I know the pet shop is one of the best places to view all sorts of pets in the market. I do patronize petshops just to fulfil my craving of “what’s new in the market” but I rarely make any buys because I know it could lead to some regretful purchase later. But not all people understand how pet shops get their stock. Not everyone read blogs and forums and often fall prey to the every quick and cunning salesman at a pet store that tries to offer you a great deal and bargain for the pet you want. I too have been a victim before and that was a lesson learnt and it was terribly long ago. But it is super sad when I see genuine sugar glider lovers get duped into buying underage joeys. I’m sharing this after getting permission from a guy I met last weekend and I was truly shock to see what this famous pet shop sold to him.

This guy was in desperate need of help as he was told his joey is 2 months old but he was doutful as the size was really small. But all the joeys at this petshop were all roughly the same size so he assumed what the sales person said was true. I guess after seeing the joey, he felt that he could give it a better life. Many people do this because they feel the same way. But I guess not many people seek help and often end up with dead joeys. So this joey was a little lucky to have found a good home with an owner who managed to get hold of me.

When I first saw the joey, it had a large head and small thin body. It’s tail was thin and bony and it’s grip was weak. The eyes are bright and the nose is pink, the joey just had a lively look but it’s body is just not keeping up with development. I found it hard to estimate the age because the body and head didn’t go at all in terms of size, but I have a feeling the joey was separated from it’s mom after a week from opening it’s eyes. So the joey was 3 weeks OOP when separated. The supplier must have forced the joey to wean and eat just apples and maybe some weak milk supplement mixed with Nestum. This joey could possibly be 5 weeks old, judging from the development of it’s teeth but it’s body was still the body of a 3.5 week old joey. I didn’t weigh it because I did not bring my digital scale that day, but it could be around 15g to 18g. The joey couldn’t keep warm because there was no fat in the body. I am still very worried about it as its life now is so fragile. I’m hoping it’s health would improve soon. The joey is undernourished and underage, so development is slow. I’m proud that the owner is willing to try his best to improve this little joey’s health.

Now how angry are you now after seeing the pictures? Never ever trust pet shops. If you happen to see people who are planning to get a joey from them, quickly talk to them and tell them about how unhealthy the joeys are (if they are underage or sick) or tell them about the pros and cons in keeping sugar gliders. Whenever I am at this famous pet shop, I keep an eye on who goes to the sugar glider joey cage. Once I met a couple who were about to open their wallets to pay for a joey. But once I pulled them out to an open area and explained about the care and all, they gave me a shocked look, kept back their wallets and left. They had no idea how much work and how fragile the sugar glider is. Why? The pet shop told them caring for sugar gliders is easy. It’s like keeping a hamster.

This article here is, again, for educational purposes. This guy has been kind enough to allow me to post this so that it can help people understand how often people make mistakes by trusting pet shops.. Now let us pray for this little joey to recover.

If any of you are reading this, leave some comments or share with us your experience in purchasing sugar gliders at the wrong place.