Most of you know that my daughter got two young sugar gliders back in November, she loves them. We got her a tent for Xmas and they have spent hours each night playing. Last night when she removed them from tent and put them back in the cage, all the doors weren't double checked and the side door that opens for the feed cup was left open. I got up last night to let dogs out and I have two who like to bring things outside, like socks, toys, etc, so I do a mouth check and make sure they drop everything. Well you can probably guess she dropped a sugar glider. Cold and dead. My daughter is so upset. So, we will be looking for another because we learned from you all can't keep a single one. We don't want a male, so we should look for a young female about the same size?? I'm going to call the breeder today and see what she has. She is advertising breeding pairs with joeys still in pouch. Would that be an option? Once joey is old enough sell the breeding pair? The breeding pairs are not handled and would be too much work for my daughter to tame. We will be getting a thing that goes under her door to prevent the gliders from getting under and I'm sure she will triple check all the doors from now on.

I'm so sorry.

I am so sorry for your loss!

I'm terribly sorry for your loss. You can always check Craigslist, hoobly, kijiji or rescue homes in your area for another glider. There's really no need to contact a breeder when there are thousands of gliders out there in need of a home.

Im so sorry.

Thank you for posting about this very sad accident. There are many who dont believe their other pets (dogs & cats) are capable of doing something like this. It sounds like your dog was playing...not anything vicious.

This happened to me many years ago with a beloved hampster. I came home to find my very sweet dog trying to get my hampster to get up and play...

I'm so sorry for this unfortunate situation. At least you are now taking more precautions like you mentioned. I wish you the best of luck with finding your other sugar glider a new friend.

I'm so sorry for your loss (((hugs)))

Sorry for your loss.

The small sliding feeder door may not have been 'left open' - Gliders can and will open these small doors themselves. All sliding doors need to be latched some how. I use twist locks (available on my web page http://gliderkids.com/services.html and many people use zip ties - but they must be secured somehow.

I'm so sorry for your loss. I lost Razzle this way. I now have clips on all the doors. Hugs to you and your daughter!

We contacted the breeder 1st thing this morning and she had another young female that we went and picked up already. She said the joey has been OP for 2weeks and she just pulled from mom when we arrived. Seems about the same size as my daughter's other one. The little thing is scared to death and keeps crabbing, so we will leave her alone. It's hard to "rescue" a baby, people usually get them young and decide to rehome when they are older. We will make sure to tie the doors just incase that is what happened. My daughter is still very upset and keeps asking the dogs which one did it. So far none of them are telling.

2 weeks OOP? Am I reading that correctly or is it a typo?

Has to be a typo. They can't leave mom before 8 weeks OOP!

I sure hope it is a typo.

Well she said 2 (two) weeks OOP, could she have meant 2 months, I don't know. It appears to be the same size as the other one. How can you tell if it's too young.

Okay, just looked at "little angels" post and picture of her 1 week OOP and this one is NOT that tiny or hairless. Must be 2 months ! ?

At two weeks OOP, her eyes would have just opened in the last few days. They don't even start to eat mom and dad's food or explore on their own until about 5 weeks OOP. She HAD to have said it wrong. You can look in my albums (click on the Mona Lisa icon by my name) and look for the albums titled "Maddox" and "Shiloh". I documented their ages on their pictures from the day they came OOP. This was Maddox just 13 and then again at 17 days OOP:

I am so very sorry for your loss. But this is a good reminder for us all to double and triple check doors. I know I also close my room door each night so that if they get out they are only out into my room which is glider proofed.

She doesn't look as young as 2 weeks but also doesn't look as big or fluffy tail as 8 weeks. No go with photos she is very scared and lunges at your face when bothered. :(

The new addition is doing great with the other little girl. We have firewood stumps (I think it's hickory) that the two girls just love climbing on and ripping the bark off. There are probably bugs under the bark, does anyone see a reason this would be
harmful to them? Also we made a playgym out of PVC and wrapped the pipe with.. horse vet wrap, some with rope and
a type of material very similar to a fly mask used for horses. Anyone see any potential problems with this?

My only concern with the stump is rot or pesticides.

The best advice I can offer is make sure she is eating and drinking appropriately. I have babies that are four weeks OOP and they are no where near ready for their new forever homes.

As for the wood, I only offer Eucproducts. Due to environmental elements I'm afraid of exposing my lil ones to something. They say you can bake the wood, but if it has been sprayed with any chemical I do not know if that will help.

Best of luck on your new joey. and I am terribly sorry for your loss.

Merck Veterinary Manual says the natural weening period for gliders is 15 weeks. Why breeders insist on yanking them sooner is either ignorance or just greed to trigger more births. It's sad. Joeys need mom and dad to teach them so many things during the first 12 weeks. Like potting, grooming, play, eating solids... 8 weeks seems to be standard, but it's wrong. It's much safer to what a little longer and you end up with a pet that's more well-adjusted. It's also not a bad idea to adopt these pets when you can because there is an epidemic of abandonment and surrender with sugar gliders. The breeders in general don't want you to think surrender and abandonment is a problem. But in fact it is a big problem. Otherwise, rescues would not be over-flowing with unwanted gliders.

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Originally posted by delilah778

The new addition is doing great with the other little girl. We have firewood stumps (I think it's hickory) that the two girls just love climbing on and ripping the bark off. There are probably bugs under the bark, does anyone see a reason this would be
harmful to them? Also we made a playgym out of PVC and wrapped the pipe with.. horse vet wrap, some with rope and
a type of material very similar to a fly mask used for horses. Anyone see any potential problems with this?

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I am so sorry for your loss

I'm glad to hear that your new addition is doing well though.
I'm not too sure that the firewood would be safe for them as someone has already mentioned the possibility of pesticides. http://www.eucproducts.com/pricelist_sale.html Has eucalyptus which is safe for them to play with, chew on, and eat. I believe he is still doing the half off sale right now. I just got my order in the mail today. The smell of it makes the room smell fresh


If you looking for fun things to make to put in the cage then you should check out this link
http://www.sugarglider.com/gliderpedia/index.asp?Projects

PVC and mesh is fine, I'm not too sure about the vet wrap (or the rope) since I don't know what kind of material it is. Are you able to provide pics?

Hope this helps!

How is your daughter doing?

Well my daughter is now double checking doors and hoping something like this doesn't happen again. We buried the glider today and had a little funeral, the ground has been frozen.

The wood does not have pesticides, it came from our woods.

We put crickets in the tent last night and we got a good laugh out of one of the gliders catching it. She ate 2. These are gut loaded crickets that my son has for his chameleon.

sorry for the passing of your suggie