Hello everyone! First off, I would like to wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving!

I recently (Tuesday, to be more specific) got two BEAUTIFUL baby leu sisters. I love them so much already. They're gorgeous and appear to be very healthy. However, when I visited the breeder's house to pick them up, I became very concerned. The breeder was very kind to me and truly loved her gliders, and I have no doubt about her being a wonderful, well meaning, kind, caring person. She has been breeding gliders 12 years, however a few things I saw at her home disturbed and upset me.

I have been doing tons of research, joining forums, reading books, talking to local glider owners, all sorts of things. I read things about hamster-ball horror stories (toes and nails getting caught), horrid things about Kaytee Silent Spinners wheels, morbid things about heat rocks, and the proper age to get a glider. These are the kinds of things that bothered me about the breeder's home. I noticed she was selling hamster balls, Silent Spinners (and Wodent Wheels, for that matter), heat rocks, and when I asked her how old the babies were OOP, she said they were 5 and a half weeks. Everything I'd heard about those certain things she was selling was not good, and I had no clue the babies were only 5 1/2 weeks OOP. I don't know if she's "old school" and doesn't know about all of the new updates that have been discovered because she is an older lady, or if she's just never had a problem with any of the things that were supposedly bad in her 12 years of experience. I'm just a very careful momma and I don't want to risk any underage health issues or wheel problems (I stayed away from the heat rock and such). I don't know if I really even have a question about this, I'm just concerned and don't know what to think.

She fed her babies a great diet, they were healthy; bright eyed and fluffy-tailed (fluffy tail are good, right?), she had the lineage and had bred even the grandparents at her home, her home was tidy and you could tell she cleaned the cages regularly, and truly cared about her gliders. I'm just confused as to why she would sell the balls and wheels and heat rocks and underage gliders!

Any tips on taking care of younger gliders, also? They are fully weaned and appear healthy and are pretty socialized.

I am absolutely mortified I will have bonding problems because of their young age. Please help.

Thanks so much!

Happy Turkey day to you as well.

I'd like to know who this breeder is and what city n state they are in???

Let me address the biggest concern right now, those joeys are wayyyyyyyyy to young to be separated from their parents ( unless they were rejected ) the very earliest joeys are weened is like 8 weeks old. Even if they were rejected by the parents they should NOT be sold until the are at least 10-12 weeks oop. In the mean time the breeder should be hand feeding them until their bodies can handle a more substantial diet.

They are far to young to be eating a diet meant for joeys 8 - 9 weeks oop and adults. They should still be getting a animal milk based diet until at least 7 weeks when then parents and or breeder usually starts introducing them to actual food.

Responsible and reputable breeders won't separate their joeys from the parents until they are at least 10 to 12 weeks oop. The community crucifies breeders selling joeys any earlier than 10 weeks.



http://www.suzsugargliders.com/handraisingajoey.htm

Please go to that link and do some reading to give those joeys the best chance possible there is still a risk they may not survive. There is lots of info on the site so make sure to check out all the tabs she also sells joey rejection kits that has everything you need to feed them properly. You will also need a digital scale that weighs in grams to monitor their weights If I find a more accurate weight chart I will post it


There is so much information you need to know and I'm sure I will forget something since I don't breed. At this age the joeys are still riding on their parents backs to get to food and water and to get back to their sleeping pouch. You will need to make sure to monitor them so they don't get to cold. If you find them on the floor of the cage you need to get them warmed up put them next to your skin until warm. You need to make sure they joeys don't get dehydrated they are used to being fed every 3 or 4 hours at this age I think, if they get dehydrated they could have seizures. I am not trying to scare you, but there are just soooo many things that can happen that you are in no way prepared for hell I'm not prepared for dealing with joeys at this age.

In an emergency,

call Val Betts at:

806-274-9177
Val has a ton of experience

If your on facebook feel free to ad me I can give you a few more people that could be useful to you. https://www.facebook.com/carla.sloan.1


As for all the other stuff, hamster balls n such ... no they are not widely used nor acceptable by the community. There are round abouts which are made secifically for gliders that are safer than hampster balls you can see them here http://www.spinzoneglobal.com/Runabout_c_13.html
Sounds to me like the breeder is a touch out of date with what is acceptable and safe for gliders or the community already outcast her some time ago for her breeding practices ( which is pretty common even still)

Thanks for your response [Leela]!

I'm not going to say who this breeder is or what city/state she's in, not going to give out any personal information about her. She is a very wonderful lady and I do not want anything bad said about her, I would like her to keep up her business (and I have my reasons why below... It was a misunderstanding on my part). Sorry! I do believe there was a misunderstanding between the two of us as I have just looked up babies 5 1/2 weeks OOP and mine are obviously much older. They look more like miniature gliders and have lost their "baby" features. Perhaps it was a confusion, maybe she accidentally got mixed up or I heard her wrong. I don't think they're as old as 10-12 weeks, but you never know. They haven't been on the bottom of the cage appearing cold, they drink and by themselves and swing about the cage with ease. They seem very healthy. They can fully go to the bathroom by themselves, control their body temperature, and all that good stuff. Come to think about it, in late September they were almost completely OOP, so they would have had plenty of time. Sorry I just got a bit frazzled lol! I think it was some form of miscommunication. I highly doubt she would be selling underage gliders with slim chance of survival after 12 years of breeding, so luckily that mix up has been resolved.

She did hand feed them during the weaning process and uses a very high quality staple diet, suitable for joeys and young adults (some kind of pellet and an HPW mix), so that adds some reassurance. They enjoy their food and have no problem eating it. I Believe they're fine diet-wise.

Okay. I think that's it, she's just a bit out of date. I'll be ordering a Raptor wheel and stuff ASAP.

Thanks again!

well that's a relief!! I am glad it was just a mix up and your babies are doing well

I was so tired last night when I read your post I didn't even think to ask for pics to see if they looked that young sorry. 5 and a half weeks is just such a very concerning age if that/s how old they were, and some breeders do sell them that young we see it fairly often in the rehome group on facebook. I am glad this is not the case with you

Just a heads up on the Raptor ,they are a good quality wheel I have 2 or 3 of them myself but, David makes them to order and is not very fast at turning them out. It could take awhile for you to get it so don't panic if it seems to take forever it will come. If you need a wheel in a hurry you might consider a different wheel by a different vendor. I do promote Raptor wheels and David is a very respected and reputable vendor, but he has some health issues and is quite slow and doesn't communicate in a timely manner. So just don't freak if you don't hear from him and you don't get the wheel in a hurry

Phew! So am I!

Lol, that's fine! I think I was frazzled and tired last night which is what lead to the panic! I'm glad everything is well.

And ok! That's alright. They should be alright for a bit with the wheel I have now, it's not as hazardous. I'll place my order for it as soon as I can. Thanks so much for everything [Leela]! :) Have a great day!