This is a long story, but I'm typing it anyway.

Today I had my four year old male sugar glider Screech neutered, I gave the technicians two ejackets to put on him since he was a weird size and I didn't know which would fit him. After the procedure I went to pick him up and he was already squirming around and managed to take off the jacket, the vet and I tried to get it back on (I have a hand full of bite and claw marks to prove it) but failed. So my mom and I decided to take him home and try it there since we had a little experience with jackets and ecollars. We tried it once and somehow managed to pop open his stitches, blood covering his fur, the poor little guy was just as hysterical as I was and was crabbing and bitting the hell out of me (he's normally EXTREMELY calm and sweet so this was strange), so we went back to the vet (it was after hours, but he lived two houses down and ran over) and he was all fixed up with an extra dose of pain meds (not too much since he already had some) and my mom and I put an ecollar on him there, which he kept on.

On the way home, it came off. We put it back on, it was too tight and his nose was turning purple so we took it off. We tried a third time and he got out of it again. Now, my mom and I have put on a LOT of ecollars and I like to think we're pretty good at it, but he would not keep one on! So by this time I'm completely hysterical, crying and sobbing because I think my glider is going to die. Especially since my friends just had their male glider neutered and ended up severely mutilating himself and dying.

Now, I can't get him into a jacket or a collar so I do the only thing I can think of...call Val (Something_to_Believe_in)

So I go on and on, telling her this whole story, crying constantly, and at the end, guess what she says:

"Honey, I'm going to tell you something, you ready? You don't even need one."

Now I just sobbed out my terrifying experience to this woman and she makes everything okay with one sentence! She went on to tell me more about how gliders don't need a collar or jacket after a neuter and that as long as he wasn't going past the stitches he would be perfectly fine! Of course there's always the chance that something can happen, and she said she'd help me with anything that arose.

Val is awesome! I have gone from hysterically crying on my glider room floor, to typing this without stopping every few seconds to check on Screech.

By the way, Val, if you're reading this... He's in his pouch, chewing on a yogurt drop and hasn't even groomed himself in over ten minutes.

Yep, had ecollars on hand in case they were needed after neuters but never used one!

It's is better to be safe than sorry I say, at least you were prepared and now have lots of experience with the e collar, hope screech heals fast

Just for future reference with the e-collar, purple nose is generally more stress than not being able to breathe. If you need it, watch for his breathing rather than focusing on the nose color because its going to turn purple as he fights to get it off and the more times he's been able to get it off, the harder he'll fight to get it off. If he can't breath, you will know immediately by watching his chest movements(and if he can crab, he can breathe!)

Glad you didn't really need it though :)

Thank you Petluv! I didn't know that their noses could turn purple under stress, I was just told to watch for a purple or blue nose when applying an ecollar to make sure they could breathe. I did however know about the crabbing, the only problem was the poor guy was pretty high off his pain medicine and wouldn't crab, squeak, or give me any other signal that he was breathing... and when he suddenly stopped moving on the ground, I panicked and ripped that sucker off my baby.

This is a happy ending and makes me chuckle. It's testament to how so many of us will completely flip going batpoo crazy over our babies. I think we have all done it. We just care so much - hysterics are easy to step into.

I called Val not long ago with an emergency and told her what was going on and she said "Okay, now...don't panic..." and I said "Woman! That happened 20 minutes ago!". Either way, it was a calm conversation even in the midst of a horrid situation. She has a way.

A freaked out owner can do so much less for their glider than a calm one. Our situations were different of course - but no one knows how they are going to react to an emergency until they are in the moment. Sucks so bad, doesn't it? Good job on your part for getting back to the vet quickly and major KUDOS for your vet hustling back to the office. You got a nice vet. I have been recommending getting the neuter done in the mornings. So that if something DOES happen - you have more options for care.

Glad it all worked out!

I have lost count of how many gliders I've had neutered now... but it is WELL over 20. Maybe over 30?

I've only had ONE glider who needed an ejacket after a neuter. But - thank GOD I was at the SGGA when that happened!

Glad Val was able to help you. She's been pretty awesome at calming me down as well!

Glad things are doing well. :)

~Erica~