Not sure I listed this under the right category.

I'm really getting worried. The girl that has Sugar (the one having seizures) said she hasn't had time to make an appointment for her to be seen by a vet.

I believe it would be considered neglect/abuse for them denying her medical care for her seizures???

There's not much else I can do, but what if I called the humane society? I'm debating on whether or not to do it now, but I really don't know what they would do with a sugar glider, so it worries me to take that step....

Any suggestions? Is there anything else I could do to encourage her to get Sugar into the vet? I've already told her that she needs to be seen ASAP because it could be a life or death situation for her. I'm not sure how much clearer I could be.

Someone suggested that I could foster her. Could I do that? Foster/adopt? I know that means I'd have to pay the vet bill, but I'd go scrape bird crap off of people's roofs if it meant I could get her out of this situation. Plus Christmas is coming up! Yaaay Christmas money!

I'm almost positive that if the SPCA were to seize the glider they were take care of the glider just like any other animal they seize. Because I know that our Humane Society is willing to take gliders, so I would assume it to work the same.

They would at least be brought up on charges of neglect and possibly animal cruelty (which in my mind they should be ) but as for the gliders, the SPCA would probably take them in, do a vet exam and then look into fostering or re-homing and that is where you could step in.

I know when my mom fostered kittens, they allowed her to make payment arrangements for vet visits and things like that. They even helped out with food

All in all they are very helpful and I would call them. Anything is better than where that poor girl is now.

Yeah the SPCA would take them in and hopefully find a rescue near by. I have 4 from our local Humane Society and I know of 3 or 4 more that they had that I couldn't take. With this economy they might not hold them real long :(.

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Originally posted by Konotashi
I believe it would be considered neglect/abuse for them denying her medical care for her seizures???

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If not affording vet attention was illegal, then I can name every mill breeder and pet store out there with sickly animals in the windows that should be in prison. The animal industry and its overseers is corrupt and useless. I think you have no battle to win here other than her possibly giving the animal up to you. You can inform the owner of a better diet and overall husbandry for the animal and keep your hopes up.

One more possible cause for the seizures is simply inbreeding. We tend to forget that 99% of gliders existing today in the States were not imported but are based off of a small number of initial imports that survived the journey. Also, our gliders are smaller than the Australian gliders which suggests that our original source for animals was different, limited and perhaps already sickly and/or with erroring gene pool.

Anybody who breeds for profit most certainly breeds for color as well which means that they are simply screwing with the natural gene pool.

Check out this article for some interesting educational information about a limited gene pool.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Founder_effect

Based upon my experience with animals, especially small ones, I would put my money on there being no fix for this one and she will simply have to live with the condition. This usually means not ever waking up the animal and probably not even handling it so that it can have some bit of a healthy life.

Do not count on your local SPCA or Humane Society to act if you call about a Sugar Glider. I spoke to both in my area (Tampa, Florida) and they do not accept gliders as surrendered pets and I was told animal control will only go out and pick up dogs or cats.

Florida Fish & Wildlife is responsible for exotic pets, including sugar gliders. They will go inspect a pet store or licensed breeder/broker but I am not sure if they would go to the assistance of a home with one or two gliders.

It may be a dangerous situation for ALL of us if we start reporting everyone who we feel are not providing the best care for their gliders. Too much attention pointed out to State Wildlife or USDA inspectors might back fire and add fuel to the fire for a government ban on exotic pets.

Hey there, random lurker who hasn't been on this board in ages randomly jumping in.

Not sure what the situation is with Sugar, but my local animal shelter does not accept sugar gliders or other small exotics. They're "no kill" by name, but unfortunately will euthanize a glider or other small exotic because they have no time/space to deal with it. I volunteer for them and actually got my glider through them (I gave my supervisor my contact info for small/exotics - something good to do with local shelters if you can).

No time to make an appointment baffles me... is this a money issue or a laziness issue? o__O I suppose you could offer to take the darn thing down to vet for her if her only reason is "no time to make appointment." Maybe suggest she ask a neighbor/friend to transport the glider to the vet in future?

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Originally posted by Candy


It may be a dangerous situation for ALL of us if we start reporting everyone who we feel are not providing the best care for their gliders. Too much attention pointed out to State Wildlife or USDA inspectors might back fire and add fuel to the fire for a government ban on exotic pets.

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So because we might not be able to own them in future, we should let them suffer now? I, for one, refuse to believe that.

Frankly, I'm disappointed at what has been said in this thread by some normally very helpful posters. It is illegal to not take a seriously ill pet into the vets. That's what the definition of neglect is.

And besides, this isn't a glider who isn't socialized or being fed a poor diet of pellets, this is a glider that is ill and in need of attention NOW to survive. Seizures can lead to all kinds of problems and of course death.

The SPCA had an obligation to help these animals, exotic or not, unless they are illegal in your state. (In which case they will be removed and usually rehomed to an exotic care facility or zoo.) If they refuse to help animals not receiving the proper care, then they put themselves at risk for being reported, especially if this animal dies.

Give them your contact info, tell them you have a place to house gliders, and report the issue at hand. Would you let parents go unreported for this issue? Don't think so. You would all be calling CAS as fast as you could dial.... and you claim to love your gliders as much as children, so before we make assumptions that they won't take them etc etc.... try calling. Extended these creatures the same courtesy you would extend another human being.

i totally agree about the mill breeders luckly there are`nt that many here in the uk they should be anned worldwide anyway