GliderCENTRAL

New mommy, very worried

Posted By: Misti

New mommy, very worried - 07/30/19 04:32 PM

Long story short I have a 13 week old (oop) female sugar glider who only has one back leg. It was a infected they amputated save her life back in May. it was a infected they amputated save her life back in May I only got her from a breeder 11 days ago. Her leg is all healed and she is very sweet. I have noticed some odd behavior over the last few days. She has stopped sleeping in any of the pouches in her cage she only sleeps on the floor wrapped up in my T-shirt. And now for the last two days she is sleeping all night and staying up all day. She also spends more time than I feel comfortable with just standing in her cage and staring at me. When she’s doing this if I stick my hand in the cage she does not crap she lets me pet her. I am concerned that the anesthesia cause some kind of neurological damage But I will admit my youngest son is 13 years old severely developmentally delayed and suffers from severe seizures. As such it is more than possible that I am just a worried new mommy making something out of nothing. I was wondering if anyone else has experienced their baby just standing there staring at them for 20 minutes at a stretch .
Posted By: KarenE

Re: New mommy, very worried - 07/30/19 05:35 PM

Is she alone or does she have a cage mate? Could be she is simply lonely.

Does she eat well? How is her general activity when she is up during the day? Maybe she just has her days and nights mixed up. It does happen occasionally with the young ones.
Posted By: Xeno

Re: New mommy, very worried - 07/30/19 05:50 PM

I doubt it is neurological damage. When I walk in my gliders always turn and stare at me. They are waiting for a treat or for me to let them out of the cage to play.

I agree with Karen that she might be lonely if she has no one else in her colony. If the T-shirt smells of you that is the closest she can get to companionship. She may also be up in the day because that is when you are around. I would look into getting another glider around the same age if possible. If not I would take her out of the cage a lot to play. Does she have toys? Things to do in the cage while she is alone? She could also be bored.
Posted By: Misti

Re: New mommy, very worried - 07/30/19 06:17 PM

She is alone right now but only for another two weeks. Her cage mate is still with the breeder until he gets fixed the end of this month . She has been alone in a hospital cage since her surgery. Open till the last 36 hours usually she eats great activity level is great she plays and runs around and barks and chirps . The last 36 hours she has been very awake during the day she slept all of last night and didn’t even eat anything until 10 o’clock this morning when I moved her food dish right next to the T-shirt rather than across the bottom of the cage in her kitchen. The last 36 hours she has been very awake during the day she slept all of last night and didn’t even eat anything until 10 o’clock this morning when I moved her food dish right next to the T-shirt rather than across the bottom of the cage in her kitchen
Posted By: the_eidolon

Re: New mommy, very worried - 08/11/19 10:56 AM

I had an elderly glider, Nand, who lost an eye and while initially accepted back by his colony, after complications, he was ultimately ejected. He lived for over a year that way and had multiple cysts during that time on the scent gland on his chest. He was at the vet a lot. He was a happy boy in spite of all that. He, too, switched to being awake a lot during the day. I suspect this may be common with only gliders as it is a way to see their people. My healthy gliders will also wake up at strange times if I'm not available when they're used to, just so they can see me.

It sounds like your girl is healthy and happy if she eats and plays. Unless there is something else medically wrong (check!), the recent change means she could very well be depressed from being lonely. Hand-feed her. Give her a lot of love, let her sit in your lap when you can or take her out with you when it's reasonable; make sure she spends as much time with you as you can to elevate her mood. If you go out of town, have your petsitter hold up the phone for your glider and talk to her. I did it for Nand and later the rest of my colony, and he would grab the phone and hug it tight. I would tell him that I loved him, was proud of him, would never ever abandon or reject him, and that I would always come home for him. I would excuse myself from business conference functions to "go call my glider". It worked. It helped him keep going when I wasn't there with him.

Nand lived as long as he did because he was happy enough just having me. You can never fully replace a sugar glider companion, but you can develop a close and loving relationship that will make your glider fight to live. You're not making something from nothing. You are living out an atypical situation with an atypical glider, but that doesn't mean she's less, it just means your relationship with her will be more. I used to say that since Nand only had one eye, I'd just love him twice as much.

Good luck. It sounds like you've done a lot for this little girl. I hope it works out and she lives a fulfilling life with you.
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