Ok so I'm very concerned. Spice seems to have a swollen belly. It's rounded. She is eating and drinking normal and does not appear dehydrated (I pinched the skin between her shoulder blades and it seemed fine). It doesn't seem to bother her because I have touched her belly and she had no reaction. I don't know what to do...

Is Spice a lone glider or does she have an unneutered boyfriend?

She lives with her twin sister.

How old is Spice? What diet is she on? How long have you had her, and where did she come from? Rescue, breeder, etc... When was the last time she had a vet check? How does she act? is her behavior normal? How are her ears? Are they perky and normal, or lower?

All of these answers will help us, help you.

Spice is almost 2 years old. She is on BML with frozen fruits and veggies. She also gets a mealie every night. Her ears are normal and so is her behavior and eating habits. I got her from a breeder. I have never taken her to the vet before, I know that sounds bad, but they have all been healthy...this is my first glider problem =/

Please have her checked. We found out Saturday that our rescue girl has an intestinal blockage although she has the runs. In our situation, it turned out to be life threatening and she is on several medications in hopes of saving her. She also has Giardia and a serious UTI.

I'm not trying to scare you but I never imagined our girl to be in as bad shape as she is because she is still eating, playing, etc., also.

I am definitely going to take her to the vet. I know that glider care at a vet is very expensive. Do any vets accept payment plans? There is no way I can afford to pay for it all right now.
I'm so stressing. Should I seperate her from her sister?

No, don't seperate them. If she has something contagious, sister already has it. If not, then you will stress them for no reason. She needs normal as much as possible while she is ill.

ok, I didn't think I should seperate them since they have never been apart before. I brought them with me to work today because I could stand not being with them!
I'm trying to get ahold of a vet right now...

www.carecredit.com

Click the apply link and just make up a number for the estimate cost. Depending on your crdit, you can make it higher or lower...I had no problem getting a $500 limit...did not try for anything higher...but you can always up it uf need be as well.

You will have some forms to print out at the end...those you will bring with to your vet...they can charge your account manually until your card arrives.

Hope your baby girl is ok...sending my best wishes to you and your family.

So Spice has an appointment with the vet @ 4:40... however, I can not get the carecredit and my vet doesn't do billing...
gr... why does it have to be so frustrating.

If she does have something contagious, make sure you get enough medicine to treat both gliders. Our little girl's mate did not test positive for anything although he's always been with her. Some gliders have very good immune systems, others do not.

I would't seperate them because stress will cause things like Giardia and other problems to be much worse.

She may just have a round belly and nothing is wrong. That is what I'm praying for. She has to be checked to make sure though. Gliders can go down FAST once they get sick.

Have you gone onto the Care Credit site and entered your vets phone number? If they accept CC...then it should pop up their name and info...if it pops up, you CAN use care credit.

In the mean time...even if they do not take Care Credit...I would still appy and have it on hand...in case you go to a different vet who can take it for you...best to have it in case of an emergency.

Ok...all three vets in the Virginia Beach area accept Care Credit...these are the three closest to you I believe...you can use Care Credit at any of them...so please go back to CC website and apply...and if you are not using one of these three vets...they are all on the database here...all see gliders and all take CC...but if you are using someone else, just go to the CC site, click apply and then enter the vets phone number.

http://www.glidercentral.net/links/pages...each/index.html

Gwen, I think she meant she isn't able to get care credit, not that the vet won't take it.

Yea, I can't get anything because I consolidated my previous debt to make it easier to pay and the company never told me that I wouldn't be able to open any other credit accounts till it is paid off.

Both girls are going with me to the vet since I will be leaving straight from work and have them both here with me.
They are going regardless, I just fear that it will cost way more than I can afford right now.

If you haven't, try anyway. They aren't a typical credit card, and can only be used for certain things.

Keep us updated!

Oh...sorry...you cound try getting a co-signer

Bottom line...they have to see them...hope all goes well...stand up for your babies.

