I am crossposting this around, because I am basically at my wits' end. Since around the first week of July, my female glider Danni's weight has been fluctuating. The vet I have been taking her to said it was due to a respiratory infection and prescribed an antibiotic, and she seemed to get better.

But as of today, Danni has lost ten grams in about two weeks. I am taking her back to the vet today. She still seems to be eating, if not as much as before, and she is not showing any outward signs of illness, but the sudden rapid weight loss worries me, because this was how we lost Laurie, their other cagemate, in 2014. Laurie's necropsy showed she had severe anemia.

Danni's eating habits have changed over the past few months - at first, she was eating her HPW and ignoring her fruits and veggies, then she started ignoring her HPW and eating just the fruits and veggies she liked. I thought their batch might be bad - it smelled a little off - so I switched back to HPW +. Sometimes she eats it and sometimes she doesn't, but neither she nor her cagemate seem very fond of it, and there are some nights they don't touch it at all.

Danni had a blood smear done on 7/22 that showed her iron was a little on the low side, but she was not anemic, and I have been giving them things like spinach and collard greens. During that visit, the vet said she was constipated and gave her some pain meds, which seemed to help, but she is still not eating as well as she was. I've also been giving Danni a little ensure and Knudsons Mega Green juice over the past week (about 1/4 a teaspoon at a time via oral syringe) to make up for the vitamins lost on days she doesn't touch her HPW.

At first I chalked all of this to the stress of a changing work schedule...I got a new job after about eight weeks of being unemployed, and management has changed my schedule three times since I started. I still have pouch time with my two fur babies a lot, but we don't do tent time as much as we used to, and I am worried this is a contributing factor.

Danni kept coming down with a UTI all last year, and we finally got that resolved, but other things keep cropping up. Her cagemate Rory is as chubby as ever despite being bouncy and active, but he's started to overgroom his eyebrows.

I am sorry for the rambling nature of this post, but I am worried that after six years I have dropped the ball bigtime with these guys, and I am letting them down.

I suggest having a fecal run, checking for parasites and giardia.

You may also want to see if your vet can run some bloodwork also.

Please keep us posted on your little one.

Please do not offer ensure. The reason I say this is with all the health issues you have listed, even if you do not notice, I am sure there is some kind of (even if minimal) dehydration going on there. Ensure will turn to clay in the intestinal tract. This will surely help to take your glider down.

I really wish people would stop using that stuff, but that is just a personal opinion at this point.

The weight loss is a HUGE concern. Which HPW do you have your baby on? Would you be willing to try a different one than you currently are using? if so, please pm me your address and I will send you out a free sample for you to try.

Secondly, have you had your vet do any kind of blood panels? Give any sort of Sub-Q's? Do any type of ultrasounds? Please ask your vet if they are willing/able to do a bile acid test on your little one. If they are uncertain how to do one on a glider have them get in touch with Dr. Tim Tristan and he can consult with him. This will let him know if the food is being digested correctly.

As for the constipation, offer more watery type of foods, such as melons, especially watermelons. Just remember the stool may be red due to the watermelon, it will not be blood.

Not being able to spend time with them would not contribute to this. As much as we want to believe we have to spend all this time with these guys, they do fine without all the hands on time we always say they need. They do not require as much time with us as we require with them.

With Danni having so many UTI's did you ever discover the cause of these? How long was she on the meds? Another reason to have a blood panel done so her liver panel numbers can be looked at to make sure her liver is still strong.

Rory overgrooming his eyes..... this is new? I would also do a blood panel on him. Often times we think this is stress related or even hormone related, however, since you have an illness going on right now and are uncertain of the cause, it is best to check into it early on. Better to be safe than sorry.

Just got back from the vet.

She has an enlarged liver, and a lot of feces in her colon. The thing is, she does not act constipated, I see what looks like a normal amount of normal poop when she goes potty, but the vet says there is an abnormal amount in her colon. The fatty liver is from not eating/losing so much weight so soon. she has given me special care a/d wet food to give her, and a liver support pill that I am supposed to quarter and crush and get into her somehow. Has anyone had this happen with their babies before? Anyone have any ideas?

I would feed her juicy foods, watermelon would be good.

Mix her crushed pill in yogurt and give it to her with a syringe to make sure she gets it all.

Please keep us posted on her progress.

Has the liver gotten too much iron?

