In Reply to: Need help quick for fatty glider! posted by Fuzzy lover on December 19, 1999 at 17:50:31:

: I just got a glider today from someone who feed him too much fat(nuts being the main thing) He's very fat compared to my other male glider and he has not spent much time out of cage(that will change) and I don't think he can glide at all. He just sort of inches around the cage unlike my others who jump from place to place.

I know what you mean. I adopted a male that was so overweight that he could not jump or glide either. He weighed 177 gms and had been fed a diet of waffle crisp cereal. You need to put him on a reduction diet. The foods that you are offering are good but give him less than you would usually. Clyde is now down to 135 gms. Give him an exercise wheel to run in. Clyde also suffered from malnutrition and was losing fur because of this.

His fur is dull and matted on his head and chest scent gland(what can be done about this).

You can put a bit of warm water on a cloth and wipe it down then take a small brush like an eyebrow brush and brush the matting away.

I need to know if there is a way to get him to slim down and get his muscles ready to help him glide quickly.

You can get him to slim down by offering less to eat but keep him on a healthy diet, just give a bit less. Offer him a way to exercise such as a wodent wheel or a hamster ball on a stand. When you have him out to play encourage him to run about and to climb things, pulling himself up and building upper body strength.

I feed Leadbeater's,
: Brisky's, crickets and mealies, fruits and veggies and give either water or juice(100% no sugar added) to drink. Which brings me to another question. Should I also give Glider aid in the water? I've heard that too much is just as bad as not enough.

The only things that you can give too much of is calcium, too much calcium can be just as fatal as too little. You can also give too much vitamin A & D. You have to watch your phosphorus and calcium ratio. Anything else that they get too much of is excreted as unused waste. This can cause an odor problem but is taken care of by reducing the amount of vitamins given.

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