Yesterday I nocited my sugar glider running on his wheel and crying! I took him to the vet this morning and he said he looks fine (I took him because he isn't eating much) and all he suggested was I change his diet which should be 75% dry food and 25% fruit and veggies.. I paid $50 for an exam. Just now I watched my sugar glider vigorously running on his wheel while crying. Please someone tell me what is wrong with him so I can hopefully get the correct treatment for my poor baby. Here is a video attached please help asaphttps://youtu.be/11Iw-c6-Cc4

Kind of sounds a little like a crabbing, with a little hissing maybe. It may be he's having trouble with going potty. How is his poops? Notice anything like constipation or not going at all? Do they look normal? Is he peeing ok? Does he hiss when peeing?

I'm wondering about your vet, is the vet experienced with sugar gliders?

I don't think anyone other than an experienced vet can really diagnose and treat your glider, but maybe if it's recognized as something like constipation, maybe someone can recommend something to help.

Good luck and please keep us posted on how your glider is doing.

Does he live alone? Did he lose a cage mate recently?

I've heard mine make this sound twice. First time one of my gliders died and his best friend would cry like that. It went on for about a week before he got over it.


My sister owns a cage of gliders and I own a cage. I was moving my glider (born in her cage) from her cage to my cage. There was about two weeks where she lived alone in the spare cage. She cried like that every night she was alone. She stopped after she became bonded with her new cage mates.

That may not be the reason for the sound, but that's just what I observed.

He isn't alone he lives with another male who is neutered they have lived together for a month now.. I almost want to separate them (they don't fight I'm just worried for the one who is sick) but they sleep together and I don't want to put anymore stress on him than there already.. I don't see him doing anything unusual expect what I got on video he runs really hard on the wheel then cries. He has lost his appetite he won't eat the bml I make the other one is completely fine while he is not. My vet is an exotic vet but he admitted to only seeing a few sugar gliders and adimtted it's not his specialty.. I don't know what to do he isn't looking good anymore and im very worried for him..

Our conner does that when he pees. we took him to a very good glider vet. an examination showed NO signs of any problems. connor eats his OHPW and some happy glider pellets, but has never touched his fruits and veggies much in the 2 months we have had him.
so he eats and runs on wheel and vet could find no visual health issue, so he suggested connor makes that noise while peeing out of habit from maybe having a previous UTI. He said it wouldn't be good to load him up on antibiotics without more evidence of a problem.

If your gliders are together I would think if one is ill, the other one is probably picked it up by now.


Also we have a colony of 7, with one or two sometime bully gliders. If Mary gets in the face of Link, Link will make that noise LOAD AND LONG, he will go on for 3 to 5 seconds, telling mary to get out of his face. There has never been any damage from the bullying, just some chasing and lots of that NOISE.

I would see if there are any other glider experienced vets in your area. Our first experienced vet cost $100 and showed some lack of experience, not knowing how to even cut their nails. Our second vet has 2 experience glider vets and cost $46 a visit.

I would suggest asking if they can look into a UTI issue. Urinary tract infection..I think it means.

That noise almost sounds like a baby joey's cry. He's most likely in pain or stressed.

You said he's off his feed. Has he stopped eating altogether or is he just eating less? If you know of something he really loves like juice or babyfood etc. try giving him some of that to see if he'll eat it. When little animals get too dehydrated their systems start to shut down and it becomes a lot harder and more expensive to try to save them, it's better to keep him hydrated if you can. Pinch his skin and see if it goes down at a normal speed or stays standing up, if it takes longer than normal he's low on fluids and needs supplementing. The longer it takes the more deydrated he is. If you're not sure how long it normally takes to go back down try comparing with your healthy glider.

Is he passing pee and poo fine or does he cry when doing that too? It's important to pinpoint what's causing this so you can figure out how to treat it. Also go over his feet and legs, his whole body if he'll let you and see if he has any spots that are painful. Since he's crying while exerting himself I'd also have them check out his respiratory system and mouth too, it's difficult to know what's causing him discomfort without checking him over thoroughly.

I'd get a second opinion, preferably from a vet with more glider experience, and preferably as soon as you're able. I agree with Chainsaw about asking the vet about checking for a urinary tract infection as well.

Can you give us a little more background on your glider? How long you've had him, is he neutered, what age, any past problems? What's his housing like?

I looked at your video and picture of their cage. It looks like you're using a ferret or bird cage with chicken wire over the bars. Is it metal chicken wire? Metal chicken wire is often galvanized and will have a chemical reaction with glider urine and cause them UTIs. (Their marking behavior means their cloaca is in direct contact with the surface as the reaction occurs, so the urinary opening is exposed to it and affected.) If it's metal I'd replace that wire ASAP with something safe, call the vet again and tell him about that and see if he can get you in for UTI testing and started on meds if he tests positive.

(Sorry for triple posting)
I guess it's also possible for them to get zinc toxicity from galvanized wire, so if the chicken wire's metal that's also a possibility.

http://www.merckvetmanual.com/toxicology/zinc-toxicosis/overview-of-zinc-toxicosis

He is about 7 almost 8 months old I've had him for 1 month. That is not chicken wire it is made out of water proof plastic. He is an unaltered male living with a neutered male (who is completely healthy) he cries after running on his wheel, and will stop playing cry then go back to playing. I know something is wrong either his breathing or uti like you guys said. The noise breaks my heart every time I hear it and I want to take him back to a vet but I'm pretty sure the one I took him to is the best exotic vet in my town.. i want to take their wheel out it's like he triggers pain or discomfort after running a lot on his wheel. I don't know what to do and I feel so helpless. I spent $400 on this one glider alone and have spent hundreds in food and toys so I'm almost out of money. But I'll call the vet asap tomorrow morning and ask what could be done if he has a uti and I'd really like my vet to see these videos I have but I have a feeling he say their "just glider noises"

Is he only crying after and during running in the wheel? Maybe you should remove it for now and see if other things trigger the crying or not, and to keep him from hurting himself.

Does anything else seem off besides the crying and not eating?

Yes only after running a lot of his wheel.. I have the steelth wheel? I believe. His fur just doesn't look right. It looks cracked. Makes me mad the vet didn't really notice it.I recently bought a different kind of calcium powder, I got a sample pack from the pet glider I think it's called and it has like bee pollen and acacia gum or whatever so I thought that would be like really healthy they claim to give the best diet.. I think I might have been giving him the wrong amount of calcium and I think I was giving him too many treats. I've stopped giving him any. Since then I have started only using less than 1/8th of calcium on his food everyday (for the both of them) but I've started syringe feeding him the bml calcium mix every few hours it seems to help.
He also attacked his healthy cage mate earlier today like ball up fighting and I thought I was going to have to buy a new cage to seperate them but I managed to put them back together. It was completely random for him to do that.. he has liked him and even follows him when I let them out.. the breeder I got him from put them both together before I recieved them.

Stealth wheels are supposed to be good options. Does it has sand paper inserts to wear his nails down? If it does I guess it's possible it's also wearing at his feet and irritating them.

The tpg vitamin powder doesn't specify how much of what is actually in it, so it is quite possible that he may have been getting too much of something if you were using it with bml or other supplements or diets.

It sounds like he's eating again. If that's the case I'm glad to hear it.

Him attacking his cagemate might just be related to his age, he's reaching sexual maturity and they can be more aggressive during that time.