 | Posted by: | cindy | | Subject: | babies with white eyes | | When: | 5:37 PM, 19 Sep 2000 | | IP: | 166.62.215.250 |
what happened what do i do
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| Posted by: | Bourbon | | Subject: | a few questions... | | When: | 5:45 PM, 19 Sep 2000 | | IP: | 24.48.198.166 |
Cindy, is the pigment actually white? or could they be cataracts or fat tissue that is covering it? What diet was the parents on, and for how long? If it is fat or catarcts, this is common umoung the genetics of subsequent parent that were fed extremely high fat diets.. this is NOT an end all be all answer.. maybe we can get others here to help with this discussion regarding the past genetic issues...
| Posted by: | Jane | | Subject: | none | | When: | 6:08 PM, 19 Sep 2000 | | IP: | 24.147.184.89 |
yes let us know what the diet of the parents is and if possible cut out all fat immediately,
| Posted by: | Ms. Shell, bhsinc@uswest.net | | Subject: | none | | When: | 8:35 PM, 19 Sep 2000 | | IP: | 216.160.232.45 |
It seems I remember reading something about giving carrot juice. Is this something that can be done after the fact or is it something you would do for the mommy when she's pregnant if you knew there was a danger of this happening due to diet probs? Or am I totally off base? hehe
| Posted by: | Bourbon | | Subject: | none | | When: | 9:18 PM, 19 Sep 2000 | | IP: | 24.48.198.139 |
Ms shell, i believe that had something to do with the white tips on the taios where ours is black.. but jane genetically is all these connected? the tail as well as the eyes?
| Posted by: | IrishCreme | | Subject: | more questions - some answers. | | When: | 9:49 PM, 19 Sep 2000 | | IP: | 209.71.86.198 |
Gliders, as we all know are fairly fat intolerant. High fat diets though, in oop (non-nursing) gliders produces a fat (unhealthy) glider…
**Please note - Although the majority of what I have to say is still in the 'conjecture' and 'what-if' stage, there has been quite a not of questions regarding this "abnormality" - that's what it is, right? And not enough answers for any of us to come to any conclusions as to why there are babies born with white eyes...
I have a glider, Gaby, who has what has been referred to as "White Eye Disease". She is as healthy as any of the other gliders that I own and can actually see quite well - surprising enough. Its actually very stranger to see… it's the actual inside of her eyes that is a milky white color and not the eye itself. Wher it should be black (in people)… it's white. And it also, as the pupil dilates the vivible white gets larger and smaller…
Her parents, whom I also own now, do not have any indication of having anything like this at all. Their other baby, Irish Creme, doesn't either. And neither have any of the offspring they have produced over the last 3 years. Gaby's and Irish's offspring have shown no signs either…
Something to seriously consider -
She and the others I purchased from the same source were on a diet that consisted mostly of high-fat foods. Avocados were a staple, as were peanuts, cat food and various other favorite foods that were readily available. Their diet was gone through with a fine tooth comb when I received them. It just s happened that avocados were in season and fed every night during Natasha's nursing time with Gaby - therefore fed nightly.
My vet has the suspicion that Natasha may have passed the extra fat through her milk and to the joey. The body has to release it to somewhere - or store it. Mammary glands being the fastest and easiest way to eliminate what her body doesn't need… she passes it on to the baby.
The baby… well - since their little bodies are just beginning to function, do they retain it in the eyes rather than throughout the body?
Many questions need to be asked regarding each individual case - such as -
1.) What type of a diet were the parents (particularly mom) on during the whole pregnancy, including pouch time and OOP nursing. High fat could be a possibility or maybe even something with a chemical based preservative?
2.) Where in the house are the located? And were they in contact possibly with something that could cause this.
3.) Are the parents eyes milky in any way?
Why does this happen sometime??? I don't know - and neither does anyone I've spoken with or asked about this… At least no one with any clinical data to support the many possibilities.
| Posted by: | Jane | | Subject: | none | | When: | 10:09 PM, 19 Sep 2000 | | IP: | 24.147.184.89 |
I have also heard the carrot juice theory, worth a try. Again the theory of excessive fat causing the s torage in the eyes is possible. Irish Creme, the baby never lost the whiteness of the eyes. You might hope that if all dietary fat was removed the body would remove the fat from the eyes. Please Cindy post again and give us some answers....
| Posted by: | IrishCreme | | Subject: | none | | When: | 11:20 PM, 19 Sep 2000 | | IP: | 209.71.85.144 |
Unfortunately, after years of being on a balanced healthy diet you would think that the gliders bodies would reabsorb the fat deposits that were left in the eyes... but nothing has changed in their appearance at all.
The problem is, that its not even known for a fact that this is what caused the milky white eyes.
