Sugar Glider Community Calendar

Please click here to see larger view
Articles
More coming soon!!
Today's Birthdays
Ashlee, B19, mypreciousbabies, PocketsDad, StitchsMom, sugarglidersuz
Member Spotlight
None yet
Show All Member Profiles 
Last 10 Posts
Custom Cage Liners Machine Wash & Dry
by gr8pots. 04/14/25 11:12 AM
Please help!
by Ladymagyver. 04/13/25 05:29 PM
Biting sugar glider
by Feather. 04/07/25 08:35 PM
Help please
by Shannonlynn. 04/01/25 08:40 PM
New and IN A PANIC
by Feather. 04/01/25 08:28 PM
Google+

Facebook
Join Us On Facebook
Previous Thread
Next Thread
New Reply
Print Thread
Consistent Bubble Swelling of the Cloaca #1423900
03/13/22 08:31 AM
03/13/22 08:31 AM

P
PetreeAndMomo OP
Unregistered
PetreeAndMomo OP
Unregistered
P



hello! My name is Allison, I am 21 and an owner of 2 female gliders around the age of 2/3 each.

My one glider Petree has had CONSISTENT issues with her cloaca, and I cannot figure out what it is that's causing it. It will bubble up and she will start to prolapse a little and then I need to go to the vet to which they express her glands, put her on stool softener, antiinflamatory and a antibacterial medicine and then she's usually fine for a good while. The vet said sometimes gliders just have common issues like this, but I want to know why!

I am concerned that this may be a product of my other glider overgrooming her cloaca but I'm not entirely sure. I've tried to get down to what the issue is, I have tried cleaning the cage more often, taking out certain items in the cage that could be causing possible problems, changing diet (currently on the HPW diet from Exotic Nutrition, with exotic nutrition pellets as well as general fruits and vegetables specifically Broccoli often as well as Bell Peppers and proteins like eggs) and I haven't been able to pin point why this happens. The last time this happened I believe my other glider Momo wound up BITING her swollen cloaca and making it bleed (not sure if on purpose or not but expected that she was trying to groom it or figure it out).

Currently Petree has an extremely swollen cloaca. It seemed as though it blew up overnight, in fact this problem happened not too long ago and the vet just called to see how shes doing and I told them she was fine because she was, it usually blows up in one night. Her cloaca is red, its like a bubble. She hisses when she goes to the bathroom, however, every time her cloaca has puffed up like this she has seemed pretty fine with her behavior as in she still runs around at night.

i've quarantined her in my travel sized cage so that the other glider cannot interfere with it any more and gave her some of the stool softeners I still had (dont worry I checked the expiration). My vet told me that the best bet is to do warm compresses and to keep it moist with a lubricant like coconut oil until I can get their help so that is what I'll be doing today.

My vet is closed on Sunday, (today) and I'm not really sure what to do.

Can anyone help me figure this out or does anyone have any advice for me?

Can I get some advice from someone else who's glider also has or has had consistent cloaca swelling issues and what your solution is/was?

Her hair isnt being overgroomed or thinning anywhere so it would JUST be overgrooming specifically of the cloaca but if this WERE a product of overgrooming from my other glider, how would I try and stop this from happening without them having to stay apart from each other?

Please help a young worried glider mom out!! I am so worried for her

Reply Quote
Current Research, Studies & Resources
Re: Consistent Bubble Swelling of the Cloaca [Re: Anonymous] #1423901
03/13/22 09:09 AM
03/13/22 09:09 AM
Joined: Oct 2014
Posts: 4,327
SW Missouri USA
Ladymagyver Offline
Moderator
Ladymagyver  Offline
Moderator

Joined: Oct 2014
Posts: 4,327
SW Missouri USA
I do not have personal experience with swollen cloatia, so I'll leave that to the experts.

But I do have experience with helping others on diets. Please don't be offended, we have learned that EN diets are not safe. The ingredients on the labels do not coincide with what is actually in the package and the nutritional % have been tested and are way out of proportion. Especially the protein. EN has said they have improved their diet, but it has been tested within the last 6 months and still not fixed.

