Posted By: Anonymous
My First Loss - 07/21/08 09:47 AM
My boyfriend and I glider-proofed our bedroom. It offered our sugar gliders a change of scenery and gave us a chance to relax and watch them having fun while laying in bed, watching TV.
We adopted a second pair of sugar gliders about a month ago. Bonding with them has been tough because they're adults. Our joeys were so easy to bond with though they needed more attention. Anyways, because there is an intact male in both pairs we kept them separate during out of cage time. The little ones were in the glider-proofed bedroom and the adult pair was in the glider room. It worked out beautifully for my boyfriend and I and the animals.
We spent tonight in the glider room with our new adult pair. My boyfriend made trips back and fourth to check on the babies in our bedroom. When playtime was up and we went to get Samson and Lilah, Samson was gone.
After a long search of the bedroom we discovered the panel that sits in the window and holds our air conditioner in place while keeping outside air out of the room had come loose. There was ample space for a sugar glider to sneak out. After searching our property we realised the likelihood of ever seeing Samson again was very small.
Our hearts are broken. We laid in bed together for hours and sobbed. How could we be so stupid? Of all our gliders, why Samson? What will people think? Mostly we just thought about what a special little man Samson had been, how lucky we were to have him in our lives and how sad it is that he's gone.
Samson was five and a half months old. He was our sweetest tempered sugar glider. He'd had a rough start. His twin sister died of malnutrition. Their mom had been bullied by other sugar gliders in her colony and wasn't eating enough for herself. Samson was hand-raised during the night and snuggled up with his fur mom during the day. The two made a full recovery. I was asked by the breeder if I would take Samson because she and her family had grown so fond of him and needed to know he was going to a loving, knowledgeable home.
What will Samson's breeder think when my boyfriend calls to tell her we desperately need a new companion for Lilah? She trusted my boyfriend and I to provide Samson with the best home possible. We've betrayed her trust. Will she let us have another of her gliders or will she think less of us for losing one of her gliders who she'd become so close to?
This all could have been avoided if my boyfriend and I had more thoroughly examined every corner of our bedroom. We would have encountered and dealt with the stupid AC panel ages ago. I can guarantee we will never let this happen again. It's such a painful lesson to learn though.
We adopted a second pair of sugar gliders about a month ago. Bonding with them has been tough because they're adults. Our joeys were so easy to bond with though they needed more attention. Anyways, because there is an intact male in both pairs we kept them separate during out of cage time. The little ones were in the glider-proofed bedroom and the adult pair was in the glider room. It worked out beautifully for my boyfriend and I and the animals.
We spent tonight in the glider room with our new adult pair. My boyfriend made trips back and fourth to check on the babies in our bedroom. When playtime was up and we went to get Samson and Lilah, Samson was gone.
After a long search of the bedroom we discovered the panel that sits in the window and holds our air conditioner in place while keeping outside air out of the room had come loose. There was ample space for a sugar glider to sneak out. After searching our property we realised the likelihood of ever seeing Samson again was very small.
Our hearts are broken. We laid in bed together for hours and sobbed. How could we be so stupid? Of all our gliders, why Samson? What will people think? Mostly we just thought about what a special little man Samson had been, how lucky we were to have him in our lives and how sad it is that he's gone.
Samson was five and a half months old. He was our sweetest tempered sugar glider. He'd had a rough start. His twin sister died of malnutrition. Their mom had been bullied by other sugar gliders in her colony and wasn't eating enough for herself. Samson was hand-raised during the night and snuggled up with his fur mom during the day. The two made a full recovery. I was asked by the breeder if I would take Samson because she and her family had grown so fond of him and needed to know he was going to a loving, knowledgeable home.
What will Samson's breeder think when my boyfriend calls to tell her we desperately need a new companion for Lilah? She trusted my boyfriend and I to provide Samson with the best home possible. We've betrayed her trust. Will she let us have another of her gliders or will she think less of us for losing one of her gliders who she'd become so close to?
This all could have been avoided if my boyfriend and I had more thoroughly examined every corner of our bedroom. We would have encountered and dealt with the stupid AC panel ages ago. I can guarantee we will never let this happen again. It's such a painful lesson to learn though.