I'm posting a picture bellow--my glider's fur is very cracked. And I can't tell if he's acting sick or just being sleepy. But this glider is usually more active. It also seems that his face is swollen.

Our gliders sleep under a heat lamp, and I do hear that temperature can effect this, but I also need to know if it's a diet thing--what is usually the issue in the diet?

My boys eat all fruit, veggies, and protein, with calcium sprinkled on. Is there something I'm missing? Very worried mama here, please help me out with any advice!!

We also live in a very remote area (can only access by ferry) so there is no way we can get him to a vet.

Ok, something is definitely wrong. I fed him a mealworm, which he took, but couldn't seem to bite into. So he eventually just stopped trying. He passed up a mealworm!!

We're trying to find a vet we can take him to tomorrow.

The little guy is really sick. He's jumping around the cage, but then he just lays back down and looks miserable.

It's one side of his face that is swollen. I'm guessing from what I have read that it's an impacted tooth?

I've blended all his food for tonight, so hopefully he can eat that. He seems to take a little, but not much.

Your babies are so cute! You're doing the right thing by planning to take him to the vet. For now, I would try to feed him things that are easy to eat (yogurt, apple sauce, and scrambled eggs, for example). Try to get him to drink. He may be dehydrated. I understand why you want to blend his food but some foods like fruits and veggies shouldn't be blended because it forces them to eat the fiber which they would normally spit out. What is his main staple diet? I sympathize with what you're going through. I'm dealing with a sick glider as well but fortunately she's getting good care. Wishing you all the best! Please keep us posted.

Thank you for your encouragement and advice <3

If his face is swollen it's likely and abscess he will need need antibiotics, clavamox works great for oral abscesses and infections. Also an xray wouldn't hurt to see if he needs a tooth extraction.

Tiakristen gave some great advice make sure he's not dehydrated and she is correct about blending fruits n veg, just don't want to see him have intestinal issues on top of his oral issues. Soft foods like eggs, yogurt for now, they really should be on a better balanced diet though.

Sprinkling calcium isn't going to ensure they are getting all they need and is one issue with diets. To much calcium can be just as bad as not enough so it's not suggested to sprinkle it on, plus they can easily eat around it and not get any at all.

I suggest Bml or one of the critter love diets. Bml all the ingredients can be found locally, Critter love needs to be ordered.

Why are they better than how you are feeding? They are consistent, and balanced, they provide calcium as well as other vitamins and minerals and protein. In a measured, evenly distributed staple. Which ever you chose, make sure to follow the directions and the recipe exactly ( no substituting ingredients or changing measurements or adding anything ) These diets have been tested using the ingredients in them any substitutions will make the diet unbalanced.

Clavamox--great! Do you know the amount that's recommended per dosage? (just incase the vet needs to know).

We're trying to get him to a vet, but no one on this island treats sugar gliders. We're trying to find a vet consult for the vets here. Found an old list on this forum (from 2011), so we're trying to patch up old numbers, find the vets who still work at those places... Not going so well.

clavamox : 1.25mg of active drug per 100g of body weight / day

what does your glider currently weigh ? and where are you located?

Ok, so we found a vet to give him Clavamox! The vet weighed him and put him on 2ml twice a day. Poor dude, I feel like that's the equivalent to us drinking a gallon of water. We gave him his first dose, so fingers crossed.

I live in BC!

Also, we are changing his diet. We were following a very sticked diet for them, but it doesn't seem to be good enough. So we're looking into tonight, and will have them on a new diet tomorrow.

.2 is an awful lot, you sure it's not .02 ? what does the glider weigh? For an 80 gram glider I was giving .05 of clavamox

.05 grams? What measurement?

Yeah, that's what I said (that it sounded like a lot), But that's what the pharmacist said. I'm going to check again though, because yeah, it seemed like a LOT to me too.

Ugh, I'm trying to get ahold of a vet, but no one is at their office now. I've already given my glider his meds, and now I'm worry THAT will kill him. When does it end!? The prescription does say 2mg/ml twice daily. Because I double check with the pharmacist. But now I'm afraid that he just go it wrong and my little guy is going to overdose. I have no idea what to do!