Like with any mammal, gut health is critical in survival. Click on the word diet and it will take you to the data base of the different diets out there. I have fed BML, OHPW, and critterlove, and currently feeding critterlove. I have never had any gut or cloatia issues.
Critterlove website: https://www.critterlove.com/


Another factor is giving your gliders healthy fruits and vegetables with the correct calcium to phosphorus ratio (2:1). I use the critterlove diet because the creator has done all the testing and figured out the proper ratio as well as variety. These salads are fed along side her staple. Critterlove salad recipes link:

https://www.critterlove.com/salad-mixtures

Soluble fiber VS insoluble fiber: when gliders eat, they suck on and spit out the insoluble fiber material in the staple and in fruits and vegetables. It's important not to put fruits and vegetables in a blender, but rather chop them up into 1/2 - 3/4" cubes so they can separate the the 2 types of fiber in their mouth and get the benefit of the nutrition. Insoluble fiber is difficult for gliders to pass and causes colon irritation and can cause blockage. I'm not saying this the only reason, as I'm not a vet, but we hear about this countless times.

I hope this has been helpful, and please keep us posted on how your glider is doing.


Disclosure: I am not a spokesperson for Critterlove. Nor do I receive or are compensated in any way by Critterlove for mentioning their diet.


Dawn

Be patient,
and
Trust your journey....

Grace :bb:

Leela :rtmo:

Marcie :bb:


Fiona, Dot, Stewie :rbridge:
Dad, Mom, Ruby

Wish I could turn back time... Miss you all...
Reply Quote
Re: Consistent Bubble Swelling of the Cloaca [Re: Anonymous] #1423902
03/14/22 03:58 PM
03/14/22 03:58 PM
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 14,003
Wisconsin
Feather Offline
Administrator
Feather  Offline
Administrator

Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 14,003
Wisconsin
Dawn handled the rest, I will answer on the swollen cloaca.

Sugar glider anal glands should never be expressed. They should be surgically removed. My vet said they were like a ferrets anal glands as they are very intricate, they are also very small and he wasn't comfortable doing surgery on something that small and referred me to the veterinary college.

Talk to your vet about this.


Kimberley
Feathers-Sweetie, Mister Peanut & Big Mack
Fur-Guinan, Mr. Spock, T'Mir, Cho, Toothless, Maverick & Maharet :bb: T'Pol, Elizabeth & Curzon :wfb: TY, TJ, Light Fury, Madison & T'Pring :rtmo:
Forever in my heart, Gizmo, Tucker, Khayman and the rest of my babies over the :rbridge:

Reply Quote
Quick Reply

Options HTML is disabled
UBBCode is enabled


Moderated by  Feather, KarenE, Ladymagyver 

Sugar Glider Help Page



Please click above to see how you can help!!

Moon
CURRENT MOON
Who's Online Now
0 registered members (), 111 guests, and 92 spiders.
Key: , , Owner, Admin
Newest Members
Lauren_G, Mandy4170, Jnap, richie, Shannonlynn
7373 Registered Users
Forum Statistics
Forums132
Topics10,397
Posts159,274
posts in the last 24hrs0
Members7,373
Most Online4,783
Apr 5th, 2025
Last 10 New Topics
Biting sugar glider
by richie. 04/07/25 12:41 PM
Help please
by Shannonlynn. 04/01/25 06:54 PM
New and IN A PANIC
by Shannonlynn. 04/01/25 06:42 PM
Please help!
by . 02/22/25 04:35 PM
Custom Cage Liners Machine Wash & Dry
by gr8pots. 06/03/14 10:25 AM
Popular Topics(Views)
897,506 TEXAS
706,420 OHIO
522,925 OKLAHOMA
481,782 UTAH
351,054 NORTH CAROLINA
Supported Browser
This site was tested and is best viewed in Google Chrome & Mozilla FireFox



Firefox 3

Download your copy today!!!
Home Forums Links Sitemap Vets Breeders Sounds Contact Us Names Rules & Policies

GliderCENTRAL
©1998-2025
Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software
(Release build 20180918)
Page Time: 0.008s Queries: 14 (0.003s) Memory: 1.2768 MB (Peak: 1.3980 MB) Zlib enabled. Server Time: 2025-04-19 20:09:53 UTC