Once upon a midnight moon, four not-so-silent, furry, & ridiculously cute critters played in the night...

Another post hit 100 entries, so now begins the third installment in the saga of my crazy quartet. If you're new to my suggies legend, please see the first two installments (while they last): Chapter One ; Chapter Two .

I look forward to continuing this journey, sharing my thoughts & questions, & just generally get to know of community while y'all get to know my colony. Happy reads!

PS: Yes, I know I'm overdue for pictures... they're coming, soon

Okay, not a real update, just was looking back at some of my old posts & realized something interesting. Part 1 has almost 20K views right now after 100 replies, while Part 2 somehow managed 102 replies yet only has nearly 8K views. So what did I conclude from this?

I told Gwynevere she wasn't drawing in an audience anymore.
She bit me.
Are y'all sure they don't understand English? I frequently wonder with her.

I also conclude more pictures are needed & not taking several months off, which should make Gwyn's admirers happy. Those left, anyways

& the little turd peed on me as I typed that last part... she can read too? I know Gwyn thinks she can type, she has been trying to help me this whole post. Need to work on her spelling. Time to put her back in the cage for dinner

Gwyn! Such attitude! I will forever be her fan. I can't help loving mischievous critters. I think Gwyn needs to step it up for her loyal followers though. I demand more suggie pictures of the Camelot crew.

Incidentally, are sugar gliders common in Germany or do people know what your critters are? I guess even here most people have no clue what they are buuut just curious haha. I have gotten used to the whole "he's SO CUTE......... *awkward pause* what is he?" thing.

So, after returning Gwyn as I stated about & putting food in the cage, she led a little revolt. She basically formed conga line of gliders jumping to me as I tried to put another back so they would eat. I eventually gave up & let them stay out. Nothing special, just the usual running around & playing on me & furniture... & Gwyn peed on me TWICE more. I guess I still wasn't forgiven for my earlier comments. (Again, I can't help thinking she understands me better that I gave her credit, even if it is only by tone.)

There was one exception to a good playtime...
Merlin had another (panic/seizure/something). He was on my shoulder & I tickled the front foot closest to me. He allowed it for a second or two, then suddenly yanked it away as his tail went straight. Merlin then proceeded to move BOTH his front paws in a motion like he was grooming his face, but franticly & without touching himself. I could also see bubbles at his lips again as he started drooling. I've never seen a motion like this when he's exhibited signs in the past; always just locked up & shook.

I used a finger stretched under Merlin's jaw to intercept both paws hoping he'd just grab on & stop flaying about. It worked, he gripped had but it stopped. He was still drooling a lot & was starting to shake, so I used the same finger to scratch under his chin & another finger behind an ear. Merlin stopped shaking & drooling right away, but was still stiff. This was also the most drool I've seen him let out.

I slowly lowered my finger to my shirt sleeve & managed to carefully roll his paws off me so they were gripping my shirt instead. I started rubbing & scratching Merlin all over like a massage & tried to give his head & chin extra attention while talking to him. He relaxed, but still didn't want to move for a while after that. Even his colony mates coming near him made Merlin jump.

Merlin eventually made it up to my shoulders & kept tight against my neck always looking backwards... which led to his now upright tail constantly getting in my nose or mouth.

Won't lie, this scares me. Between Arthurs occasional breathy rasp/hiss when eating or first waking up, & Merlin's ongoing condition, I'll be making all four a vet appointment.

That was most definitely a seizure. I have one here that has them. When she has them I just pick her up, hold her close and slowly pet her head and talk softly to her.

She has several triggers. My first glider, Gizmo would have seizures if she got to excited, a good diet and feeding her something when I took her out ended those. She was on a poor diet when I got her.

Poor little Merlin! I've never experienced seizures in suggies, but my old cat had them and like Feather said, all I could really do was pet her and comfort her. I hope your little fluffball improves. That sounds scary.

Haha! Good luck to Gwyn and her army!

I mostly get that same "Awwww...what is that?" They're not common here, but they're present as there are a couple German forums I found... not that I understand much. No breeders I could find, though, hence shipping mine from TPG.

I'll see if I can get them to cooperate enough for me to get some good shots instead of the snapshots I've managed thus far.

Appointment made for Monday afternoon. Fingers crossed all goes well. Now to play with & feed the balls of lint that are barking to let me know they're awake.

Good luck at the vet! Let us know :-(

Been sick all weekend, so not much to report besides daytime cuddle time when they felt like cooperating. A couple naps together even... when they would hold still. Sometimes mine decide that day or night, if they're out of the cage, it must be play time.
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The vet appointment wasn't anything decisive. For Gwyn & Arthur, I need to collect urine samples tomorrow to bring in (vet didn't want to needle it out). I think I might just pay for all four & bring in stools just for my piece of mind. This might get expensive.

