Posted By: Anonymous
Depression Leads To Self Mutilation? - 05/07/11 05:50 PM
I often times see people telling others that depression and/or loneliness results in 'over grooming and self mutilation'.
I do not disagree with the overgrooming part, as I myself have experienced it a bit.
But I beg to differ on the self mutilation bit. Not because *I* haven't experienced it, but because of the following statement (note: this is from another forum, not Glider CENTRAL):
This is absolutely untrue.
Are these articles coming from Glider University? This is such old information and not at all accurate.
Gliders do not self mutilate from depression. This is a myth. There are a whole lot of health issues that CAN come from depression, but gliders do not self mutilate from depression. They SM when they are in PHYSICAL distress.
We have not one single well documented case of a sugar glider SMing from depression. Every time I say this, people come forward and tell me it happened to so and so or to themselves, but when asked if the glider was tested for parasites, bacterial infection, impaction, cancer, skin disorders, etc, the answer is always NO. Therefore, there is no proof that depression was the cause. In cases where there IS testing for gliders SMing, there has been found SOMETHING to be causing the physical discomfort.
Gliders can be tested for these things even after death. The SUGAR Group is actively collecting necropsy and histopathology results from gliders that pass away from SMing. So far, all that I have said above has held true.
If a glider is SMing, it needs IMMEDIATE vet care and a complete battery of tests to find the cause of the SMing.
Interestingly, for cloacal SMing, the most prominent cause we are finding to date is physical deformity (found after death upon necropsy). Our pathologists suspect these physical deformities are a result of inbreeding from our lovely mill breeders.
I trust Val very much, and believe her above statement. I myself have spent some time going through previous posts of this forum and others and have to say, the only time I've heard of SMing is due to underlying problems that cause the glider discomfort.
Cases of 'simple' loneliness and/or depression caused overgrooming, yes, but nothing as drastic as self mutilation.
Thoughts?
I do not disagree with the overgrooming part, as I myself have experienced it a bit.
But I beg to differ on the self mutilation bit. Not because *I* haven't experienced it, but because of the following statement (note: this is from another forum, not Glider CENTRAL):
Originally Posted By: "Something2BelieveIn"
Quote:
Depression is a leading cause of self-mutilation for sugar gliders.
This is absolutely untrue.
Are these articles coming from Glider University? This is such old information and not at all accurate.
Gliders do not self mutilate from depression. This is a myth. There are a whole lot of health issues that CAN come from depression, but gliders do not self mutilate from depression. They SM when they are in PHYSICAL distress.
We have not one single well documented case of a sugar glider SMing from depression. Every time I say this, people come forward and tell me it happened to so and so or to themselves, but when asked if the glider was tested for parasites, bacterial infection, impaction, cancer, skin disorders, etc, the answer is always NO. Therefore, there is no proof that depression was the cause. In cases where there IS testing for gliders SMing, there has been found SOMETHING to be causing the physical discomfort.
Gliders can be tested for these things even after death. The SUGAR Group is actively collecting necropsy and histopathology results from gliders that pass away from SMing. So far, all that I have said above has held true.
If a glider is SMing, it needs IMMEDIATE vet care and a complete battery of tests to find the cause of the SMing.
Interestingly, for cloacal SMing, the most prominent cause we are finding to date is physical deformity (found after death upon necropsy). Our pathologists suspect these physical deformities are a result of inbreeding from our lovely mill breeders.
I trust Val very much, and believe her above statement. I myself have spent some time going through previous posts of this forum and others and have to say, the only time I've heard of SMing is due to underlying problems that cause the glider discomfort.
Cases of 'simple' loneliness and/or depression caused overgrooming, yes, but nothing as drastic as self mutilation.
Thoughts?