My family and I are going on a out-of-state vacation soon for about 6-7 days. (not the kinda distance we can go back and forth from) Although we have a sitter on the line (and a couple back-up sitters too) i'm still worried about my 3 sugar babys. How long can they go w/o food/water? I have a protein pellet mix they like but I dont use water bottle they drink out of a bowl. (I don't think they'd even know how to use one at this point)

What sort of precautions should I take? just mix a huge bowl of pellets and dried fruit, with a big bowl of water and just hope the sitter won't be flaky? HELP!

P.S. I don't use the leadbeater mix or w/e. just fruits/veg + Pellets + treats.

Hello!
I'm sorry you haven't gotten any responses yet.
I can only give you my opinion on this...I haven't had to leave my gliders for more than a couple of days yet, fortunately for me.

What I would do is try to make it as easy as possible for my glider sitters because I really don't think leaving a bunch of pellets and dried fruit is either a good idea or that it would help. I would (will) have ready-to-go frozen meals that my sitter could literally take out of the freezer and put directly into the cage for each day I'm gone, plus maybe one extra just in case.

I understand you're nervous about your sitter and back up sitters. I would be, too, regardless of who they were just because it's out of my control. But hopefully you've picked someone who's very responsible, who you've trained, and who you can trust. I think I would also alert my regular vet to my absence, just in case something does go wrong and my sitter needs to bring one in.

Good luck and have a nice vacation!

I agree with Kferg's advice. You can give instructions, have written instructions, as well as a walk-thru with your sitters. Make sure they can contact you if questions arise, and it wouldn't hurt to double-check with them on "how it's going".

Also adding regarding water bowl vs water bottle, my preference is a water silo like this in sz small there are also cheaper ones available as well that others use. If you're not sold on trying a silo, there is also this option for water or food, I've used this for serving fruit/vegetables, and currently my glider's nectar (CLO). They both work wonderfully and are easy to take out, clean, fill, and replace. They both also provide a bowl for drinking, the silo's bowl is small/narrow, but they can drink from it easily, the other being covered and only accessible from the front, they can't climb in or over, soil it or spill it when attached in the holder. I place these so they sit on a surface (floor of cage or shelf). The silos hang fine, I place them near the top, I use shelves to help it be more easily reached.

Thanks for the advice so far! I've also gone around the other diet posts and found that fruit can be kept frozen and just set our a while before mealtime to defrost. I may make up the entire week's meals and freeze them. The sitter will be able to just grab a baggy and dump it out for them. I've seen your silo idea TJones09 and i'll look into get at least the water one for them (messy eaters, dropping food in their water all the time XD )

The printed instructions is a bit of a no brainer, however the place to put the directions is more complicated. do I tape it to my bedroom door? lay it on the neighboring desk? I really cant tape it directly on the cage cuz they'll chew it.

Another issue might be if (possibly) one baby gets out while the sitter is putting in food. Any suggestions on things to tell them to avoid that or how to catch them again?

Make sure your sitter puts the food into the cage well before they wake up.

If you can bring your sitter over sometime before you leave for vacation, just show him/her where you will leave the written directions. Plus then you can show him/her how you do everything.

Personally, I'm going to instruct my sitters not to open the cage door if they're awake. It should only take a few seconds to put the food into the cage so if they're sleeping, they shouldn't get out. If your sitter gets there and they're awake, then if your gliders are like mine at all, it should only be a little while before they go back to sleep. Just tell your sitter to wait until they go back to sleep to put the food in.

If they do escape, I would instruct my sitter to put their favorite pouch filled with treats near wherever they saw them last and try to catch them when they go in.

I totally understand your concern with your gliders and having someone else care for them. But don't worry too much.

I would put their cage in a glider proof room (if not already), that way if one happens to get out with the sitter, they'll be easier to catch, etc. Even if it's the bathroom.

If you're going to be gone for 6-7 days, you definitely need a sitter. For water, you could just use a water bottle? My guys have a tiny one, and it still can take them over a week to get through all the water.

We freeze a lot of our fruits for our gliders since it's way easier to extend fruit that way. We pop out an ice cube of fruit, and ice cube of veggies, and place them in their metal dish. Then we take a second lager bowl, fill it with hot water, and place the metal bowl in that. It helps them dethaw much faster. Alternatively you can just put the ice cubes in a microwavable bowl, and microwave them. Esp since it'll be easier for the sitter, and will just be a few days. Then we add fresh protien and calcium powder. You could also pre mix all of these things (fruit, veggies, protein, powders) into separate baggies, and portion out the seven days that way.

Just plan evyerthing out by amount for their meals, and then walk your sitter through everything. Even label the food in bags "day 1, day 2, day 3.." that way it's stress free for the sitter. And you can make separate meals with protein etc, all ready. Leave a printed piece of paper with each instruction. "Step one-defrost two ice cubes (or bag). Step two-add in calcium/protien/whatever (if not added yet). Step three-feed at this time...etc"

It might be easier for your sitter to come earlier in the day? Food would be less fresh, but then you're gliders will definitely be asleep.

But I think the best peace of mind with be having the gliders in a room that the sitter can close the door behind them (tell them to do this) and can feed them. Show the sitter how to catch them with a piece of fleece, or with pouch if they escape. And this way they'll be more confident if anything happens, and you'll have the peace of mind, knowing if one got out that it'll be ok.

In your walk through with the sitter just make sure you stress to always have the door closed when opening the cage doors. Explain how quickly they can get out. And run through things like toilet seat down, etc.

Hope this helps <3