Hello. I’m taking one of my girls to the vet next Wednesday and my girls will be separated during this time. I would think the one going in will have a different scent coming back. So should I be worrying about re-introducing them afterwards? Or anyone have any idea on taking gliders to vets and what you recommend? Thank you!

I wouldn't worry about it, they are only going to be separated for a few hours.

I do that all the time when I have boys neutered.

To help the process, both the trip, and coming home, take something that she's slept in/with. Be it her sleeping pouch, or a couple of blankies that has their scent on it. It will help comfort the one going to the vet. Be sure to stick a couple of apple slices (seeds removed) with her. It will keep her hydrated and give her something to snack on if she gets stressed.

Thanks for the advice!

Update. I took my girl to the vet today. The vet is not specialized with Sugar Gliders but she has some experience with them. As right now this is the best I can do since I can’t go out of town. She does not have any respiratory problems and over all she looks really good. But trying to diagnose why she is sneezing is the problem. It could be the air quality as we live in the basement along with 4 cats. But we’ve been downstairs for 4 years now.

She was concerned with what I feed my girls which is the Critter Love Salads and HPW. I listed everything that is in the salad.

This is the first post for anyone who missed it:

http://www.glidercentral.net/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/1423039/sneezing#Post1423039

Most vets don't follow along with the latest diets/testing. The first vet I took mine to looked diets up in his veterinary book to give me a copy of the Leadbetters diet. His book at the time was 10 years old. That was over 5 years ago. I brought in a copy of the back of the package as well as a list of all 5 salads so they could put it in the records and have on hand if they needed more info on the diet. Example: there is bee pollen in the mix and in a microscope, can be mistaken as a bacteria or foreign matter.

There have been several diet studies, and Critterlove came out on top. Another diet study will be coming up soon. These are independent studies funded by individuals and several glider groups who do fundraising to pay for the cost of the study.

As far as the sneezing, did the vet check their teeth?

What do you use to clean their cage? Is there a musty smell in the basement? Do they seem better when taken out in to fresh air? Is inscence burned, is the furnace or hot water heater gas? Is it located in the basement? Do you have any issues being down there?

Critterlove is one of the best diets out there. I have been feeding it since she released it to the public. Now my gliders are part of Critterlove's on going diet study. We did a blood draw a few months back and everything looked great.

I have no doubt towards the critter love as it is way better than what I used to feed them. Both my girls are very happy with this and so am I. She did recommended I give my girls insects and nectar/sugar and wants to send me a diet plan she has. I have linked the vet the critter love website.

Yes the vet did check her teeth. She has no discharge, her nose is pink and her poop looks good. She hasn’t lost any weight but rather gained a bit of weight. I have a gram scale so I keep track of her weight regularly. As of today I have invested in an air purifier so hopefully this could help.

I use unscented diaper wipes to clean the cage and then water to rinse the cage. There is a musty smell especially since the wash machine and dryer are downstairs as well. They do enjoy fresh air and I will take them to the outside door when it’s warm. I don’t use any incense around them. Never had any issues while living downstairs aside from some close calls with raid ant spray but I managed to act quick with this. The only other thing was from a while ago was Echo having been around PinSol a few days prior to her starting to sneeze.

She sneezes 1-2 days out of the week and it usually starts right when she gets out of her pouch. I’ve made sure it’s not her cleaning as I’ve watched her sneezing. I’m a night owl so I’m usually aware of what they are doing through the night and occasionally she will sneeze a few more times through the night.

Their pouches get changed weekly and they get washed every other week. I clean their cage twice a week. I use dawn dish soap to wash their wheel and toys, I make sure to throughly rinse them off.

That sounds great!

The Critterlove staple well, I'm not sure if you've tasted it or not, but it's sweet and has honey in it.
sounds like maybe you're feeding the complete. It's simple to make. I feed both the complete and the plus depending on whether we are working on the the road.(we travel in a 5th wheel most of the year). The plus, you add bee pollen and honey as well as water. There is no difference as far as nutritional needs being met.

Many vets (I have been to quite a few due to our travels) think gliders are insectivores. Well in one sense they are, but in the wild, they are more opportunistic eaters. In the wild, they will eat anything that doesn't eat them first. Their life expectancy is only 6 years in the wild due to weather, which includes draught, heat and floods so their menu changes throughout all of this. Captive gliders are still fairly new ( only about 30+ years). Depending on your age, that may sound like a lot, but many have struggled to figure out what will make them thrive. Due to diet studies, we have learned many things that weren't apparent in the beginning. One thing glider slaves have learned is they can live in captivity up to 15 years or more.

Insects today are fine as long as they come from a reputable source. Catching them from outdoors isn't an option due to fertilizer/pesticides. You may not use them, but your neighbors probably do.

Mealworms are the easiest to access from a pet store. However if they have ever lived on a bed of cornmeal, will have alpha toxins in their gut which is fatal to sugar gliders. Mealies are a great treat, I learned to raise my own on a very small scale. Since we travel so much they tag along in their container. Crickets shouldn't be fed to gliders BTW.

Ok, thought on the sneezing... Is there an excess of lint in their pouches? I wash mine turned inside out and dry them on low/no heat. I also line dry them outside. If I see lint in their pouches, I will rewash. Note on how I wash: I toss them in with my dark clothes like tshirts, no towels or sweats. I also pretreat them with white vinegar if they are especially stinky. I only change out their pouches when they smell. Mine don't potty on them, so they can keep their pouches up to a month or so. I do change their other fleece items more frequently, usually once a week.

My boy is sensitive to dust as well as lint. He will climb up somewhere there is a lot of dust, and sneeze his head off sometimes. It takes a few days for him to get it all out.

Just random thoughts/ideas on the sneezing for you to think about

Yes I do use the complete. Regarding insects I don’t have any problems with adding as treats to their diet if it would help nutritional wise. Thank you for letting me know about the cornmeal and crickets.

I don’t see any lint in their pouches, I never thought to turn them inside out. I’ll start trying that to see if this helps and I always use low heat or just air dry. I usually wash their pouches with a thin blanket I have hanging up near their cage to catch the food they throw around. My girls don’t potty on their sleep pouch either and I still change that weekly. One of my girls will go to the bathroom on these corner pouches when I put them in. Once more I greatly appreciate all the advice. Hopefully I can find whatever is irritating her.