I’d like to see what you guys comment about these 2 pictures.
If you were a sugar glider, would you like to live in a cage that small, fed with such food?
08
Feb
10
A little test
08
Feb
10
Suggie bathtime
A number of times people have asked me this question:
How do you bath sugar gliders?
Er…. first of all, most animals do not require baths with shampoos and conditioners. Only humans use shampoos and conditioners and soap and we would “naturally” think that all animals that we keep as pets should have a bath too.
Well, it is a big No for sugar gliders. Why? First of all these creatures have thick fur, almost chinchilla like. It is already conditioned properly by the glider with natural oils. The fur is thick and dense, so it is very difficult to dry if it gets washed with soap and water. It is easier to dry if the fur is only wet with water but if soap or shampoo comes in, the chemicals and cleaning agent in it will strip off the natural oils, causing the fur to soak up water. It is very difficult to dry. But then why not dry off using a hair dryer? NO NO NO NO…. No hair dryers please, the heat actually can burn off the ears. Sugar gliders have very delicate skin and very thin ear leather, so heat can burn them and cause pain and lots of damage.
Gliders also can easily drown if you were to put them in a basin of water. So no way….. no water baths please.
So how to bath a sugar glider? A glider is actually quite a clean animal. It cleans itself like how a cat does. It uses it’s grooming claws, licks them and comb themselves with it. For a newbie, it looks like the glider is scratching itself crazy but it really is just grooming itself.
If your glider is a little grubby or dirty, just use a plain old damn cloth or some baby wet wipes to wipe your glider. Use only fragrance free baby wet wipes that are alcohol free. Also, do not get those “pet shampoo sprays”. I recently heard that many suppliers are selling these together with the joeys but these pet shampoo sprays are not meant for gliders. Loaded with chemicals and perfume, a glider is super sensitive to these perfume oils. Also a lot are just water base, so it will cause your glider to become wet and catch a cold and fall sick later on. Stay away from such products. If you need to get a bit of dirt off or clean the fur a little, you can use baby powder or pet powder made with corn starch. Talcum powder is bad for their lungs so only use corn starch.
A glider should only ever get a wet bath if it fell into paint or gotten oil onto it’s body or smeared life threatening chemicals on itself. This should be done with proper vet supervision.
08
Feb
10
Your 1st joey
Sugar gliders will always make excellent pocket pets because…. well…. they really can fit and ride in our pockets LOL. This here is my glider in my jeans pocket. But it is not advisable to carry them everywhere in your pocket. The best carrying unit is still the good old bonding pouch.
I find that many newbies or new glider owners often ask me this question after purchasing a joey:
“Why is my glider making so much noise and why it looks like wanna attack me?”
The truth is, when a joey is separated from it’s previous home and owner, it will of course go through a bout of home sickness. This is normally seen when a joey refuse food for the 1st night. Then they get irritated and scared with their new surroundings.
Normally joeys would react out of defense. The new owner is firstly, very new to the joey. My joeys have seen me since they first open their eyes and I handle them often, which makes them comfortable with me. My joeys can sleep in my palm, ride on my shoulder and sleep in my shirt without much hassle. But once it goes to a new home, I’m not there, so they become tense and scared. They react by crabbing at their new owners. Some would even go the extra mile by lifting a hand and act as if it is ready to pounce and bite. Believe me, all these are just intimidating stunts to make you scared of them. This is a born defense drive in them, they would react this way if a cat or a snake was in front of them.
As a new owner, you should never be scared of all these signs. If you act scared, the joey will then understand that you are afraid of noise. The more it crabs, the more you stay away, then you are in big trouble. You must understand, you have to create a bond with your joey.
Your first act would be to touch and handle your joey even while it is crabbing. If it jumps away, just gently grab it back in your hands and handle. Let it walk up your arms and in your palm. Try not to let it hide behind your back or your neck because you want your joey to learn that your hands are safe. After a few attempts, I would say in a day, your joey should have less fear of you. And in a few days time, your joey will enjoy each handling sessions.
So the big lesson here is, never be afraid of the noises and actions a little joey makes, it is all a show to make you leave it alone. Remember, gaining a joeys trust is by making it understand that you are it’s friend. A glider is not like a hamster or a puppy. It is totally different.
07
Feb
10
Hazel and Nutmeg
Here are 2 little female joeys that just OOP on 7 February 2010. They both look alike now, but I’m giving them the names of Hazel and Nutmeg. They are joeys from Kinta and ChubsBoi, big gliders so the joeys would be big. They are siblings to Churro.
They both OOP with the weight of 11g.
Today is 8 February 2010, they each gain 1g so now they are 12g.
These 2 will be going to Mr Eric and Amelia.
07
Feb
10
Let us compare
I decided to compare a few pictures of 2 month old OOP joeys that I gathered from the Internet and pictures of my joeys.
Joey pictures from some classifieds claiming they are 2 months OOP.
And here are my 2 month old OOP joeys
So can see the difference? Hopefully newbies will take this as a guide, and stay away from buying underage joeys.
07
Feb
10
Itchy red bumpy skin
Some people often wonder if they are allergic to their gliders or not. Why? Well, after a little handling and letting a glider climb up and down your arm, you may later experience their claws gripping onto your skin. Later on the reaction from their claws would cause bumpy red skin that feels itchy. And when you sweat or wash it with water, you will feel a stinging sensation. Is that normal?
Yups, totally normal. Just look at my arm!
This is why we should cut our glider’s nails once every 2 weeks if possible. I was late with the nail cutting, and after just a few minutes of handling, I suffered very itchy arms.
