GliderCENTRAL

What can go wrong...

Posted By: GliderNursery

What can go wrong... - 02/14/13 04:25 AM

Thought I'd share with you my most recent breeding issue with a new breeding pair of gliders. We always talk about the potential for rejection, but not much about the potential of over grooming or what happens if a joey sustains an injury.

My first cremino and mosaic joeys out of Whisky & Guinness came OOP 2/2/13. Tonka is the male cremino, and Tara is the female RT mosaic.

The creamino came OOP and the same day incurred some type of injury that caused the parent(s) to amputate his back right foot. I consulted with several other breeders as well as my veterinarian about this. The skin should heal over the end of the leg, and he should be just fine. We do know that this isn't genetic, as the trauma was observed. Since this occurred when he was so young, I'm confident that he will not even know he is different, and I don't consider him as being a "special needs" glider. Additionally, they over groomed the tip of the tail off of the little girl. Both issues occurred once the joeys were OOP.

This is a set of first time parents, and both are a bit "nervous". Both parents are doing a great job with them. Mom was over a year old before she was put with a younger mate. I'm taking this as an isolated situation and will allow the parents to continue to breed. Obviously if this becomes a recurring problem, different actions will take place. But, I've had a nice little heart to heart with them and explained that this is unacceptable parental behavior, and I think they understand. wink

Anyway, both joeys are doing great and are gaining weight nicely. And I'm excited to watch them mature.

Foot injury:


Tonka:


Over groomed tail:


Tara:
Posted By: SLHamil

Re: What can go wrong... - 02/14/13 04:47 AM

I always nibbled on my babies toes when they were born, too. They're just perfect :-)
Posted By: SugarCrazy

Re: What can go wrong... - 02/14/13 05:07 PM

They are beautiful little ones. I am looking forward to hearing about how well Tonka grows up with his missing foot. I agree with you that he will probably not have an issue since he is so young. Neither of them are "special needs" but I'm sure very special little ones none the less!!
Posted By: Imbrium

Re: What can go wrong... - 02/15/13 12:29 AM

aww, poor little babies! frown I'm sure he'll cope just fine with the injury, since he won't even remember it ever being different... but I still feel bad for the little guy.

hopefully mom and dad will learn from their first parenting experiences and do better with their second set of joeys!
Posted By: GliderNursery

Re: What can go wrong... - 02/15/13 12:36 AM

I hope so!

My vet came by today and looked in on Tonka. He said that he thinks the skin will heal over the end of the stump without any problems. smile
Posted By: JackieS

Re: What can go wrong... - 02/15/13 12:37 AM

Awwwww Tonka is so cute!!!!
Posted By: Tigerlily

Re: What can go wrong... - 02/15/13 12:41 AM

Thank you for sharing this Shelly, I think it is very important to remind ourselves that things can happen even under the best of circumstances.

I hope all goes well with your little ones, please keep us posted on how they do smile
Posted By: JessChi

Re: What can go wrong... - 02/15/13 01:42 AM

Little nubs! They are still so beautiful smile
Posted By: xoerikae

Re: What can go wrong... - 02/15/13 08:08 AM

I dunno if anyone has mentioned this, but I wonder if it was the same accident that cause both injuries?
I had a joey come oop last year missing the end of her tail and a toe. I didn't think about it until I saw her curled up, but they lined up perfectly when she was dangling ip/oop just right - any trauma would've hit both spots.

I have no idea if that makes any sense whatsoever. It's 3:30am. Don't judge me!
Posted By: GliderNursery

Re: What can go wrong... - 02/15/13 03:18 PM

Anything is possible, and to be honest, I can only speculate as to the cause of the injury. It's one of those things where everything in the cage is glider-safe, so I don't know. If I did, I'd sure be blasting an un-safe product from the rooftops! lol
Posted By: yiyo

Re: What can go wrong... - 02/15/13 04:34 PM

Awe! Poor babies frown I'm sure they'll be fine though. Out of curiosity, what do you give a joey for pain in an instance like that with Tonka's foot?
Posted By: GliderNursery

Re: What can go wrong... - 02/15/13 11:23 PM

I was advised against giving anything. I know, I know... that sounds extremely horrible, and trust me it bothered me a lot. As I was told, a younger animal is much more resilient than its adult counterparts. Anything topical would have been groomed off by the parents, risking further damage. And trying to get anything orally would have been near impossible to dose. I'm not sure if an injection would have worked or not dealing with such a small joey.

With that being said, I know gliders hide things very well, but this joey has never acted any different than any other joey. Even when I held the leg to get pics, he didn't try to pull away as you would expect if it were in any type of pain.

This is unfortunately a situation that I was advised would be in the joeys best interest to let nature take its course and see what happens. At this point, he's still doing great, nursing and gaining weight like you would expect, he's moving around a bit without any problems, and his eyes are now open.

I will take some more pics and post soon.
Posted By: GliderNursery

Re: What can go wrong... - 02/15/13 11:24 PM

BTW - if anyone knows of anything that could have/should have been done differently, please let me know. I will discuss that with the other breeders I have consulted with as well as my veterinarian.