I tried the carrot juice thing for a long time also, hoping that that would have some effect - but no luck there. One thing Ive done though, is to add carrots or carrot juice to my gliders diets - just as a precaution. I dont know if it has any effect on latter-born joeys though, in all honesty.
She hasnt gotten any worse than she was when I got her... but she hasnt gotten any better either - other that the natural differences a good diet would offer...
Unfortunately, the only way to get any clinical data would be to do a necropsy on an effected animal (Which Gaby is not) and learn as much as possible from the information gathered. Sadly enough, it takes more than 1, 2 or even 10 studies to gather enough solid information for any possible diagnosis or leading cause to be named confidently.
And so here once again, another 'unknown'...
Good news is that Gaby's 'handicap' is not a handicap to her at all... so please, anyone who encounters this - dont make any assumptions as to the animal not being healthy.
'cause my little brat is the fastest cricket-catcher in her family.
ok, Im off to bed now... finally. 
| Posted by: | Bourbon | | Subject: | none | | When: | 1:36 AM, 20 Sep 2000 | | IP: | 24.48.198.143 |
okay Irish Cream, you said Gabby was effected at all that she wouldn't make a great study why is that? If her pupils are white.. and by the way I actually seen a gliders pupils although very hard it is possible... would that still not be something worth checking into. The right group of people sure could tell us a lot , even if it is just one? At least that way we would know whether it is fat buildup on the inside of the pupils or just a "abnormality" of the pupil itself. I would hate to think we couldn't learn ANYTHING from this.. I was going to ask about her sight.. but you said it is grand. If it were fat buildup, then wouldn't that also cloud her vision much like a cataract would?
| Posted by: | Maria, dmeexotics@aol.com | | Subject: | none | | When: | 11:10 AM, 20 Sep 2000 | | IP: | 205.188.198.38 |
Bourbon, Irish Creme said that the way to study would be with a necropsy and of course Gaby isn't dead so it isn't a good idea at this time. I would hope that when Gaby has did of natural causes at age 15 or so that she would be necropsied and her eyes carefully examined to determine what's going on.
| Posted by: | Bourbon | | Subject: | none | | When: | 9:20 PM, 20 Sep 2000 | | IP: | 24.48.198.139 |
I didn't think that is wwhat she meant.. LOL I guess I need to get gabbys eyes to help me read these late night posts...
| Posted by: | John Derek, jdg716@yahoo.com | | Subject: | From what I thought... | | When: | 9:05 AM, 21 Sep 2000 | | IP: | 204.48.27.130 |
If memory serves me right the carrot juice thing was for the white tipped gliders BUT they still got the cataracts or white eyes. With this in mind I would think this would help all gliders, and if they were already seeing signs I would think the juice would keep it from getting worse. I mean that does make since right?
Another question I have is do we know if a glider can live blind? I may have missed this one but I would like to know the outcome of the gliders future if one becomes blind. Also can this be passed down or do we know?
(Gosh I hope these aren't dumb questions?)
| Posted by: | Maria, dmeexotics@aol.com | | Subject: | none | | When: | 11:37 AM, 21 Sep 2000 | | IP: | 205.188.198.43 |
In nature a blind glider wouldn't survive. I suspect that in captivity they would do fairly well. Since they are in a smaller, closed type of environment they should be able to learn where the food and water are and to interact with their owners. I know that there are blind and deaf dogs that make good pets.
| Posted by: | Kim- | | Subject: | In my Jerry's family.. | | When: | 12:54 PM, 21 Sep 2000 | | IP: | 24.164.5.127 |
there was a blind glider! He came from an icky breeder who sold him to the pet store(where my stepdad bought him for me). I'll post the URL to the story of how I got him, and ended up meeting the breeder.. but she had a blind glider that was like my Jerry's grandma glider or great grandma glider. She was really crabby, and couldnt be held due to her living quarters and not being handled. I'd be crabby too but this glider seemed to get along real well she just couldnt see me when I moved my hand in front of her. Let me tell you she could smell me tho and she let me know!! She would have made an excellent pet if she had someone to hold her and love her.
For some extra reading.. Here is my story
http://www.angelfire.com/fl2/glidingpossums/story.html
| Posted by: | IrishCreme | | Subject: | B. | | When: | 8:57 PM, 21 Sep 2000 | | IP: | 209.71.86.87 |
| Posted by: | IrishCreme | | Subject: | none | | When: | 8:19 PM, 24 Sep 2000 | | IP: | 209.71.86.235 |
Hereditary blindness can be passed down through the generations... and its not always visable through only 1 generation, but may skip and be prominent in another.
If a glider becomes blind with age, for health reasons/issues, it is not generally expected that its offspring will be born blind - but it could be a consideration as the young glider would get older. A close look at environment, diet and history of the (older)effected glider would be in order just in case it could attribute to the development of blindness in the younger generations.
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