Dark greens have alot of iron in it,& our babies shouldn't eat too much of it.

Peaches would be good to feed her,that is pretty watery, too. Just think of 'watery' foods to help her get hydrated.

Peggy is so right, endure should have never been told to give gliders, but we didn't know of the harm in time, & it got used alot by everyone who wanted help w/putting weight on.
Try avocados instead.

I gave the crushed pill to her in an oral syringe with some mega green juice. Is it ok to give her, since it is made partially from green veggies?

She's munching grapes right now. Thank you all for your support! I will keep you all posted.

Avocados? Why didn't I think of that! :O

BRB running to the store for Avocados.

Yes, it is fine to get her to take it this way. What did they tell you to give her? SamE? Milk Thistle?

I called the vet. There is milk thistle in the pill. She ate some avocado and apple and grape and a few mealies, but is not touching her staple food. I gave her some in an oral syringe this morning before work, and give her some more with more of the milk thistle pill tonight.

The naked brand green machine is something many of us give our gliders, I don't have any @ this time, but look to see how much iron is in that, & find out if that amount is still safe or not from someone who knows what she is talking about.

I have become very much aware of gliders getting too much iron, & this is compromising their health.

Bee pollen isn't good to give them, either. It will not digest normally in their digestive system.

I was told that honey is basically just bee vomit, & that there is a nectar that is suitable for them to have.
It comes from the Wombaroo Company in Australia.

So is HPW/HPW plus bad to give them? I am very scared and confused now. I have been giving it to them for years, under the impression that it is an approved diet.

It is an 'approved' diet, multitudes of people are feeding this.
I have chosen to feed them a better way.

This is ABSOLUTELY 150% FALSE
and Josefine unless YOU are working with someone who is a PROFESSIONAL in the field or have had the proper testing done as *I* have done, please STOP spreading these absolutely LIES about the bee pollen.

And there are several things SUITABLE for them to have. How about the products that have actually been developed SPECIFICALLY FOR captive bred and raised pet sugar gliders and TESTED moreso than ANY OTHER diet product out there. Yes, I would be talking about the Critter Love® products.

It is not only an approved diet, it is also the ONLY TESTED diet.

Please do not listen to Josefine, she has NO professional experience in diets, look her name and posts up... you will see, she has many issues when it comes to understanding diets herself.

Today was very frustrating. She is eating, but still avoiding her staple. One of the main problems is that I am running out of money to try anything else. The vet bills have been really high, and I am at the end of my rope financially.

I tried to get some more HPW plus down her with an oral syringe, but it was a struggle. I did get some more of her medicine in her. She has had some peas and melon tonight.

I am super worried...part of the problem with giving her the medicine in her favorite food is that she is avoiding what were formerly her favorite foods.

Send me your address, I will send you some Complete.

sandbat, sometimes a diet has to be changed if the gliders wont eat it. there are many approved diets out there to choose from.

on another note, i feed the critterlove plus, have for years,
but i use organic eggs/bee pollen and honey, i dont know if that would make a difference, works for me.

bottom line, if the gliders arent eating the staple, time for a change.

hope your babies get well, good luck.

You can also try mixing up the way you present the food.

Some gliders like the staple poured over the fruits and vegetables - or just put the frozen cube on top of the produce and let it melt.

Some gliders prefer the staple separate from the fruits and vegetables.

Which ever way you have been arranging the food - try the other way to see if your gliders have a preference.

You can also put the food in a hanging dish so your gliders can do a bit of foraging. Hanging bird dishes work well for this.

Some folks use the trough type water container where just the small cup fits between the cage bars for their gliders to drink the staple.

If you are using a deep small crock for the staple - try a shallower dish - it might just be hard for your gliders to sit on the edge and drink the liquid with their heads bent down into a deep dish.

It may not be the staple they do not like - just its presentation.

SRLB, it says you are over your pm limit.

And if this ends up being something I should have to do, how much milk thistle oil should I give to a glider?

Sorry about that, all fixed now.

How were you able to change the bee pollen to digest normally in their system?
This is one of the things I read from the Wombaroo Co.
Sugar gliders shouldn't be eating bee pollen.

I didnt do anything to change the bee pollen to digest normally in their system Josefine.

Sugar gliders have been fed bee pollen for over a decade and it has been digested very well with no issues. As a matter of fact, what does not break down and needed in their bodies, like many other things is passed through with no issues and discarded like with all other animals, including humans do.

