I just thought I would share a story about what happened to my boy LeRoy. I got him last May from a family that was moving and couldn't take him with them. I got him, the cage, and the snow cap that they said he likes to sleep in for $50. They had told me that they didn't handle him much because he was used as a breeder. Well he was quite the crab, I couldn't touch him let alone hold him without getting biten. I had only had him for about week when I noticed on morning that he hadn't eaten all of his food. So I opened his cage and notice that the snow cap he slept in was at the bottom of the cage. When I picked it up and looked inside I was suprised that he didn't crab at me first of all, then I noticed this purple bump by his leg that was about the size of a large pea. He actually let me put my hand in the cap with him and as I was pulling him out I realized that a loop of yarn was wrapped very tightly around his testes. I tried to unwrap it but couldn't. I screamed for my husband to get me my small scissors and I cut him free from the cap. I then tried to unravel the yarn from his testes again and still couldn't...I was in tears from the frustration and guilt because I felt that I should have known better, but since I felt he was already stressed from having a new owner I didn't want to switch his bed as well. Finally I was able to cut the yarn off from around his testes...talk about needing a steady hand! Once I had cut him loose they were hanging much lower than normal and were still purple and about twice the size they should have been. I ended up taking him to the vet and having him neutered. They put him under and removed the testes from inside and stitched up his sack. Luckily he never messed with the stitches. He is now a perfectly healthy glider, still won't let me hold him but I can pet him on occassion without getting bit! I am happy with the small victories. I guess the moral of my story is to be very careful about what your glider sleeps in...or anything that goes in his cage for that matter. Make sure there are not any loose threads that they could get tangled on a body part. I would also avoid any knitted items where a loop can work itself loose and tangle a body part. Thanks for listening to my long story...<P>------------------<BR>Teresa & Gang<P>Brett, Gracie, LeRoy and Puggie<p>[This message has been edited by Trees Gliders (edited 03-07-2001).]

thanks for sharing your story. I hope that helps to prevent this from happening to another glider. We have heard similar stories about gliders that sleep in socks...<BR>Anyway, I think that this story would fit in great in the real stories section as a warning to others...so i'm going to move it there.<BR>I'm glad that he's doing okay! []http://www.sugarglider.net/ubb/images/icons/smile.gif[/]<BR>