I posted this strictly for educational purposes, and that includes me too. wink
Posted By: josefine

Re: What can go wrong... - 02/16/13 01:19 AM

How is he going to groom himself w/out a foot?
I would have him be a special needs glider b/c of this. But,I don't know what the minimum qualifications are to a special needs glider.
Posted By: GliderNursery

Re: What can go wrong... - 02/16/13 02:19 AM

I presume he'll do just fine with his remaining back foot. Additionally, any cage mate he has would theoretically assist him in his grooming needs. I'm not anticipating having to help with it, therefore not considering that as a cause to be considered special needs.

However, I could be wrong and only time will tell. As he gets older, I will be updating this thread on how he's doing. wink
Posted By: Drea

Re: What can go wrong... - 02/16/13 03:55 AM

Shelly, will you be keeping him?
I'm glad to hear he's doing well
This thread was a very interesting read, especially for a new breeder.
Posted By: Sweet As Suggies

Re: What can go wrong... - 02/16/13 04:12 AM

Thank you for sharing this. It's too bad about your little ones, but I have high hopes for both of them (especially tripod - good nickname :thumb2: ). It will be very interesting to watch his progress.
Posted By: GliderNursery

Re: What can go wrong... - 02/16/13 05:09 AM

Drea, I'm honestly not sure yet. Guess you'll find out if he ends up in ClassifiedCENTRAL! :roflmao:

Alicia, I almost named him Trippy, but thought that would be kind of mean. I think with such a rough start in life, he needed to be "Tonka Tuff". (Ok, showing my age right there! wink )

I'm happy to share this experience with everyone. I love to educate about as much as I love my gliders. As you go on with gliders, you soon realize that no matter how much you think you know, or how much experience you have, there's always more to learn! I will be taking more pics and possibly a video or two and posting them.
Posted By: josefine

Re: What can go wrong... - 02/16/13 05:12 PM

We had a cat along time ago,he was a stray we took in,w/only 3 legs,so we named him tri-pod.
Posted By: Yami305

Re: What can go wrong... - 02/19/13 03:39 AM

keep us posted Shelly
Posted By: Drea

Re: What can go wrong... - 02/19/13 06:42 AM

Yeah definitely keep us posted!
For some reason I just adore this little boy.
Posted By: GliderNursery

Re: What can go wrong... - 02/19/13 02:44 PM

Went to remove food dishes this morning and checked on Tonka. He's still doing great. The leg looks so much better as that black part has fallen off. Good news is it was just tissue and not bone sticking out (just like Dr. Matt thought! wink ) Anyway, here are a couple of pics from this morning:



Posted By: Imbrium

Re: What can go wrong... - 02/19/13 03:28 PM

aww, I just wanna snuggle the heck out of him!
Posted By: suggiemom1980

Re: What can go wrong... - 02/19/13 03:48 PM

He's adorable! If you need a good home for him, I'll happily volunteer!!!
Posted By: SLHamil

Re: What can go wrong... - 02/19/13 04:30 PM

I just want to kiss his little head!
Posted By: yiyo

Re: What can go wrong... - 02/19/13 07:16 PM

Originally Posted By: suggiemom1980
He's adorable! If you need a good home for him, I'll happily volunteer!!!


ditto mlove
Posted By: Feather

Re: What can go wrong... - 02/19/13 07:22 PM

Shelly,

You just named him, his name is Tuff.

After Tonka Tuff or Tuff Hedeman the bull rider.
Posted By: hwh4ev

Re: What can go wrong... - 02/20/13 05:06 AM

i am glad to hear he is doing well. cant help but think of stumpy as a name though for the little munchkin.

both joeys are adorable. somebody is going to get lucky.

regards,
nancy in roseville (formerly detroit).
Posted By: GliderNursery

Re: What can go wrong... - 02/28/13 05:39 PM

Thought I'd give a little update on Tonka. He continues to do wonderful and acts like any other joey.

You can see here how his stump has healed over very nicely. smile


Playing on the joey gym:




Posted By: SLHamil

Re: What can go wrong... - 02/28/13 06:49 PM

He's absolutely precious.
Posted By: StitchsMom

Re: What can go wrong... - 02/28/13 08:05 PM

Shelly, that glider is obviously defective. You had better send him to me ASAP. :elaugh:
Posted By: Drea

Re: What can go wrong... - 03/01/13 12:57 AM

Pretty sure I volunteered via pm first :rofl2:
He's absolutely handsome Shelly!
I'm so glad to see him doing so well!
Posted By: GliderNursery

Re: What can go wrong... - 03/01/13 01:36 AM

:rofl2:
Posted By: Sweet As Suggies

Re: What can go wrong... - 03/01/13 03:02 AM

Awww...he seems like he's getting along fabulously! Great pics clap
Posted By: GliderNursery

Re: What can go wrong... - 03/10/13 08:32 PM

Tonka and Tara are getting so much bigger now! Took them out for a few photos today and got a video showing how well he moves around. It's like he doesn't even know he's missing a foot! heart

Tonka:


click for the video:


Tara:
Posted By: Imbrium

Re: What can go wrong... - 03/10/13 08:49 PM

sooooo cute!!
Posted By: Sweet As Suggies

Re: What can go wrong... - 03/10/13 09:30 PM

Absolutely adorable!
© 2024 GliderCENTRAL