Again, I have contracted professionals, testings have been done, CURRENT test results show it is perfectly safe and beneficial for our gliders.

You, yourself have fed your gliders bee pollen for years with no ill effects. The pampered glider, where you purchase your food products currently even sells it. Would they do so if it were so dangerous?

Now, do you ever wonder maybe, just maybe, the information that some may have may just be a little outdated and current information and current studies have not been done by said company on captive bred sugar gliders?

A more recent study on animals (in general) eating pollen has shown:

"Although hummingbirds reportedly digest pollen very poorly, most animals studied, including those that do not regularly consume pollen, can digest 50–100% of ingested grains. Overlooked and recent research of pollen protein content shows that pollen grains may contain over 60% protein, double the amount cited in some studies of pollen-feeding animals. Adaptive hypotheses that associate pollen starch and pollen caloric content with pollinator reward remain unsubstantiated when critically viewed through the lens of phylogeny.

This information can be viewed here:
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2FBF00984102
Feel free to buy the book.

Josefine, again, if you personally choose not to feed bee pollen that is fine, but to state something as a fact when it is obvious not is just wrong as you may be causing gliders more harm than good.

I have no idea why Karen sells the bee pollen.

This is what I read from the Wombaroo Co. Since they are from Australia, & this was the area that gliders came from @ one time, well, I didn't think they were wrong, that they evidently knew gliders digestive systems.

What I am now feeding is the whps, along w/the nectar that has been drank by birds.

My kids are eating this staple. It is all gone by morning. Granted, they still don't eat all the food I give them, so I have cut way back on that.

I also read that we should not feed them foods that contain too much iron.Greens contain more iron than other .

My kids are eating more of the fruits than the veggies.

They weren't eating all the Plus, b/c I had to put eggs in it, & my kids don't like scrambled eggs, so I asked you if I could change the eggs for baby food chicken, & you told me it would throw everything off if I did that, so I didn't feed it.

Whenever I had wondered about the food I feed, I have always come to you to ask if this &/or that would be ok, & whenever you said no to something, then they didn't get it.

It is actually believed our gliders come from Indonesia.

Do you really think they are the only ones that are allowed to know the digestive system of animals just because the animal is known to have originated in their country? In Australia a sugar glider is a pest, just like our opossum is here. Very few keep them as pets there. Just like their kangaroo. They shoot them as we shoot deer.

If you are feeding a diet that your gliders are eating Josefine and you are happy with it, continue feeding it. But again, please do not try to state things as facts when you are not the one hiring professionals and contracting labs to run testings on these animals to get the FACTUAL information that is needed for OUR captive bred and kept pet sugar gliders. Our captive animals have different nutrient requirements than those in the wild or kept in the 9' X 9' X 9' aviaries in Australia.



This is correct, this is why you do not see items such as spinach or collards or turnip greens in any of my mixtures....



Females tend to eat more fruits than the males. It is always recommended to offer more vegetables than fruit. You also have a tendency to way overfeed your animals.



It would indeed throw everything off. You are wanting to offer a diet high in protein as well. I do not advise that. It is too rough on the kidneys over time.
Again, your gliders will eat what they need and leave what they dont. When you overfeed, you will have left overs. I have asked you several times to post pictures of your gliders, you never do. I want people to see, your gliders are far from starving.

she lost a few more grams. I am at my wits' end. I am finally getting the liver meds down her pretty reliably...but I am so worried. The vet also gave me the go ahead to start pain meds again, just in case.
She has dropped from 138 grams to 120 grams in about 2 1/2 weeks! Yes, that is not underweight yet, but I am so worried that her liver is just going to give out on her.

Add some Avocado to her diet a couple times a week. I hope you can get her over this.

I just gave her some, and she nibbled it a little bit. I got some ohpw mixed with green juice in an oral syringe down her just a moment ago. I hate feeding her this way because it is so stressful for both of us, but this is what the vet would recommend I do if she were a cat...and one of our cats did go through this as well a few weeks ago due to pancreatitis. The vet doesn't think it is pancreatitis in this case (I don't think she has ever seen it in a glider) and the x rays did not show anything going on with the pancreas. They mostly showed her liver looked enlarged, and it looks like there is a lot of poop in her colon; but she seems to be pooping normally otherwise. I will keep everyone posted.

Is she able to do a bile acid test?