GliderCENTRAL

Coat Health& Constipation

Posted By: cookielover

Coat Health& Constipation - 09/19/21 03:12 AM

I was on here in January asking for help for poor coat health for my pair of gliders. I changed their diet from TPG to OHPW. My male was neutered. I switched their wheel from the silent runner to the Apollo wheel. My male improved nicely. He plumped up and his coat became less stained and continues to do so. He's still on the small side, but he's doing well. My girl on the other hand hasn't changed at all. Her coat is still very stained. She also has a bald spot behind her ear. I've seen Ink, my male, grooming her there quite a bit.
Dreamer, my girl, is still tiny. 65 grams. She hasn't lost any weight, but she never gains any either.She eats well and is very active.
She has also had constipation problems pretty much ever since I got her. I think it was caused primarily because I pureed their food instead of chopped it. It got much better immediately after I stopped that in January, but after a few weeks, it returned. It's been on and off ever since. I've given her pureed pumpkin and citrus and it helps for a day and then it's back. She can still go but it just takes her a little longer and she grunts or hisses. Anyway, it's gotten worse in the past few days. I'm going to try to get her into the vet, but I'm moving out of state in a week and I don't know if they'll be able to see her before then. I'm worried that the stress of the move will make everything worse.

So long story short, my questions are do you know what could be causing the staining and the thin, rough coat, why is she still so small and what could cause ongoing constipation (and what can I do about it all)? Thank you so much, I really appreciative this forum!

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Posted By: cookielover

Re: Coat Health& Constipation - 09/19/21 03:28 AM

I forgot to mention that she always gets really constipated after having dried mealworms or yogurt drops. I have mini yogies and for a while she got one a night. I've stopped all together now and she gets no treats. But I went on a ten day trip a couple weeks ago and left her and her mate with a pet sitter. I gave treat instructions, but they weren't followed, she was given a ton of yoggies and when I got back she was very constipated. She hasn't really been going normally since then.
She's also started (in the past few days) chewing on the bars of her cage. Don't know why or if it is connected somehow.
Sorry for all of the random info!
Posted By: cookielover

Re: Coat Health& Constipation - 09/21/21 09:30 PM

Update: I got her into the vet today. (The vet said that she was the most well-behaved glider that he's seen and she let him do the examination without fighting or biting! *claps*) He said that she pooped fine while she was in there, which is great, but also frustrating because she rarely does that at home. They did a test on the fecal sample and they also took an x-ray to check for blockage. He didn't see any blockage. He said that the sample showed an overabundance of bacteria and he said that she may have the beginnings of a GI infection. So he gave me some meds for that. He also said that while her bones looked fairly good on the x-ray, he was concerned that she wasn't getting enough calcium and recommended that I find a way to get her more. I've been feeding OHPW with the critter love salads - how do you recommend that I increase the calcium levels? Is it possible that low calcium could cause staining/ poor coat health?
Posted By: cookielover

Re: Coat Health& Constipation - 09/23/21 01:54 AM

Sorry for all of the posts here...one more question.
So I've been looking into high calcium foods and apparently lemon peel has 11.1:1 ratio, lime peel has 4.5:1 and orange peel has 7.6:1. Would you suggest feeding some dried/wet citrus peel as a treat if she'd eat it? How much & how often?
Posted By: Feather

Re: Coat Health& Constipation - 09/23/21 03:22 AM

If you're using the salads with the Critterlove Original then she is getting enough calcium. If she does have an over abundance of bacteria in her gut that is sucking calcium out of her bones.

Are you weighing the salad when you feed it? You are supposed to be giving each glider 24 grams of salad a night.
Posted By: cookielover

Re: Coat Health& Constipation - 09/24/21 02:46 PM

How would the bacteria get there/become overabundant in the first place?
Posted By: Feather

Re: Coat Health& Constipation - 09/24/21 03:28 PM

I don’t know, some imbalance that causes it to flourish.
Posted By: cookielover

Re: Coat Health& Constipation - 09/25/21 02:10 AM

OKay.
Quick question about a bald spot on Dreamer's neck behind her ear...how can I help make that go away? I've seen her mate grooming that spot quite a bit, but I'm not sure if it's just him or if she's doing it, too. It started out fairly small - months ago - but it's getting bigger.
Posted By: Feather

Re: Coat Health& Constipation - 09/26/21 05:17 AM

Can you post a picture of it?
Posted By: cookielover

Re: Coat Health& Constipation - 09/27/21 05:59 PM

Here it is

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Posted By: Feather

Re: Coat Health& Constipation - 09/27/21 11:25 PM

I wouldn't worry about that unless the skin gets broken, then you will have to separate them until she heals up and the hair grows back. She is either doing it to herself or her buddy is doing it.
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