Sadly this little guy never made it into the pouch. I think he was stillborn since he was only born 5 minutes before I saw he had fallen off and tried to intervene by setting him up next to the pouch and he was already very cold. I know it's a rare thing to see a newborn up close and as far as I know there is only one set of pictures like these online, and those aren't the best quality. I wish I had a better camera and could capture more detail, but here is the best I can do. Moderator- please feel free to save this post (make it sticky I guess it's called) or add the photos to the gliderpedia.



This is the best close up I could get. You can see the head, an eye, a folded over ear, a hand, foot, and the tail curled around the back. It looks a lot like a sleeping glider up close with hands and feet together and tail curled up around. There is a dark red line down the back and I'm not sure if this is normal, or perhaps a defect and one of the reasons he didn't make it.



This is the baby next to a regular sized push pin. The push pin it 1 inch from the top of the blue part to the tip of the needle. As you can see, baby is barely as long as the blue part, so around 3/8 of an inch.

Please don't flame me for these photos. They are not meant to offend and I didn't deliberately kill the baby or take it away from the mother for a photo shoot. Nature took it's course here and I only want to help educate others. It's quite fascinating how many distinguishable features it already has after only 16 days, and that something this tiny can pull itself into the mother's pouch and come out as a baby glider.

I'm sorry for your loss...

I still find them creepy. I doubt you will be flamed on here for this.
Sadly we have to lose things to learn from them. My neo and now this joey have and will teach people many things about gliders. Just remember that and try to keep your chin up.

I'm certainly not offended..I appreciate learning all I can.

It is very sad but I'm sure it was for the best. The more I think about it the more I realize he must have been dead fairly quickly after birth and there wasn't really anything I could have done. However I am hopeful that Dezi had another baby that made it in. Her pouch area looks a little fluffy and both she and Al have been sniffing and grooming gently around the opening. And I am glad I was able to turn it into a learning experience and help the greater glider community. :)

you know, if she does have one joey it could be a good thing because maybe she couldn't handle two.

And if not, gliders will reproduce again. A joey is worth waiting for although it drove me insane.

So sorry for your loss! I think its wonderful that you were able to think clearly enough to capture the joey with a camera so others can learn!. This Joey's life has a made a difference!

I really appreciate the pictures! I had seen this on one of my girls belly and I just could'nt describe it to see what it was at the time..
This was very informative and educational...
:)

I'm so sorry! I can't believe that newborn gliders are that small!

thanx for sharing the pics... very educational

Wow, I had no idea that's what they were like. Thank you for shareing that with us. If I was to breed my boys with my girls and I didn't know that I probably would have been pretty freaked out if I saw that and didn't know what to expect. Although, I don't think that's something I'm going to do.

Since I happened to be around for the whole birth thing there is some more info I can add so sugar owners don't freak out and rush to the vet when a glider is only giving birth! The first sign I noticed was that Dezi started sleeping in a different place from Al. It's possible she was trying to go somewhere private or maybe she was just feeling uncomfortable and wanted to stretch out alone. Right before she gave birth I heard several loud sniffing sounds from the sleeping pouch. Usually three in a row with a break in between. Turns out it was the suggie version of Lamaze breathing! She was hunched over and licking her stomach and cloaca area and doing her heavy breathing. I went to check to see what was going on and she was VERY jumpy every time I moved. I figured this was it and since I was horrified at the thought of Al eating the babies (he was in the sleeping pouch with her) I lifted the pouch up to the nesting box where it was dark and she could be alone, and she ran right in. Eventually Al joined her in there though and she didn't seem to mind (perhaps he was keeping her company?) and when the they sniffed and licked the baby joey they seemed to realize it was one of them and not attempt to eat it at all. The other scary thing I saw was the baby hanging partially out of the cloaca. This would be enough to freak someone out and rush their glider to the vet if they weren't sure what was going on, as it looked like a big pink blob hanging out of her. I wanted to leave her alone and went off to an event, so I didn't see anything else unusual. Of course if you have a glider that you know hasn't mated or is a guy that is hunched over and doing heavy breathing, take them to the vet! But if you suspect your girl is suspecting, this is all normal behavior as far as I can tell. I will put this in the gliderpedia one of these days when I have time!

AHH Lamaze breathing??!! So that was what made me check on Roxie..
I thought she was in trouble... LOL

Need a SUGARGLIDER BABY BOOK... Some of the things they do freaks me out until I research it then I say.umm ok..LOL

I am sorry for you lost and hope their is another baby in the pouch...

I said a prayer for the other little guy that's hopefully still hangin in there let us know