Hi, I recently got my sugar gliders this year in May, I love them and they have been so much fun. One of them, my intact male, Plum started having a yellowish substance all over his fur, his entire belly area was soaking wet every night. I took him to the vet, this place had good reviews, the breeder recommended it, and a friend of mine who also has sugar gliders knew the vet there (Griffins exotic and avian vet in kannapolis NC). The vet did a physical exam, and told me it was “likely” a UTI, no tests, no looking at the urine. She prescribed a 10-day antibiotic treatment of bactrim, that was 9 days ago and he has been being treated for 8 days.
He drinks so much water and has painful urination, and is going bald from overgrooming. He is eating fine but his activity levels have dropped, he just wants to clean himself and walking seems very uncomfortable for him, he doesn’t even want to come out of his cage to play anymore. His balance also seems off... Still weighs normal, still sleeps in the pouch with a healthy adult female and a healthy baby female, and I have 3 other sugar gliders (intact male + two females) that are in perfect health.

Should I expect to see any improvement by the end of the 10 days, do I take him back to the same vet, find a different one or what? Has anyone had a similar experience? He’s estimated to be around a year and 8 months, more or less, was a perfect, happy, active and sweet boy before this and it’s been so stressful seeing him unwell.

In case diet is also a question I make them a homemade diet which is 50% protein (chicken, egg, and live dubia roach are the main)
Fresh fruit and veg, and I also do bee pollen, honey, and calcium powder. I was told by the vet I was doing a good job but now that I see it’s common procedure for tests to be done for UTI’s I’m not so sure... Thanks for any help, and hopefully I’m doing this correctly!

Did the vet give you a number to call them if you had any questions or concerns about your suggies treatment?

I'd give them a call if they did.

All the things you've described sound like bad signs. The over drinking, and grooming, and uncomfortable pee and walking.

But you did the right thing by taking them to the vet!

I don't see a complete recovery happening in 2 days ... Keep your eye to them and if the vet isn't helping try switching?

Keep us updated

Wet belly with a yellowish substance on an intact male is not necessarily an UTI, when my males go on a marking spree, that's pretty much how they end up.

That being said, if UTI there is and that antibiotics don't help, it might simply mean that the bacteria responsible is not sensitive to that particular antibiotics, but antibiotics can take a few days to kick in anyway. If you see no improvement during the course of treatment, the vet needs to identify the bacteria (culture) and eventually do more tests, note that it can also be yeast infection, so I can only advise you to contact them again

A simple inexpensive test for yeast ( around 30 bucks ) anyyyyyyy vet can do even if they aren't experienced glider vets is a tape test. The vet takes a piece of scotch tape presses it against the gliders belly, puts a drop of dye on the tape and looks at it under a microscope. Yeast looks like little peanut shapes under the microscope and is very easy to find if there is a yeast infection.

If it's a yeast infection the glider will probably stop grooming themselves, the fur feels greasy and looks gross. The treatment can be a long 6 week course of meds and can take 3 weeks to even start seeing improvement.

With a different dye they can also see if there is high levels of bacteria with the tape test, but they can't tell what kind of bacteria it is or what medicine the bacteria is resistant to. For that you need the vet to do a bacterial c & s with sensitivity test.. The sample is usually sent to a lab, the lab grows the bacteria then figures out which medication is going to work the best. This test is a bit more expensive mine was around 150.00 and can take a couple weeks to get results from.

Bacterial infections on the belly can also be cause by oral issues, if there is a oral infection the glider spreads the bacteria to other parts of their body when they are grooming. This may not be this gliders issue, but is something else to look at and rule out.

What kind of water are you giving them tap or bottled?

Since peeing is causing him pain I would suggest a urinalysis being done. Uti's are kind of pain to get rid of because they are so easily reinfected. You have to break the link that is reinfecting them usually by cleaning the cage and whats in it daily while the glider is being treated.

