How a parasite is passed between animals depends upon which parasite one is speaking about. All parasites are not passed in the same manner - the oral-fecal route in your example.

Those that are passed by oral fecal route should be rare in pinkies, who haven't eaten yet. The more worrisome parasite would be trichinosis and blood-borne types of passage that could cross a placenta. Humans usually get that from eating meat with cysts (pork, wild game, etc.)

Is everybody sure mealies do not harbor parasite eggs?

I just assume that our diets have a fair amount of egg load, and that it is natural to ingest some eggs inadvertently. Harrison's textbook of Medicine quotes that 3.8% of the U.S. population tests positive for Giardia at any time. Children actually in significantly higher percentage.

I know that not all parasites, viruses, and bacteria pass in the same manner; that is not what is at question here. The real issue of this post is weather it is safe to bring a sick animal with an unknown illness from an outside facility into an uneffected facility without first knowing the cause of the illness nor the manner in which it is tansmitted. Without that knowledge it is irresponsible to do so. You risk the lives of all your animals as well as possibly all the caretakers. You do not know what you are unleasing, how can you take the risk of not knowing and err on the assumption that it MIGHT not be a threat, it MIGHT not be contageous, it MIGHT not kill my other gliders, it MIGHT not be carried by the caregiver to other facilites, it MIGHT not effect my childern, it MIGHT not effect the people around me? Can you take that risk? Not knowing if it might not happen, however remote. Leave the animal offsite at a vets office until the cause has been determined before you bring it into your facility. Once you unleash the dragon must live with what ever it breaths.

With all the could haves, would be's and risks out there, I'm just going to stop feeding my gliders altogether and vaporize vitamins so that they can inhale pure nutritionally filtered yet chemically boosted air. mealworms may have worms, EEk! Food may have food Poisoning, o my.

Guys, get back to the thread please....

Actually the real issue in this thread has nothing to do with what has been brought up in regards to bringing parasites and bacteria into your home and contaminatingyour animals. This thread was written to ask about what could be the cause of the underdeveloped joeys. Ushuaia, why don't you start your own thread about your problems with pinkies and spreading disease or parasites. I think it is a whole other topic that is worthy of its own thread and opinions of others.

This discussion is on topic.

The original poster:

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Any opinions on what could be happening here? Does this sound like a diet issue here even though they haven't had any problems with nursing? Could this be a genetic defect? I have family lineage for both gliders as I bought both of them from breeders, no instances of problems within the lines.

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Then it was brought up that it might be a parasite. Then the original poster asked:

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If it were parasites would you be able to see them?
Also.. wouldn't the parents and the bigger joey be showing signs of them too?

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This started the discussion of parasites. Then the original poster asked the following questions:

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It looks like these gliders are coming to live with me ASAP.

I'd appreciate any help on learning as much as I can about parasites before they get here.

I know nothing about parasites, nor do I know if that is what they have but I want to be prepared.

A few of my questions:

Are they contagious to me, my other gliders, or animals?
How do I prevent them?
Are the treatable?
What is entailed in treating them?
Will these babies grow or are they stunted forever?

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Because this all has to do with the original condition of the joeys and the possible long-term health of the joeys as related to their current condition it is not off topic.

I have said what I think should be done. It is up to the breeder to do what she feels is best under the direction of a vet. I hope that she err on the side of caution and keep the glider in quarantine at a separate facility.

This is a very sobering thread, indeed. Ushuaia is right; basic animal husbandry indicates that these babies need medical care in an isolated area. (at the vet's office)Mom and Dad should be examined, too.

I know that Ushuaia's comments sound very intense and maybe overly dramatic to some, but I think her points are valid. I don't think anyone should be guessing what to do here, either. This is a job for a vet.

Folks, I realize everyone is trying to help here but we need to tone it down. It seems that tempers are getting a little hot and that would do no justice or service to anyone. We all just want to help Linda figure out what is going on with these little babies.

There has been some great info put out in this thread. I agree that the parasite issues may need a new thread to go indepth with the topic.

Linda, please let us know how these little ones are doing.

When a joey is malnourished it has the look of this baby. There is something about the look of the face - eyes, shape of the jaw - not being full. I have seen joeys that have been rejected and handfed look the same. Sometimes the hair is not full and thick. I did have a baby with a heart conditionn and it was formed, round faced, but not this sunken look. I would try and supplement these babies with Wombaroo, puppy milk or Biolac. If the babies put on 4 grams a week, you will know that part of the issue was the amount of milk the mother has. The other part could be medical and could be anything from a parasite to a bacteria. I do want to ad that many large breeders have problems with round worms because mice crawl up the cages and they eat them. I know this is gross, but the gliders are kept in barns. Roundworm can take sometimes many months to get rid of.