For Merlin, the vet wants to give anti-seizure meds... but he doesn't really know what would be best. He also isn't 100% sure that is the best solution from the sounds of it as he brought up several other possible 'sources' of seizures. I meant to bring him a list of vets to consult with, but left it on my printer. I'll drop it off with the samples, I guess.

So, a few more days of worry is ahead for me all around my sick-let fur-babies.
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In other news, I've finally come to the conclusion that Gwynevere seriously >HATES< bonding pouches. I cannot remember a time she has been calm for more than 15 minutes in a zippered pouch. Today, she was even trying to bite me (like mouth-wide full bite attempts) through the pouch... behavior I can't remember ever seeing from her. So much crabbing too. Does anyone have some suggestions on that one? Maybe a better category to post that question under if I should? Anything? For now, I think I'll be ordering the smallest glide-arium to transport them in... but I'd like more flexibility than that, especially for vet visits when I need to keep them separate.

Hutch hey...
Sorry you are under the weather.
vet drama is no fun...so much worry...and money. :-(

As to the bonding pouch thing...
I would try some experiments...
Does she hate it more if she's alone in the pouch?
Does she hate THAT pouch? Or do you get a different reaction using another pouch?

How does she react in a pouch with NO window?

Just spitballin' but I would give those things a try.

Hutch, so sorry your fuzzbuts are not well.

I bought cat tags for each of mine via etsy with their name and oop date (month /year) stamped on them for vet purposes. Since mine are both standard greys, an outsider can't tell them apart.

I also made a pouch special for vet visits with two zippered pockets so I could keep them separate when the girls need some "down" time during exams, but I needed to grab the right one.

Fiona loves the vet and won't stay in the pouch and jumps out at every opportunity. Dot is exactly the opposite. She hates strange smells. But loves to be held by the vet. Fiona makes her rounds by jumping from the vet to her assistant to me and hubby, and repeat. It's her way of enjoying 4 human trees...

I hope all goes well for Arthur.

Maybe 4 zippered pouches in a glidarium?

But that may bee too much stress for Arthur. And Gwen may just not go for that at all.

Make sure what ever you do, you put your scent in the new/ strange pouch. It helps. Also I have learned they like going to something they have peed on. My gldarium has two pee streaks on it now and they practically jump in it. Blankies. Don't forget scented blankies.

Did he have a seizure at the vets?

I would try giving him something to eat when he first wakes up and see if you can rule out a low blood sugar seizure.

I guess I am just leery about giving anti-seizure medications without testing and ruling stuff out.

Kim, no, Merlin didn't. That would've been too convenient (as happy as I am for him just not to, of course). I'd prefer not having to medicate him either. The vet did mention low blood sugar, but I already keep a dry food in there all day & get their nightly food in before or shortly after they wake. He just prefers his wheel first & somethings me. I've been trying to encourage him to eat right away recently, though now I have extra motivation. Maybe the vets he consults will have other ideas.

Dawn, they each have their own pouch when I take them to the vets that I only wash when they really soil them. Which, honestly, is almost every time I take them to the vet. I like the car-tag idea, though, make them easier to sort as we're talking. In bright like I have a little trouble telling Morgana from Merlin, the difference in the patterns stand out to me much more in dim light (how I normally see them). If I flip them over, it is obvious, of course, lol.

Dave, I think it is the closed zipper aspect that she hates. If I wear her & leave it open, when remains calm. If I close it, the calmness is over once she figures that out.
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I decided to make things easy & just emailed the consult list to my vet. I figure he'll have to email the vets anyways since all I saw were US ones.

Around 1700, I went to collect the specimens. I figured that was late enough they should be very ready to go. I was able to collect a decent amount of urine from Arthur. If the vet had wanted stool samples, he left me an impressive mound of those too. I keep saying he's just full of it.

Gwyn was just a twit. She was happy to leave behind a couple pellets, but 30 minutes of keeping her near or around the Tupperware, not a drop to be had. I did discover other things, like the whole gently swabbing her cloaca does not work on her, she does not like her belly being examined (thought I saw something), she will eventually calm down in cupped hands & start grooming, & she has enough restraint that she will wrap her whole month around a finger, but only use enough pressure as if to say 'I could do worse, I choose not too.' Three times. Oh, well, Gwyn doesn't seem too traumatized by the experience, she was taking treats from my fingers without issue tonight.

Arthur's sample is in the fridge, I guess I'll try for Gwyn's again tomorrow. She might just have to come to work with me. Now, if I could just carry their travel cage with one good shoulder.

So along these lines: I have talked with my Physical Therapist about these critters a couple times now. He told me today that over the weekend he'd visited his daughter who's getting her Masters Degree in Austria & brought my pets up. His daughter just had to google them. Here is the conversation after that point my doc shared with me:
Her: "He must be a very nice guy."
Him: "Why is that?"
Her: "These creatures are too adorable. Only a nice guy would take care of so many of these little ones."

[/quote] Her: "These creatures are too adorable. Only a nice guy would take care of so many of these little ones." [/quote]


Awww how sweet! I knew there was something about you I liked! Lol!

