FYI: CDC website says ANY mammal can get rabies.

But is also says that small rodents almost NEVER get rabies and have never been found to give rabies to humans...but gliders aren't rodents, of course...

36.2??? Is that correct. That is just above freezing...so that does not at all sound correct. I was aking around...feel free to see my post:
http://www.glidercentral.net/ubbthreads/...2237#Post432237

Jen (Xfilefan) said gliders temp is around 88-90 degrees...normal mammals are 95-104.

Brenda...squiirels fall into that rodent category too...they rarely get it...I would assume that gliders would be similar in that aspect. No call back from CDC. If gliders have too low a body temp for the rabies to incubate...they can not get it. This is what we are working on now.

Lol...I am smart...lol...Krissa...I just seen now the first part was in C...I am smart today.

36.2 C is consistent with what I found.
Everything I've found on different strains and whatnot lists 33 C - 39.6 C which is 91.4 F and higher basically.

But that temp is also rectal which I believe might be higher?

I went to the vet yesterday for my hedgehogs (went to Brenda's vet Dr. Bailley) and guess what?!!! He's ok with a physical petition being dropped off and is willing to write us a letter this weekend concerning glider vets not being that difficult to find and also about gliders not surviving a MN winter! Woot woot!

Awesome! I figured he would, he really seems to like gliders. I know mine aren't the only ones he treats. I forgot to call Animal Emergency Clinic in St. Paul last night - they're the emergency vet so they're only open nights and weekends. Has anyone else contacted them yet?

Would they have to stop treating gliders if it became illegal to own them in St. Paul? I'm really nervous about that! I read this guys blog (that I found by searching "St. Paul Sugar Glider Ban") who doesn't know anything about gliders but doesn't seem to like Bill Stephenson and the city council - but assumes that the ban will pass - even though he thinks the reasoning behind it is asinine. That really bummed me out and I was talking to my bf about all of this and he kept playing devil's advocate & kept making me mad...ugh! This is just soooo stupid! We shouldn't be having this problem! I just hope we can help!

Honestly, he seemed flabbergasted and almost offended that someone would see fit to say there are no glider-knowledgable vets around the Twin Cities. But I can see that when you have worked hard to build your practice and have challenged yourself outside of the realm of cats and dogs. Brenda, I truly do have to say, I was so very, very impressed with him and the entire clinic! Good recommendation.

Okay, so even though I researched this as much as I could, I got a call telling me otherwise today. And believe me, I am going to call Animal Control and figure this out.


BUT in MINNEAPOLIS and SAINT PAUL, apparently sugar gliders are considered wild by nature and therefore illegal.
Which I'm not sure if it's true but considering my mom is married to one of the head supervisors of the Minneapolis Animal Control... it makes me a little apprehensive...
So I'm going to try and figure this out because I could swear that I read that animals not native to this country were not technically considered wild by nature.

So in the off chance that this is true, keep your babies hidden when in Saint Paul or Minneapolis until further notice. Just in case.

Dr. Baillie spoke to me yesterday about gliders being illegal in Minneapolis. He said that for the last 35 years, its been illegal to have anything beyond a cat or a dog. However, this only was brought into play if someone had 17 rabbits in one room for example. Then the fact that the rabbits were technically illegal became an issue but otherwise, I guess it was somewhat ignored.

Now that said, I don't know about St. Paul, prior to now.

As for Minneapolis, you have to have a permit for a dog, cat, rabbit, or ferret. Rodents are perfectly legal and permit free but everything else is NOT clearly defined.
Not everyone has permits obviously but if the animal is illegal altogether, that's a whole other issue.

If you were to be caught with a rabbit (for example) without a permit, you would be given a warning or just straight up fined for the cost of a permit and then told to go get one in a certain amount of time unless they take the animal from you.
An illegal animal on the otherhand, can and will be taken from you at any time without notice. Which is why I say, until definitely cleared up KEEP THEM HIDDEN.

As for St. Paul, they generally have the same laws but stricter.

CDC called. Yes all mammals CAN get rabies. They were not concerned with the temperature matter as rodent/small animal risk of rabies is SO low. This is mostly because if a rabies infected animal is to bit one of these rodents/small animals...it is most likely to kill it...whick makes perfect sense.

