I have a little joey "Romulus" that is currently not doing so well

In short, his mom rejected him, and not only that, she went crazy and killed it's twin, and badly wounded my other 2 adult sugar gliders, it also appears she wounded Romulus slightly on his back leg (has a scab on it from a possible claw mark).

He is currently 1 week OOP, and has had 2 days where he had diarrhea (I have since changed his formula I am feeding him and that has stopped). I started noticing today though that he was acting weak, and sort of dragging himself along and acting just generally very lethargic. I feared he may have paralyzed back legs, but he still occasionally uses them to grab on to my finger. His hind legs look very thin for his age, and he weighs 11 grams, which I understand to be underweight.

Is this normal or should I be worried? I know last night he ate quite a lot.

Also, has anyone ever heard of a glider behaving this way? I have since taken her to the vet who's best option was to put her down as her aggression turned towards herself and just anything near her that moved. She had nearly ripped her own back leg off by the time I got to the vet.

She was a rescue from a family that was abusive to her, I had always treated her the best I could and fed her a complete diet, I only suspect that having joeys was made her snap. I feel so terrible about it all..

I am currently feeding him this recipe:

Equal parts of all the following:

Yogurt (full fat, with honey)
Modified leadbeater mix (listed on this site)
gerber's chicken and gravy baby food
gerber oatmeal hydrated with diluted apple juice
Puppy replacement milk (Esbilac)

Read this site very carefully. It will tell you everything you need to do to raise your joey properly. Good luck and keep us posted!

Has the joey seen a vet? There could have been something wrong with the joey which was part of the reason for rejection - they generally do it for a reason even if its not outwardly visible to us.

I've never heard of the formula you are using:
Quick Help for Rejected Joeys

Suz's original formula and Joey BML(regular BML omitting the wheat germ) are the two that have been used the most and countless joeys have been raised on it. I would consider transitioning her over to one of the recognized ones(you need to do it gradually mixing them using more of the new and less of the old over several feedings).

How often are you feeding him? A joey that size should be fed at least every 2 hour around the clock. He also needs to be kept on you as much as possible(for body warmth) or an incubator.

Did you or are you going to neuter the male? or separate them? I wounder if this will cause momma to settle down... I still wouldn't put joey back, just keep hand feeding and following advice per suz's site. The only other thing from reading is most joeys under 2 weeks OOP do not make it:(

Unfortunately the little guy died just an hour after I posted.

The formula I listed I found on another website since I could not get the ingredients for Suz's formula to me anytime soon enough. I did not realize my glider was pregnant till they were already out of pouch, so I didn't have time to get prepared for the possibility of them being abandoned. This whole week has been terribly sad!

Just learn from this experience, it's all you can do at this point. Don't beat yourself up about it.

From what I have seen posted before, your momma could already be preggo again if you haven't alreaget entered your male so get a joey rejection kit and just be prepared please.

Also, I strongly suggest neutering your male. I have 7 males, all neutered....well one is half neutered sorta (his momma nibbled his pom off and his testes are still inside).

Resa

I'm so sorry for your loss :( there might have been something wrong with him to begin with. I recently had twin joeys and momma ate one of the joeys at about 2 weeks oop but the other one has not had a problem.

People who have hand-fed many many many joeys often lose them at 1 week.

It is difficult to raise a tiny joey from that age - and you really did do your best.

I am so sorry. If y'all read the first post carefully the mom was put down so no longer in the picture. I lit a candle in memory of your gliders, wow is all I can say, I feel so bad. Just be sure and give the remaining gliders lots of attention as they might grieve the loss of the female.