We recently lost our sugarglider outside and found reading peoples similar experiences on sugarglider.com both helpful and comforting. We are sharing our story hoping it may offer fellow sugar glider owners in a similar position some consolation!
Most evenings, whilst we are still awake, we let our sugarglider Thaksin out of his cage to stretch his limbs. However, one evening we made a big mistake and left the window slightly ajar. Realising our error, we frantically searched the room but soon had to face the truth - he had headed out of the window.
This situation was made much worse as we live on the 12th floor of an aparment building in Ho Chi Minh City. Sheer panic.
We ran down to the ground floor and called for him. We were convinced we saw him (now unsure if we were right?!) which gave us hope that he may have miraculously made it down to the ground floor alive.
Unsure of what to do we continued to call for him but there are a fair few different trees and bushes outside our apartment block and it was dark. We looked at sugarglider.com and found that people had had success looking at around 5 in the morning. So we put one of his beds in a tree and got a very bad nights sleep.
I went down in the morning and called to him with his favourite food but to no avail. I then decided to make a lost poster with a picture of Thaksin, a short description, our numbers and a reward. We handed the posters out to maintenance staff in the building, security staff, local businesses, residents and put them up by the elevators of our building. Everyone was very kind to us but I don't think anybody believed he would come home.
The next 3-4 days were a nightmare. We were staying up late at night (till 2/3am) outside by the trees with his cage and food in the hope he would come to us. We were putting his cage in trees over night as advised. We were waking up early at around 4/5 each morning and calling for him. But this was all to no avail. It was soul destroying. Every unsuccessful attempt, every morning coming down to his empty cage, it was hard to stay positive.
Not only did we miss him TERRIBLY. We were incredibly worried and wracked with guilt. We should have been more careful and it was terrifying to think that Thaksin may have to suffer the consequences of our carelessness.
We were exhausted and quite frankly depressed. We wanted him home and it seemed hopeless. It was a very difficult time. It was rainy season in Vietnam and the weather had been awful. We did not know if he was dead or alive. Struggling or thriving. Sugar gliders are exotic pets and a part of us wondered if even if we could find him - would he want to come home to us? Was our 'bond' strong enough? Was he better off in the wild? After 4 nights and 4 days I think we were both beginning to realise that soon we would have to give up and come to terms with the fact that he was gone.
Then on the 5th night we received a call from a security guard in the building. He said he had seen Thaksin. He took us up to the 24th floor of the building and opened the fire escape door.. and there he was.
He was thin and scared but he was there and he was alive. At first he jumped back but as we called to him and offered him his favourite treat.. He stopped and allowed us to approach him, to stroke him and finally to scoop him up in my jumper and take him home.
We were overjoyed. Thaksin was weak and needed lots of rest, food, water and love.. But he was alive and more than that he really seemed happy to be back with us and in his home. We like to imagine that maybe he was trying to get back to us.
We wanted to share our story to tell you not to give up, your sugar glider needs you and may be trying to make it home to you right now. Stay strong and keep positive.
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