There have been NO cases of rabies reported in the us regarding sugar gliders. None. He looked back from the 50's...and yes...nothing.

Also...Australia is a rebies free country. There are some rabies cases in bats and foxes...but all other animals are repoterted as rabies free.

Center of disease control confirmed all of the above data.

Gwen, that is absolutely amazing to get that confirmed! I am going to celebrate with meal worms...for the gliders, not me.

Happy dance ...lol. Least I am starting to be happy again...for a decent part anyhoo!

Okay well I talked to my mom and she said that after I went over to her house the other day, her partner (the person who actually works for and is in charge of Minneapolis Animal Control) looked up the legality of sugar gliders and found that for some reason they are considered to be wild animals, and anyone found with them will either get a hefty citation and required to get some sort of exotic animal permit, or the animals will be seized.

As soon as I have access to a phone that doesn't trace back to my house, my mom's house, or is out of city limits, I'm going to call Animal Control and get concrete detailed information.

Seems to me APHIS says that since they are not a regulated species in MN, then they are legal. But each city, municipality, etc...may have different laws regarding different animals and their legality...

Well again... I'm not saying that I'm 100% positive on these facts but they ARE coming directly from the upper levels of Minneapolis Animal Control (as they ARE the ones who will enforce any laws whether we know about them or not), which leads me to just caution people about having the kids out and about or at least visible everywhere you go. Why take risks when it's possible you might loose them because of something you don't want to believe is true?

No, I understand completely! And Thank You for the warning! Please, keep us informed!

I haven't heard back from the owner of Twinc Cities Reptiles yet (unfortunately). We need a St. Paul resident by Wednesday that can come to the meeting. Any ideas? Or do we have one here?

I just moved out of St.Paul, but even when I did live there I was not a home owner so my word means nothing to them.

We could always ask if a vet is able to. Unlikely, but worth a try.

I could come but they probly wont care what say because I'm a minor and I dont live in St.Paul.

Hopefully, I'll get a call from the owner of Twin Cities Reptiles today. Does anyone have any other idea for St. Paul residents? Brenda, have you contacted the Emergency vet in St. Paul?

No, I haven't. I'll set an alarm on my cell phone to remind me to call them this evening... I will set that right now so I don't forget!

So, when is this thing tomorrow? Are we meeting somewhere?

The e-vet said they couldn't imagine that they would be forced to stop seeing gliders if the ban should pass - and they didn't even know anything about the ban & the person I talked to was shocked that they would say there aren't many vets who treat gliders...

But I don't know what else to ask or tell them! Does anyone want to call theire business office @ 651-501-3759 and see what if anything they could do to help? I am so bad at this!

A vet in the area could still treat a glider BUT would probably be required to turn the gliders over to the proper authority.
I worked for a vet and when someone brought in a domesticated animal (like a fawn, squirrel, etc) we were required to contact animal control.

Wow! That staff report sure isnot going to help anyones cause
If the pet ban on gliders passes there. It will probablly spread out and cause a ripple affect... :/

That's what we're worried about!

Dani and I are planning on going. Who else is coming??? Did anyone get any signed statements from like the vets or anything? Did you ladies do your collage you mentioned?

BTW...meeting somewhere would be good. If we can all get into one vehicle we will all be saving a lot of parking money. I think it was like $4 when I was there last time...and we dropped in and dropped off info...that was it. UGH.

I could call the e-vet tonight and see if they could fax a written statement to my work claiming that they see gliders, gliders wouldn't survive MN winters and there are vet approved diets out there. I haven't yet gotten the statement from Dr. Baillie so I'll call him tommorrow and I'll pick that up. As far as a collage goes, I'm not really a camera junkie so I don't have many (if any) good picks of the kids and their habitats. What about everyone else?


Just got an email response from the Animal Humane Society. They take in over 35,000 animals a year and guess how many were gliders last year? 3!!! This is great info for us!

Do we have anyone who is connected in any way, shape or form to St. Paul? This is the big thing I'm very, very worried about! Honestly, I'm at the point that I'm considering accosting random strangers on the off-chance they might be willing to. Please, please, please beg anyone you know to be our spokeperson!