The claws have bacteria and germs under them, just like our nails and that is why we should not bite our nails because it is loaded with bacteria. Anyway, when the claws pierce our skin, a little bacteria goes into our broken skin, and our skin reacts by going red and itchy, telling your body that you are hurt and irritated. So how to treat this?
I normally suggest using anti-bacterial soap to wash the scratched areas. After washing, I use an alcohol-base hand sanitizer. This method came from my friend YueYi and it really helps alot. Apply the hand sanitizer, it would give you a buzzing sting but after a few moments, the itchiness will go away, the swelling will subside and your arm will feel better. So far I have never suffered any infection from this, just a few scars and scabs here and there. If you are afraid of the stinging sensation the hand sanitizer may give, then I suggest applying a thin coating of manuka honey to speed up healing.
So if you suffer a similar case, do not panic. Just go and wash your arms and apply a hand sanitizer or some yummy manuka honey.
06
Feb
10
Lil JayJay
Here is little Jay Jay. He is the son of Gip Gip and Dippy. I adopted Gip Gip last year when her owner, my friend Jennifer had to migrate to New Zealand with her hubby Jeremy. I was happy to take him in as I saw him grow up. When Jenni got him, he was so small, super underage and underweight. He was only 18g when I first saw him. Thankfully GliderSLURP saved him and he is now a big boy. I will continue about GipGip in another article.
JayJay is a cut little fella. Hopefully he will find a new owner soon. He has got a very cute personality. He stones a bit for photographs but he is very active. Slightly crabby but overall a lovely joey. He OOPed on 27 December 2009. He is not weaned up mom’s milk yet but look at his size….. amazing.
Now isn’t he adorable?
So if you are looking for a very adorable male joey, just email me.
06
Feb
10
An update on Naya
Naya, my retired female glider has been such a strong and delightful girl. Today, she has regained back most of her lost weight from her unfortunate incident with dead joeys in pouch. I brought her for a check up at Hands and Paws clinic recently. Dr Jenny said that she is healthy and fit, good size and good weight.
It is important to monitor you glider’s weight and appetite. So far Naya has a piggy appetite as she will eat anything and everything in her bowl. So she has now gotten a nice rounded figure but never overweight or obese. How about parasites? It is common in gliders that come from dirty pet shops or suppliers, so far my gliders are parasite free after going for check ups.
06
Feb
10
Glider Poop!
Once I remembered someone asking me to get a picture of glider poop. How does it look like? Dry or wet? Brown or black?
LOL, a healthy glider would have solid poop, that is moist enough to stick to your hand but never wet and runny like porridge. Colour can be brown, black, light brown, red or orange. Normally red or orange comes from the fruits it has eaten, like papaya or carrots or even watermelon.
The poop should never be runny. If it doesn’t hold itself like toothpaste, then it is a sign that your glider is suffering from diarrhea.
The internet is a great place to gather infomation and research…. but then many are spreading the wrong information about sugar glider care. I was really sadden, shock and disappointed with the way people are keeping and selling sugar gliders these days. The suppliers and glider mill sellers, not to forget the stubborn middleman sellers are spreading the wrong information to newbies.
I know a sugar glider is a hard to resist pet to keep. The heart can melt once our eyes lay upon the cute innocent face with huge dark eyes. Underage joeys always look very babyish and fragile and that just makes us buy them on impulse.
Here are a few samples of the WORST cages and habitat set up for a pair of sugar gliders. I really pity their health.
A sugar glider is NOT a hamster or mouse. It should never live in a hamster cage and use a hamster wheel.
They should never be kept in a glass tank like that. They are not show animals. They need freedom and stuff to grab for climbing. They are aboreal, need cage bars and perches.
They are 100% NOT REPTILES!!!!! Honestly, this kind of set up makes a glider depress and uncomfortable. The UV light here can destroy the glider’s eye sight. It is very hot and strong too. I know coz I use the same light for my snakes. And look at those wood shavings….. this causes respitory problems. Come on people, do not just follow what pet shops suggest. Pet shop people normally have no interest in doing research or reading, they are only trying to market their products. When a newbie sees this, automatically they would buy the same tank, same items from the shop that is displaying these items for gliders. Don’t be like the saying “Monkey see, Monkey do”.
Then I came across 1 advertisement in mudah.my and it made me laugh….. the advertiser tried to sell a sugar glider as a petaurus australis, saying that his glider is different from normal sugar gliders coz it is the smallest sugar glider species. Let me just copy and paste:
Dikenali Sugar Glider
Mempunyai 4 jenis baka..
Sugar Glider Petaurus Australis paling kecil dalam dunia dan paling jinak.
Berbeza Dengan Sugar Glider yang terdapat dalam pasaran malaysia, besar mcm tikus hitam..
Petaurus australis ni kecik je.. sebesar 4 jari..
sangat jinak..
Each RM400
Oh my gawd….. this guy says it is only as big as 4 fingers….. How about the picture of it?
Underage joey….. typical. You see, it is all just a marketing gimmick to get newbies or clueless people to fall into a trap of buying a glider.
Again, my article here is for the public to read and educate themselves. Please do not be fooled by price and marketing skills of sellers. These days people (as in the suppliers, glider mills and middleman sellers) are trying to compete with each other, as well as hobbyist breeders. It is disgusting, the way they are selling them. Price of course very cheap and attractive, but I would advice not to buy from these people because the breeding gliders suffer alot and never get to live to their senior years. A pity for those gliders because they will die from sickness and hind leg paralysis by the time they are 4 years old or younger.
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