So about half a week ago, I woke up, said hello to my gliders per usual, and went to work. Following work, I came home later in the evening to realize on of my gliders had her foot tangled up in string. The foot was purple, and I rushed to get the string off, as it was cutting off her circulation. Naturally the foot was swollen and discolored, but I gave it a night. The following day the foot seemed to be more pink, but was still extremely swollen, so I called my vet to place an appointment. They only had an appointment a week out, so I booked it and went to an emergency vet specializing in exotic animals. They looked at her foot, and I realized she had bitten one of her toes to a stub. I do understand that they mutilate themselves when in pain. The vet gave me three days worth of a pain killer that acted also as something to stop the swelling, and gave me two weeks worth of antibiotics so that it wouldn't be infected. I asked if it would have to be cut off, and the vet said to give it time, and see what happened. So I brought her home and gave her the medicine. I went out for a little bit the next day, and when I went to give her medicine for the second time of the day(the antibiotics are given twice a day) I noticed all of her fingers had been bitten to a stthe emergency vet, and they told me to keep her away from her cage mate, as there was a possibility that she was aiding my glider. So I did that the the best of my abilities. I went to give her medicine today, and it was much worse. She completely tore off all of her fingers, the bones are sticking out. I made an emergency e-collar. I can go to the emergency vet again, but I don't know what else I can do to stop this. It is getting very bad and I am very worried. Suggestions are welcomed.

She needs to be in an e-collar, shot glass style, so she can't reach her fingers. She needs to be in an emergency cage, one that is smaller, and she has to be on her own. She needs the collar on 24-7 until she can get the amputation. She will keep chewing until this is resolved.

Her emergency cage needs to restrict activity; don't include a wheel or other climbing things. Keep everything within reach of her bed. You'll need to put fleece on the floor so the bars don't hurt her feet to walk on. You'll also need to wash this fleece daily, as trotting around in her waste can quickly lead to an infection. Pick up some Veticyrn gel at your local pet store, apply it to her paw 3-5x a day. It will help sooth and speed healing. You absolutely need to get her in to the vet ASAP. Demand an amputation; this "wait and see" is not helping her, especially if you've been unable to restrict her from chewing further. Pain meds and antib's are not enough; once a glider starts chewing you need to break the motivation and cure the root issue before it becomes a habitual behaviour.

You can put her food staple (if it's liquid like OHPW) in a water silo for her to access it. You may need to handfeed her otherwise.

Double-check all your bedding for loose threads or wear, holes, etc. remove any rope-type toys or anything that is not fleece fabric or properly sewn cotton/flannel.

I'm so sorry you two are going through this. You're going to have to be diligent with her while she heals to make sure she doesn't damage herself further. Please keep us updated.

I can't seem to find a date on this so I'm not sure if this is still relevant... when I got my two gliders from a breeder in Calgary one of them had a chewed off thumb and index finger. Unfortunately because we were unexperienced, when the breeder told us it was just a torn nail that needed salt water baths we believed her and took the little guy home with us. The next morning we got a closer look at the paw and immediately took him into the vet.
He had to be sedated for 2 days to stop chewing on it as the vet avoids using e-collars with gliders as it can stress them out to the point of death. After the first 2 days he was on injectable pain killers for the rest of the week. He had to be hospitalized for the first week and has been home on meloxicam and tramadol twice a day until yesterday.
I just wanted to share what we went through since it probably won't be as simple as just an e-collar and a time-out.

Hi, I posted this in October but thank you!! My little girl had to have her foot amputated and unfortunately died a week later from complications

Hello, new sugar glider mom here for a little over a year. My baby just got diagnosed with Metabolic Bone Disease, and he's on treatment now. This morning I noticed he's biting his back right foot and it's bleeding. I'm so scared because the vets are closed today, and I don't want him to hurt himself more. What can I do? I'm freaking out.

First if hes not already, he needs separated from any other gliders.

2nd if you dont have one already you need to make a shot glass style e collar. They are easy to make and you can improvise a little on the materials used but try to follow the instructions here
https://www.suzsugargliders.com/ecollar.htm

Once the ecollar is made you need to get it on him which is easier said then done. There are directions for that right under the ecollar tutorial

This may take some time and you will likely get frustrated, thats normal. Once you have it on securely examine his foot to see how bad it really is.

Clean his foot if need be and if you have vetericyn spray some on the wound.

Once you get the ecollar on keep it on until he can get to the vet DO NOT TAKE IT OFF.

He will need access to his food and water while wearing tge e collar we typically use bird water silos because the trough is accessible with the cone on.

What meds does he have?

He's just taking Calcium drops and I just changed his diet today.