The top line is .05 the dose for a 80 gram glider, the second line is 2ml even my biggest glider at almost 200 grams wouldn't get 2ml of meds

just keep an eye on him he may have runny poo from it, make sure he stays hydrated

How much does he weigh?????

He weighs around 70grams (he's sick so he lost a little weight). Keeping an eye on him. Guess the poor boy will have to endure forced fluids tonight.

Thanks for all your help

This is the amount the pharmacist showed to give.

ok yeh I'd do about .02 or .03 for him but call your vet in the morning

Yeah, that's what I was thinking too. I'm just worried he's going to overdose now!

i think he'll be ok, it's not a pain killer or anything it's an antibiotic you can give him some yogurt with live cultures (no artificial sweetener or low fat) that will help coat his tummy and put some of the good bacteria back in his system

yeh the pharmacy put it on there right, he's to get 2mg that's the smaller lines which is .02

Sorry I don't want to confuse things even more but the syringe in Leelas photo is a 1ml syringe (So the full thing contains 1ml), the syringe in Honeys photo (the orange syringe) is a 3ml. So the lines on the drawn photo saying 0.5ml on the syringe and 0.05ml handwritten next to it is incorrect, it would be 10 times the amount. Be sure to read what your syringe actually has for measurements. But yes 0.02ml sounds much closer to the amount needed which your orange syringe does not have makings for. So until you are able to contact your vet 0.02ml would pretty much be the smallest drop you can't get to come out of the syringe.

yes yes I just realized that on her other thread it was late n I was focused on the one end of the syringe thought hers was just closer to the camera bigger. My entire syringe is 1ML so it's considerably smaller

the confusing part is not the total volume of the seringue... it doesnt matter if the seringue is 1 or 3 ml... .1 is 1/10th of ml, not 1/10th of the seringue total volume.

the confusion is with the concentration of the solution.. the prescription is not precise.. (2mg/ml) twice daily just tells nothing since it's a concentration and doesnt tell the amount to be given each time.... 2mg/ml is even a low concentration, which would lead to give 0.5ml for the glider to get 1mg of clavamox (the usual dose is 1.25mg per day per 100g of body weight, which would make 1mg per day for a 80g glider)....
Besides the bottle concentration in the picture is 2mg/2ml, which makes a concentration of 1mg/ml, which is even more diluted...

So after multiple calls to the vet and pharmacist it looks like the pharmacist just crazy diluted the medicine. Putting 2mg in 2ml--why? GLAD to know it's not poisoning my little guy, but I also feel like I'm waterboarding him every time he gets his medicine. The vet has a mixture that we're going to pick up today, but least to say he's very frustrated with this pharmacist. The whole point was to make an easier mixture for my guy because it's literally smaller than a drop otherwise, and instead he turned it into a gallon.

Update:

Orville seems to be doing ok. Rough couple of days there, I was really afraid we were going to lose him. He was so not himself--very, very, sick.

Today he's on a much easier dosage. He seems to be eating more!! So that is a really good sign. Cheek is still swollen a bit, but it's gone down a lot. Continuing to feed him a nectar that is quite a gross mixture--juices and chicken baby food, with multivitamins and honey. Glad I have something he can just drink, and not have to chew.

So glad to hear Orville is doing better! Keep up the good work!

Not a great photo, but the best I could get. Orville is doing MUCH better--thank God. More and more back to his old self.

so glad he's doing better you'll want to watch him abscesses can come back. If it's a reoccurring problem he'll need xrays n probably a tooth extraction

Yes! I will be keeping a close eye on him. Glad I'll have extra antibiotics just incase anything happens--I can give him that till I can get him to a vet. Man, I really thought we might lose him. One day he was obviously not as playful, but the next he was severely ill. Oh man... I'm so so grateful that he's feeling better. Tomorrow is the last day of meds, so we'll see how he does after that!