
that you took the time to hopefully make people think about how they
cage any animal. I hope people really do their research so that all
animals are cared for properly. Thank you -Cheryl
Who
are you? You are my damn hero! rofl!!!!
I
love your post. Do you mind if I print it out and hand out to
people who purchase sugar gliders from me? I just had someone
return a pair after 2 weeks because they didn't have time.
Even
after telling them what type of cage was inappropriate, they purchased
one that is on your list. It is a piece of garbage and
already
falling apart. -Dawn
I
don't know who you are but I appreciate your post so much on
Craigslist!
I have seen some horrible conditions that people try to claim are ok
for their gliders! I have 4 myself and the smallest cage I have is 5'
tall. Hopefully this will try and deter people from buying one on a
whim and not knowing what they are getting themselves into. -Jennifer
I
have been researching sugar gliders and their care for awhile, and have
been considering adding some to my family soon. There is
varied
and contradictory information all over the web ... and it helps to have
concise and scientific resources for those of us considering this
important commitment!! Thanks for your post!! -Trish
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