Today I decided to talk a little about spending…..
Yes, everything needs money. There is no free meal in this world unless you meet one of the rare kind ones that offer you something for no charge. I of course have met a few but they are my good friends who I trust and since they trust me, we tend to give each other stuff. Anyway, put that aside first. What I would highlight is that good things are not always cheap.
It is tempting to get a joey. And when you see someone offering cute cute baby 2 month OOP joey for RM200 or less, you are bound to be jumping for joy, kicking your heals and shouting Yahoo! at the top of your lungs because you have found something cheap. Now read my advice and reasons carefully, and I hope whoever is reading this would understand.
Normally when a seller or so called breeder is offering joeys for RM200, it is either he is just looking for a quick sale because joeys require lots of time to take care…. or he is looking for sale quantity, as this is normally what suppliers and middleman sellers look for. The more they sell, the faster their turnover comes and of course more money to get new stock for selling and so on. Think about it, these people normally are just greedy for money. They are doing it as a business. They not only sell gliders but other things like snakes, reptiles, other small mammals. They are businessmen looking for any buyers to fill up their rice bowls. To make themselves look good and to tempt you into buying a joey, they will of course tell you all sorts of stories and offer you a cage, catfood that they call glider food and coconut shell and even some yucky low quality spray shampoo. They won’t mention about other things, all they will say ” It is easy, like hamster. Eat and sleep only. No need worry, very cute wan….”
When you want something, you need the cash. Don’t be blinded and go for cheap gliders, you will end up with a cheap but unhealthy underage joey. Why spend on something that is unhealthy and then spend more on making it healthy? I find that insane. Furthermore, the joeys from suppliers are normally malnourished because they feed the parents apples and catfood, so whatever they eat goes into their milk and the joeys drink their mom’s milk… so how?
Spend a little bit more to gain yourself a healthy pet.
How to locate a good breeder? Firstly, a good breeder would never ever put different joeys in the same cage. I would never separate my joeys from their parents and put them in a single cage. It stresses them out. Secondly, a good breeder never tries to change topic about their gliders. A good breeder would sit down with you and explain everything he or she knows about gliders. A good breeder would interrogate you and ask you questions. A good breeder would recommend neutering the males once they come of age and never recommend breeding. A good breeder will have knowledge on diet and not just answer you apples and catfood. A good breeder would not be afraid to handle their own joeys and not afraid to teach you how to handle. A good breeder would never push you into buying a glider or joey.
A healthy and properly bred joey would normally cost around RM300, more or less.
The cage, minimum is around RM100, the bigger of course would be more expensive.
Food, well, if we say HPW or GliderSlurp, Gliderade and Acacia Gum and Calcium, roughly put aside RM70 to Rm80 for it. The wheel around RM100, more or less around there depends on where you get it from. Sleeping pouch and bonding pouch around RM50 or more.
That’s your basic cost of around RM700 for everything plus 1 joey. But the start up cost is always high, then monthly you will only be spending around RM30 to RM40, depending on what you are feeding your glider. It’s hard for me to give an exact monthly cost since I have more than 20 gliders, so my monthly cost is high and I don’t really take into count because what I can buy, I will get for them.
A glider is a huge commitment. It requires time and of course money. So if a person can’t fork out money to upkeep a glider, then do think twice and either save your money or get some other pet.
Saving is good, especially for students. So don’t say cause you are a student, you can’t afford. You actually can afford if you save up. Don’t go wasting money on movie tickets, alcohol, DVDs and CDs and on junkfood…. coz if I can do it, you can too.
PS: I still am a university college student.