Ok... so I just got home from the vet about 15 minutes ago and it isn't looking so good. There were no signs of intestinal blockage because she "let loose" when I took her out of the pouch. He was very concerned at the size of her belly and he wanted to do x-rays and a test. He wound up draining 11cc of fluid from poor Spice's belly! There is still a lump. So basically she would need surgery to find the root of the problem. He doesn't feel comfortable doing the surgery and reccommended Dr. Fisher in Virgnia Beach or Dr. Stahl in DC. He is going to contact both of them tomorrow to give them the info he has and see what they would reccommend to do and about how much it might cost. So, if I can't afford the surgery he said the best best would be to put Spice to sleep so she wouldn't endure any pain. He also said to keep in mind that there is about a 10% chance of success.... which means 90% failure. He did say that if I could get the surgery done the outcome may still be the same as he predicted. He was by no means disuading me from getting Spice help, but more so just being real.
Dr. Brinker was very knowledgabe about gliders and has worked with many of them before. He also takes care of many animals at Busch Gardens and the Living Museum here in Newport News. Like I said he is going to contact these doctors for me tomorrow and get any information he can for me so I can make a decision.
I'm not only worrying about what to do with Spice, but if Spice does need to be put to sleep what is going to happen with Sugar? They have NEVER been apart before. It drove them crazy to be in seperate pouches and apart while at the vet...... I just don't know what to do!

Colleen, I feel horrible for you. My opinion on this is leave her until you feel like she can't go on. If she isn't in pain, then wait. Abdominal surgeries on gliders are usually fatal. If he is pulling fluid out, it is probably ascites, from some kind of liver failure, possibly aflotoxin.
My Tucker had ascites, here is one of the posts, and here is the one about Tucks surgery.

I really feel for you, and I wish I could take it away.

Thank you for your advice. I am thinking that I will go with USmom's advice about letting Spice live what life she has left.
I was definitely praying for a better outcome as well. I just can't believe that I would have to make a decision about a sweet adorable glider who has never done any harm.... it's just not fair.
How do I know when's the right time to let her go?
What do I do about Sugar?

I would say...after Spice is gone...in the case that she does not make it that is!...you could look into getting her a new friend when you are ready to do so. Her making a new friend will give her somone else to fall back on and bond with so she does not become too depressed.

Colleen, it is all a one day at a time decision. You will have to watch her, and see how her behavior goes. But, she will probably have to go to the vet several times a week to have the fluid drained. We did this with Tuck, I think 2 weeks before we decided to do his surgery. But he had a lumpy looking belly for a month or so before I took him to the vet for the first time.

With Reese, she lost both of her cagemates, and did well by herself for a while. She needed lots, and lots of momma attention. I didn't change out everything right away, either. I did one thing at a time, with lots of time between, so she had her comforting smells around. If you can, make some blankies, and get Spice's smell on them for afterwards.

Now, if anyone else has some experience with this (Jen??) please post here with your info, too.

I am so sorry to hear this Colleen!! I am still praying for her. I was so hoping it was nothing!! Spend lots of time with her and give cuddles and kisses. (extra from me!) Is she in any pain?

USMom, when you had to take Tuck in to get his fluid drained, did they have to give him anestisia (SP)? I know there are great risks with that and she already had to go through it today because she would allow the doctor to get a good look at her.

As far as I can tell she isn't in any pain. It didn't bother her when I was touching her belly before or after the vet. Her and Sugar were just so happy to be together in their cage eating mealies! I'm going to leave them be for tonight. They have had a long and exhausting day from the get-go. They aren't fans of coming to work with me since I'm a teacher there is always some sort of noise going on during the day. Every time I went into my closet (where I had them hanging in a pouch) their little heads were peaking at me to see if they were going to get a treat. They are definitely cuddling together in their pouch so I'm going to let them spend time together tonight and from tomorrow on get in all of my QT.
Thank you so much for your support! I'm so crazy about all of my animals, they are my babies!