I have been meaning to post this, but I have not had the time. It is an interesting story that you glider lovers may want to read. I am a first year teacher and was intruduced to gliders by one of my students. He brought his to afterschool tutoring sessions. I was amazed. I decided to purchase one. After much research, I found what seemed to be an amazing deal in the paper. A male glider with cage, food and everything for fifty bucks! I went to check it out and was devestated. He was in this tiny galvanized cage. There were no
toys for him to play with. It had the worst smelling wood chips on the bottom, covered with MOLDY carrots. His eyes were shruken into his skull, and he had almost no fur. His ears were covered with pustules. I was disgusted by the mere site of him. The lady took him out of the cage and placed him into my palms. She then fed him Planter's peanuts as a treat. I did not want this thing that was supposed to be a glider, but I knew I could not live with myself if I left him there. I immediately took him to the local exotic animal store and they were shocked with what they saw. They suggested that I should see a
vet immediately. I went the next day. The
vet was very good with Gizmo. Gizmo had to have shots of vitamins, and electrolytes to rehydrate him. He was only alive because his kidneys had gone into shock. His skin condition was caused by Demiodadtic mites. These are very rare in sugar gliders. Extremely rare. They are usually specific to dogs. The dogs who get these type of mites are usually stray, malnurished, and living in poor conditions. No one knows how a sugar glider got them, especially since they are species specific (dogs can only give them to dogs, cats can only give them to cats, ect.) The
vet had to send off his samples to labs and figure out how to treat him. The
vet told me he had never seen a more pitaful creature. Despite the fact that Gizmo was obviously neglected and more than just mistreated, he is an amazing glider. I mean, he hardly ever crabs (only at dogs who sniff his pouch too long), he is tame, and he is already super attached to me. (Don't grab me, or hug me - he will crab at that, too) He is so sweet and gentle. At first everyone thought it was because he was so sick! He started his treatment about a month ago and it is working really well. It is very strong. Sometimes he has seuzures. He still loves to play, though. He is starting to get his fur back and his scabs have dissapeared. He looks so good, at least 50 percent better. He has gained weight. I think he is just figuring out he is a glider for the first time (he does not act like a glider sometimes - read on). He has a HUGE cage and loves to climb all over it. He has not figured out
toys yet. He loves to hide in my hair. He loves my chihuahua. If he is out during the day, he scurries up to her and while she is sleeping (curled in a ball) he snuggles into any crevice and naps, too. He is so sweet and tame! He knows he has been saved, and he is very thankful to me. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/dance.gif" alt="" />I just wanted to let you know that I could have not Gizmo on the road to recovery without all the wonderful people at this website! Giz is almost ready to have a friend. If anyone knows of someone in Austin or Houston that needs a home for a glider, let me know. Giz needs someone to teach him how to be a glider. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/littleglider.gif" alt="" /> Thank you!