I am excited that I found a forum where other glider owners can answer some of the mysteries of these amazing creatures. I have 2 boys, Jack and Bauer that are about 8 months old and I love them so much but in the process of loving them I have become a little bit of a worried mother. Admittedly so. I just have a few questions on whats 'normal' and not normal for gliders behavior that I'm hoping some people can answer.

Biting:
Jack and Bauer are both very active at night and usually wake up around 7-8pm, we let them stay in the cage for the first hour or so and eat and go to the bathroom in the cage, then we let them run around our glider safe room for a few hours each night. They love to run and play and chase eachother, and glide from the curtains to the closet, to the shelves, etc. The one concern that I have here, is they will both run up my legs and be so excited chasing eachother while using my legs as human tree stumps, but they will also start biting HARD. I bought them chew sticks, thinking they werent getting enough of their natural chewing done but it hasnt seemed to help. They have bit so hard, it has left bruises under my jeans!

Bonding:
Also, I am not sure if this is normal for boys, but we never can really hold them. I am not sure the best way to bond with them if they are constantly running around and will never just sit on you. I bond during the day when they are sleeping by holding their pouch to my chest as I work on emails. I think for them to feel the warmth of my stomach and hear my breathing may be some what comforting.

Color:
As far as their coloring goes, they seem to look healthy to me. I will attach pictures so you can see. The only brownish coloring that I have noticed is on the under side of their belly. There is a light brown tint on their white under side. Is this normal?

Diet:
We have been feeding them fresh fruits, veggies, the diet that I cant remember the name of which is eggs, bee pollen, and honey. When we run out of the special mix diet that I make, I usually just scramble up eggs with vitamin and calcium added into the eggs during the cooking process. They seem to love all the food we give them and eat all of it up. We also keep the dry pellet food in with some dry fruit and some dried crickets with a little dab of honey on them. Their diet seems to be fine.

Poop:
Usually their poop is always dark dark brown and solid. Every so often they will have diarrhea. We have taken them to an exotic animal vet and he said they were probably just nervous. It doesnt happen very often but still once in a while we notice very runny stool mixed in with solid stool.

Noises:
They make their normal noises, barking, crabing etc depending on their mood, but when they are in the pouch sometimes I can hear them sort of sneezing but its not a sneeze. It sounds like a sneeze, its very faint, they also make this very faint sort of noise it almost sounds like they are blowing a small bubble. These are all when they are in the pouch sleeping during the day.

Sorry for the massive letter here, I just wanted to get some helpful advice from the experts who deal with these guys everyday!

Thanks~
Tera

Welcome! Well, from what you're saying, everything sounds pretty normal. I believe you have two bratty teenaged boys on your hands!!! Most of us that have had joeys have experienced this not-so-pleasant teenager/testing the waters period in our gliders' lives. Rest assured, it should be passing soon. Are your boys neutered? I would recommend neutering ASAP, because this seems to help with both aggressive behaviors and odors. It will also decrease some of the yellowing/staining you're seeing on your boys' bellies.

I would also recommend getting fecal exams done every six months, both as a protection to your gliders and your family. It's generally not really expensive. In fact, if your boys are housed together anyhow, most exotic vets will do a community fecal float/smear, because if one glider is infected with something, most likely both will be. I have sixteen suggies myself, so I know about ongoing fecal exams!

It sounds like you are feeding HPW? Lots of folks feed that and have had excellent results for their gliders. Just be sure you are watching your calcium to phosphorus ratios in the veggies & fruits, and your guys should be fine.

P.S.-- When I said "bratty teenaged boys", please know that I mean no offense by this!!! All of us who have had adolescent gliders know the bratty period I am talking about. I just wanted to assure you that it's pretty normal.

no offense taken at all!!! you are so wonderful. thank you for the advice. they are not neutered and I didnt really know the protocol on this as every place has their own opinions on the matter. they are definitely being little brats. haha. but i still love them. ill look into getting their fecal matter tested every six months. The vet I have went to in the past is rather far and expensive, do you happen to have any recommendations for exotic vets in the Los Angeles area?

oh and Mollysmon, what do you mean by "be sure you are watching your calcium to phosphorus ratios in the veggies & fruits"

thank you!

I am not completely familiar with the overall ratio of the calcium to phosphorus in the HPW mixture. However, you want your calcium to phosphorus ratio to be about 2 parts calcium to 1 part phosphorus in every meal you give your gliders. Of course, it's impossible to make sure you're eating everything you give them! They can be picky, I know. You can look under the "Resources" tab, then click on "nutrition". There are some veggie/fruit relish recipes that some members have designed in insure that their gliders who are eating HPW have the best chance of getting this necessary 2:1 ratio. There's also a calculator there, where you can plug in meal recipes to see calcium to phosporus, and other nutrients.

you are a gem and a resource of knowledge! thank you for your helpful advice!

If I remember right, Sugar Gliders are illegal to own in California. You may find it hard pressed to get a vet who can treat them. You may have to consider driving to Nevada to see a vet.

Hopefully with a lot of investigating you can find a vet more locally who will see sugar gliders. Maybe someone else here is from California and can direct you to one?

Yes, Tisha you are correct they are illegal in California. I think is a very dated law and coming from a farming background myself, know that it has to do with the agriculture in California. I have an exotic vet but he has never dealt with gliders. It has been a little tough finding someone that knows how to do neutering and like Mollysmom suggest, fecal exams. If anyone from Southern California can recommend anyone I would greatly appreciate it, so would Jack and Bauer.

Tera, the sneezing noise you're hearing is the boys grooming. They'll kind of spit into their hands and then wash their faces. Perfectly normal, very sweet little sound.

thanks snusie! it is very cute, i just wanted to make sure they weren't sick.

Tera, I feed HPW as well and the calcium to phosphorous ratio of 2:1 is absolutely critical. There are charts listed on this forum that will show you what the ratio is per fruit or veggie but if you don't want to do the math yourself then you can take a look at the recipes I've posted on this site. Look at the top of the webpage and click on resources, then nutrition. I have four fruit cocktail recipes and two veggie relish recipes I put together that have the correct ratio of twice as much calcium as phosphorous and I further explain what's what in the description of each recipe. If nothing else this will give you an idea of how to create your own recipes, using the create a recipe feature also listed in the nutrition section.