Hello, I have a glider that has developed two small bald lumps on identical sides of her face (between the eye and ear it sits slightly lower than her eye). The bumps each have 2-3 little scab like dots in a row, they have not changed for the past couple months. I've had her and her baby (almost full grown) since December (2013). I got them from a local breeder (crazy critters in south Dakota). I don't know their history - just that they were rescued. Bella (with the lumps) is estimated to be around 3yrs and Kia is around 1yr. I feed them HPW with a fruit/veggie relish smoothie cubes (I alternate between two different mixes) and they had previously been on a dry food (along with the hpw) that crazy critters makes (wild glider) that I would mix with naked juice (I stopped feeding this after doing more research on the mix, and realizing crazy critters was advising an unhealthy diet). They are kept in a critter nation cage (5ft H x 3ft W x 2ft D). I clean their cage and fleece weekly. I have photo's of the lumps but I'm not sure how to add them, if someone could tell me how that would be helpful. Please any advice would be appreciated on my Bella.. we have an exotics vet that we can take her too but I don't think she has much experience past basic care for gliders.

Im hoping that this worked lol... do you guys have any idea what this is??

Lumpy jaw is usually the name given to an abscess of a tooth that causes swelling of the jaw.

The areas in the photo do not really look swollen but it is hard to tell in a photo.

I would take the glider to a glider experienced vet to have the areas looked at. They almost appear like a bite wound that has healed but not regrown fur. There may be some infection under the skin that would need antibiotic treatment. Only a vet can make that diagnosis and provide appropriate treatment.

Thank you for your reply, when I run my finger over it you can tell its a hard little lump. I just can't figure out what it is since its been this way with no changes for about 3 months. I've observed it closely for changes (I was gonna take her to the vet if it changed). I have noticed that kia spends a while grooming those spots for bella so I wasn't sure if it's that its an existing infection or if the hair just cant grow back due to Kia's grooming. . Ive also noticed that Bella has been a little aggressive (only at night) and she will viciously bite our fingers, and it seems to be in general and not from an isolated issue (such as her getting scared suddenly) she will come up to us during playtime and just bite till she pierces the skin. But she doesn't bite at all during the day when we have pouch time.

That's really weird... I would put a small amount of neosporin on it every day. And go to a vet who knows about gliders. It isn't really worth it is the vet doesn't know about gliders' unique issues for something you don't understand. Maybe for something simple like a fecal it could be okay, but for a unique health issue an expert is far better. Good luck!

I make sure to keep bites very clean. And I agree with the vet but in south Dakota exotic vets are few and far between and finding one that has advanced knowledge is unheard of :( the vet we use (for our chinchillas as well) is very very nice and caring of the animals and she goes out of her way to find the answer to a problem (one of our chinchillas had digestive issues and she went as far to calling universities that specialized in them) but her knowledge off the top of her head is no more then a check up amount. And that's how it is with all the exotics in the area. .. we just don't have enough exotic owners to make it worth the vets wild to specialize. :(... that's why I figured I'd ask here since there's people that have seen tons of gliders and maybe someone had came across something like this.

Hi I actually spoke with you over email the other night about the post on craigslist about Sasha Kelly at Crazy Critterz. I believe you would be in the Rapid City area since you've dealt with Crazy Critterz. Do you know what Sasha thought it was? Have you heard of Doctor Falcon at All Creatures? He sadly works with Crazy Critterz and may call Sasha asking for her advice, but he has taken courses on sugar gliders himself and he may be able to help if you don't think your vet has enough experience.

Good luck!

Oh hey! What a small world lol.. and yes I've heard of Dr. Falcon and from what crazy critters had said was that it didn't matter if I used him or my vet (at canyon lake vet hospital) they said the skill level is pretty much the same. And the funny thing is that I actually asked sasha about the bumps and even showed her and she reccomended that I not do anything. .. now idk about you but I'd think everyone would say it's safest to have it checked out.. I've asked crazy critters a few times on some health concerns that have popped up and I've never felt a % 100 sure on anything they've said. They told me to put a heat lamp on them, I tried for one day and couldn't handle the thought of it possibly starting a fire, I mean what do you get when you put a heat lamp directed at fleece? A fire! Sorry I'm getting off topic lol.. with that being said idk how effective dr. Falcon would be since he would ask crazy critters first before proceeding and I don't like their advice. . It's always felt a little off.