No , seriously... I hope everything works out and the fuzzies check out OK...

Hope you're feeling better soon too!

Hutch does your bonding pouch have a window?

Thanks, Dawn.

Kimberley, yes the bonding pouch has a window. I've been debating recently on getting her one without a window since the only time she seems calm in a closed pouch is in the extra-large one (no window) with the other three.

All four can fit in one of my 'normal' bonding pouches (they proved it to me ) but again, once she figured out it was closed she wasn't happy. It was less of a problem than when she's alone, but still she struggles.

She probably be happier with everyone stuffed in the same bonding pouch. Settling down and sleeping after a time.

Good Luck,

Even alone, she settles down fine (after a bit) if I leave the pouch open. She is happier with someone sharing the pouch (apparently my hand doesn't count, lol), but the occasion time I need to keep them apart & zip her up... you'd think she was on death row.

There might not be a solution for this case, I can understand that. Luckily it's rare that I need to zip her up, much less alone, but I wanted to pick everyone's brain for ideas since I don't like her working herself up that up. Plus I doubt my pouches will last long the way she tears at them.

Maybe I'll try a few times with two of them & see of she calms down with it zipped... though I think it'll take a while. An experiment for another day, first I still need her pee.

Please keep the suggestions coming! Y'all have inspired some ideas to try already! Thank you :D

I think Gwynevere discovered she likes belly scratches. This morning as I was playing with them in their cage (through the door, no I don't fit :P) whenever I'd cup her & start scratching, she'd roll over. It was too cute. Now if I could only teach her to pee on command. I've still been unable to collect a sample

Arthur & Merlin kept trying to hide in the pouch, but 'the hand' would find them there too, lol. I know they didn't mind, every time I removed my hand, their heads would immediately pop out & stay there until I went to pet them again.

Morgana spent most of the time playing keep-away or tag. She would run around staying away until she found a space to tuck her head. Then when I would touch her tail or scratch her butt, she'd turn around & grab my finger with a lick, then sprint off again.

Man,how they started barking when I stopped & closed the door. After 5 minutes solid, I came back gave them each another quick pet & a treat. That quieted them enough I was able to go to sleep. One ball of dryer lint barking is easy to ignore, most of my quartet bellowing for that long triggers my paranoia.

Well Mary is here for the weekend with her 21 gliders, 15 are in the bedroom with us. Mary sleeps on an air mattress by the window.

Well her gliders bark, and bark and bark and bark.

The ones in the room with us would start then the ones in the glider room would chime in.

When she is not hear I might have one that will yap a couple times and that is it, these guys go on for hours.

I really think that when Mary is at home she sleep walks when they bark and gives them all treats.

It must have been a night for barking. I think Dot and Fiona took turns...

Feather maybe Mary's gliders were sharing their "song" of their travels to everyone...

It was a new moon. Factor, maybe?

Okay, advice time again:

After a week of trying, I think Gwyn is getting frustrated with me waking her to place her on a Tupperware container. Sure, she gets 15 minutes or so of petting & treats out of it to keep her in place as long as possible (about 15 mins is what's possible). Today, she left her 'presents' as she normally does, took about 5 minutes of the normal routine... then jumped to the hand holding a treat, leapt to my chest & peed, jumped into the cage to finally drive into their pouch.

My next step will be to close her in a larger Tupperware container (with holes) & not let her out until she provides what I need. With the way she takes being closed into things, this is not a favourite choice of mine.

Thoughts, opinions, advice?

Is it that she will only pee ON you?

I would find a metal dish you can put her in and put a plate on top. Put the dish into the freezer for about 5 minutes, put her in it and cover.

Cold metal usually will get them to pee.


As far as Mary's gliders go, I was tempted to try what works for shutting up the parrots.....................
A Bath!

Gwyn, if I didn't love you, I'd hate you. Luckily, you're cute.

So, tried the metal-trick twice so far. With five minutes, I couldn't even get to lay a paw on it, even with 'dump' attempts. I have the scratches to prove it. She got away from my hands, on to my back, & peed.

Round II: Three minutes in the freezer, I was able to get her close enough to push her off my hand on to it. It was like a cartoon moment as I went to cover her. Gwyn had barely made contact, sprang up limbs flaying like, then manage to knock the cover off enough to get out before I could rest my hand on it. Then she drizzled pee all the way up my arm.

Round III will be five minutes in the fridge, the day after they have juicy grapes for dinner.

How much pee to they need?
I would say...how about: Maybe it doesn't have to be cold. Start feeding her some straight honey--makes them thirsty. Let her take a couple big drinks from her bottle and then put her into a flat-bottomed plastic container.
Be sure to punch some holes in the lid. ;-)
Then make her sit there through their normal dinner time.
Collect any liquid remaining when you remove her, and call it pee. :-)
Just spitballing here. I am glad I don't have to try and collect a urine sample myself.