The diet, that's a lot of protein gliders don't need 50% protein they are also getting protein from the bee pollen. Bee pollen if being fed whole can give false positives for parasites when fecal tests are done so please inform any vet that does fecals on your gliders bee pollen is part of their diet if you continue to feed the way you are.

Calcium..... how much are you giving them? to much can be just as bad as not enough.

I would suggest researching some widely used diets that are more balanced than free feeding. The 2 I recommend are Bml and Critter love. Bml is by far easier of the 2 to make. Diets like these provide calcium, vitamins and minerals, protein etc all in one evenly distributed recipe, fruits n veg are fed with it.

http://www.bmldiet.com/bml-recipe.html

https://www.critterlove.com/

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Originally posted by Leela

A simple inexpensive test for yeast ( around 30 bucks ) anyyyyyyy vet can do even if they aren't experienced glider vets is a tape test. The vet takes a piece of scotch tape presses it against the gliders belly, puts a drop of dye on the tape and looks at it under a microscope. Yeast looks like little peanut shapes under the microscope and is very easy to find if there is a yeast infection.

If it's a yeast infection the glider will probably stop grooming themselves, the fur feels greasy and looks gross. The treatment can be a long 6 week course of meds and can take 3 weeks to even start seeing improvement.

With a different dye they can also see if there is high levels of bacteria with the tape test, but they can't tell what kind of bacteria it is or what medicine the bacteria is resistant to. For that you need the vet to do a bacterial c & s with sensitivity test.. The sample is usually sent to a lab, the lab grows the bacteria then figures out which medication is going to work the best. This test is a bit more expensive mine was around 150.00 and can take a couple weeks to get results from.

Bacterial infections on the belly can also be cause by oral issues, if there is a oral infection the glider spreads the bacteria to other parts of their body when they are grooming. This may not be this gliders issue, but is something else to look at and rule out.

What kind of water are you giving them tap or bottled?

Since peeing is causing him pain I would suggest a urinalysis being done. Uti's are kind of pain to get rid of because they are so easily reinfected. You have to break the link that is reinfecting them usually by cleaning the cage and whats in it daily while the glider is being treated.

The diet, that's a lot of protein gliders don't need 50% protein they are also getting protein from the bee pollen. Bee pollen if being fed whole can give false positives for parasites when fecal tests are done so please inform any vet that does fecals on your gliders bee pollen is part of their diet if you continue to feed the way you are.

Calcium..... how much are you giving them? to much can be just as bad as not enough.

I would suggest researching some widely used diets that are more balanced than free feeding. The 2 I recommend are Bml and Critter love. Bml is by far easier of the 2 to make. Diets like these provide calcium, vitamins and minerals, protein etc all in one evenly distributed recipe, fruits n veg are fed with it.

http://www.bmldiet.com/bml-recipe.html

https://www.critterlove.com/

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When I went to the vet she did a full exam, including checking inside of his mouth. She said if it was a yeast infection he would smell like yeast, I’m not sure how true that is.
He grooms himself too much, not the other way around and is developing bald patches because of it. I’m getting him back to the vet this week (they are closed on the weekends) to try a different antibiotic but I will definitely ask about a test for the UTI!

The vet said I was giving them a fantastic diet and I have yet to read any reputable sources saying 50% is too much, 40-50% seems to be the accepted amount. If I do chicken or eggs I don’t do bee pollen. I just started doing calcium, I’m not sure on how much at all so I just sprinkle a tiny amount maybe 3 times a week.
I’m giving him tap, the vet didn’t ask about this and other people on this site don’t seem to believe that tap could be a cause but I will gladly switch if that will prevent him from getting sick again

Yeast infections don't necessarily smell like yeast, there are thousands kind of yeast in the world and not that many have a characteristic smell...

Checking all the diets in use which have good results, proteings are rather in the 20-35% range than 50... 50 is a huge load for the kidneys and forces their body to use proteins as an energy source while their metabolism is adapted in a way where most of the energy should come from carbohydrates (they are omnivourous, but mainly sap suckers with some insects/eggs/birds on the side)