I'm so completely saddened. My 14year old waited 6 months for a sugar glider. We were on a list on the only USDA certified exotic pet shop in our area, Bravo Pets. We followed every instruction that was given to us.

MoMo was amazing. We had him two week with no issues in bonding. My son took care of him while home and I took him to work in his bonding pouch. He never bit or hissed and easily went back and forth between his father, my son and me.

Yesterday I took him to work because I knew we weren't going to be home right away. I packed his food (HPW Original Complete) both his pellets and wet food and bottled water. I fed him throughout the day and made sure he got water - we always carry bottled water, bottlecaps as a travel feeder that the owner gave us and both wet and pellets with dried fruit so he can eat. We were instructed to feed him every 2-4 hours depending on how much he ate.

So he was at work with me and doing just fine. He went back and forth between his pouch and hanging on me. I picked up my son and the first thing we did is stop at a gas station to fill up and he was out of his pouch for water and food. He ended up staying out and actually glided for the first time. We were taking videos in the car (as I carefully drove home) and just laughing it up.

At night he nestled in my son's pocket as he played video games. I checked on MoMo sometime afer 9pm and he was crabbing. I picked him up to play and set up his cage up with fresh water, wet food and pellets. I came back shortly after and I found him eating a piece of dried fruit from the pellets. Again I saw him eating the wet food and thought to myself, wow he is eating alot but figured he still isn't quite into the pellets so the wet food of course would get chowed down.

Around 10 I asked my son where he was and he said he was sleeping so he put him in the cage. I did think it was kind of early for him but he was out and I figured he tired himself out like he has done before.

We wake up around 6am but woke up a bit later. My son immediately gave me his pouch so he could run into the shower. I checked on him and he was dead.

My son states at around 2am he was crabbing. He checked on him and he was at the top of the cage and couldn't get down - it has happened before. So my son picked him up and placed him in his pouch. He said at "the late side of 5am" he heard him crabbing again in his pouch and because it was close to his time to get up, he zipped up the pouch and brought him into bed with him for the last few minutes of snooze time. He's done this before leaving him on a pillow close by but not so much that he would roll over and crush him. I woke up my son and saw him in the position he states he was in.

So sometime in the early morning/dawn hours and by 6:30am he died. I can only think of him getting crushed or overheated.

We held MoMo...I don't know what his bones would feel like but son said he woke up in the same position he was in when he put him on the pillow and I can only say that when I woke up my son he was in the same place he described.

He got crushed right? I'm in denial aren't I....

so sorry to hear about your glider.
we have had one glider died, it really is sad and heart breaking.

Lola, It doesn't sound like you are in denial to me. From your description I think your son has taken a very responsible role in helping with MoMo for a teenager. It sounds like you haven't had him very long either and I understand that there can be a variety of causes in glider death, especially very young ones. I'm sure someone more knowledgeable can give better information than I can about that.

I'm so sorry for your loss and I hope you find some answers. Please don't blame yourselves! From what you described you gave MoMo a good life while you had him.

Woke up this morning and before the covers were off, I said to myself I needed to check on him and then realized, no... all day my boxer dog kept going in and out of the room. I moved the cage out so my son didn't have to see it.

The more I went over everything in my head the more convinced I am that he didn't roll over. My son made a tribute video and one of the picks is the two sleeping together...my son never moved - for hours because he knew MoMo was sleeping on him.

He may have gotten overheated.... maybe stressed....maybe the food wasn't as good for him as I thought (I read a lot about HPW and inconsistent results with testing). I don't know and that is what bothers me the most.

But thank you all for your kind words. You knew such a little thing could make such a large impact on the entire house in a matter of days!

It's very hard not to replay everything over an over, I do the same thing.

While hpw diets aren't my personal favorite for my own different personal reasons,It is one I recommend ( the critter love hpw ) because it's one of few that has actually been tested and improved since the testing by creating her salads.

My reasons are,

I don't have the freezer space for those salads.

There are so many of them it's confusing some are good some are not depending on who your source is.


It smells awful to me

I can't afford it for 10 gliders consistently.

It's just not a practical diet for me and my gliders.

It's one of the most widely used diets there is, don't let other peoples opinions ( even mine ) and interpretation of the testing make you second guess your choices.

Some of those opinions about the testing was made on the first phase of testing, the testing is still going on right now.

Also as I mentioned to you yesterday there is a lot of drama in the community.

Peggy and her diet are sometimes a hot topic and not everyone likes her diet or her for that matter. You see, she profits from her diet and partnered up with Pocket Pets as a distributor for her diet ( It's rebranded for pocket pets but a critter love diet none the less ) Many people dislike her and the diet for that alone.

She is not the only one that sells her diet Tpg sells the necessary vitamin supplement for the tpg diet as well. The difference is, Peggy is more vocal publicly than Priscilla is. There is another reason for it as well but I don't want to get into here lol.

I would still lean towards he came to you with an undisclosed issue from the breeder. Her first instinct was to assume your son rolled over onto him. Not to mention she really didn't tell you what happened with the litter she lost it may or may not have been related to what happened.

Sorry to read this story. Crushing does seem like a very plausible possibility. I think giving pellets this early is not a good idea as they can be choking hazards to the young. Of course I personally would never give pellets ever but that's another discussion...

Sorry for your loss. Pocket pets by all definition are crush hazards.

I doubt your son rolled over him. I take naps with my babies all the time. They usually sleep directly in my shirt. I have only gotten close once to rolling over on one. Nice nip in the side fixed that quickly. Your son would probably have known if he rolled over on him. If he's anything like me, he's aware of were they are at all times.

I am sorry for your loss. I've had a similar thing happen. I had a 6 month old suddenly die. Thinking back on it he did have a few peculiarities ever since he came oop. There is a chance yours did too. It might not have been noticable like Ty or you just didn't know what to look for. Don't blame yourself. You're doing the best you can, and that's all you can do.

I'm sorry for your loss. Please don't be so hard on yourself and family. You had followed instructions you were given and it sounds like you all were very devoted to his care. Try to find peace in knowing that no matter the cause of your joey's death, he had a life full of love and devotion.