Poor little Trent lost his sister and cage mate Lilly this week. They were together for three years.
She died two days ago and despite a necropsy at the vet's office we have no clue why. All of her organs were healthy and there were not internal swelling, lesions, cancer, etc. She just up and died.
Of course this is a traumatic event for the surviving glider of the pair. Little Trent was crabbing a lot and biting which is not his normal behavior.
We decided to try an introduction with one of the new single male rescues Gizmo and lo and behold they hit it off perfectly. This was after the regular neutering and quarantine period for Gizmo and after the vet said it didn't look like Lilly passed any diseases on to Trent.
I stood vigil with them all night and slept next to their cage. No fighting or fussing. This morning they were cuddled up next to each other in the same pouch. We put both of their respective pouches in the cage in case they wanted to sleep separately, but they ended up together which warmed our hearts.
Here is a photo of the new pair looking out from their nest. Trent is the one in the foreground:
Lilly was barely breathing when her dire condition was discovered a few mornings ago. I held her little head up to my mouth and was blowing small puffs into her mouth on the way to the vet. Her stomach was moving in and out and she grasped my fingers a few times on the way there. The vet said she was probably dead during the ride and those movements were just nervous post-death twitches. Of course I wanted to believe she could be revived... She was a good little girl. We will miss her but we are so thankful that Trent, in his obvious grief, was so receptive to a new cage mate.
am sorry to hear about the loss of your baby,am glad her buddy has a new love..glider love is a pretty neat thing its strange that you were not able to find out why she passed,maybe some day you will know.glide free little one and r.i.p. as well
Thanks you guys we will miss Lilly so. She and trent loved their nesting box and they would pull fleece ropes into the opening to cover it up when they slept. It was so cute. Now that the two boys have taken to each other, I am sure it will heal both of their sad pasts and have a great life together. Now that they are paired and both healthy, they are up for adoption.