Hello, I'm pretty new to this site so I don't know if this is the place for help, if not I apologize. I've only been here a few times to check if a specific food is safe.

To make a long story short, my little sister has a sugar glider that I recently started feeding pill bugs that I find in the yard. However, tonight when I got a good look at him, it looks as if one of his back toenails has grown around in a complete circle and has punctured into the bottom of his toe. I don't think she has ever clipped his nails so they've always been really long, but it looks like it has gotten completely out of hand! What can I do about this!? I'd really appreciate it if I could get some help asap! Thanks!

Trim their nails. You may need to do it a few times, and more often than we usually do to get the nails back to where they should be.

When nails are over grown like that the quick also gets longer. The quick is a vein inside the nail. So he may bleed a little just put some corn starch or all purpose flour on it if it bleeds it will stop it quickly, gliders don't really bleed much but it can freak the human out.

On the nails that are growing into the pad, clip just the tip and pull freed tip off the pad if you can use tweezers if you need to get a good hold of it. If you can't do it yourself take him to a vet and have the vet do it.

I don't usually like suggesting the vet for nail trimmings because sometimes the vets are worse at it than the owner is but in this case the glider may be in some pain and need a more precise trim to make sure the nail is removed from the pad.

I've had a glider that came to me this way, I use slanted nail clippers, a good LED forehead light and magnifying glasses. Trimmed the tip n plucked it from the pad then kept up with trimmings as frequently as his nails let me. The nails eventually went back to normal but you have to maintain them once they do.


The pill bugs... I'm not sure what they are, but we don't typically feed bugs or worms found outside. The bugs and worms we use are farmed specifically for feeding pets. The big concern with bugs found outside is you don't know if they have come into contact with pesticides or any other toxic or dangerous substances to gliders.

Thanks so much for the feedback! I was afraid he was afraid he needed to have it surgically removed or something. That probably sounds pretty stupid but as it's not my glider I don't know much about them.

Though this is the only nail that's puncturing his toe, all of them are really long and probably need to be trimmed, so it sounds like they may all bleed. Should they be done in "batches" at different times so that it's not too much blood at once/ his feet don't all hurt at once or something? Again sorry for my ignorance, I'm just trying to make sure his feet stop getting neglected. There are probably tutorials online about nail trimming right? Thanks again for the feedback!

Also thanks for the info about the bugs. I definitely don't want to harm the little guy!

it's not stupid at all, I've never seen it so bad that it's required surgery, but it's possible i suppose. Usually you can pull the tip off easily once you clip it you just have to be careful is all.

Ok, The LED light and glasses are super helpful. With them you can visibly see the quick, and there is a color change in the nail from the tip to the thicker part of the nail just passed the tip. The tips are whiter, just after the tip is more opaque. There is almost a line that you can see the color change.

When your clipping you want to stay in the whiter zone and not clip where it's more opaque that way he shouldn't bleed at all. You don't have to clip a whole bunch off, but you do need to clip regularly to maintain the length.

This glider in the first pic was the same way, you can do 3 clips, where the lines are, it's easier to do it in 3 clips than it is in 1 and you want to kind of angle the clippers don't try to make a straight cut across. When your clipping, the thick part of the nail may fly off, thats ok, don't panic, nails aren't usually that thick and the excess flying off won't hurt them at all.

On the back feet you only need to trim two nails, the other two long skinnier ones are their grooming nails and they rarely need trimmed.

nail trimmings are easiest during the day when the gliders are the most docile and sleepy. I use a pouch and put some treats in it, meal worms work best for me and keep the gliders interest long enough to get all the nails trimmed.

Use the pouch to cover them up, and while your left hand holds the foot use the side of your hand to gently hold the glider in place. You can kind of see what i mean in the video below.


The gliders are going to need a day or to adjust to hanging onto things once you trim their nails, so be mindful of that if you have them out on you they may fall easily as they get used to shorter duller nails.

The second pic shows the quick really well. you don't want to trim that far up the nail.

I see some great nail cutting information in the post.
but some of my gliders, and the newer gliders are much harder to cut since they dont like to sit still and dont like to have their feet grabbed.
So i made a video of the way we cut the glider nails for more difficult gliders. that dont just sit in pouch so sweet as pie.

That's a great video and a good point.

All of mine are easy to trim now, like in my video with Amy.......except for two and it wasn't always that easy for me I struggled with it for at least a year before I figured out I just can't see good enough to do them without a light and glasses. For me that made all the difference and my confidence grew very fast, it was then that the gliders got easier to handle.

I actually was going to do a video of them getting nails trimmed a couple weeks ago but I need to get a camera holder and a new phone

I have two boys that don't just sit still, they move, they twist they turn and they ball up their hands in tiny protesting fists of steel. These two even act lame and drag their leg like it's broken and limp they are soooo dramatic lol but they are getting better.

It takes time and you need to build a routine and be methodical with your routine once you figure out what works.

An important thing is you don't have to trim all the nails in one sitting. Start with the one growing in to the pad. Or the worst of the nails, the ones getting snagged on things. Then if you need to pause, close up the bag like Byk did and take a few minutes to regain your calmness then try to do more nails when you and the glider is settled.


Byk has his method, i have mine ... everyone has to figure out what works best for them when it comes to trimming nails.

Thanks so much guys, this is all super helpful!