So, I'm going to document my thoughts and feelings about my glider (hopefully soon-to-be gliderS) and how it's going, so that I can look back at it someday and remember how silly I was. ;)

For anyone reading who didn't get to see my intro posts to the forum, I got my baby from PPP at a mall outlet on Saturday, February 11th, 2012. I had no idea what I was getting into but I wasn't /completely/ impulsive, I just apparently had too much faith in the internet. :) I figured I'd accept what I was told at the point of sale and expound on my internet knowledge once I got her home. Whereupon I have discovered that, at least on the topic of sugar gliders, there is definitely more than one "truth" out there online. :) I have since read PPP's instructions and talked to the various forumers here, absorbed the variety of opinions out there, and decided on the "opening approach" that I'm going to take with my baby.

Issue #1: Companionship. Winning Faction: The Forum. I'm completely convinced that my baby needs a playmate more than any other possible toy, and I've made finding a second sugar glider my top priority. Not much luck so far because I'm still recovering financially from getting her, but I'm going to get one as soon as possible. Will probably need another cage because I've heard a couple of people (surprisingly few forumers have weighed in on this actually) mention the need for a quarantine/adjustment period, but I HIGHLY doubt that I'll be doing a full 30 day quarantine. I'll be at least making attempts to get them to interact after 7 days and, if that doesn't work, then after 14 days, etc, once a week until I'm sure they're okay with each other. I'm also planning on "switching" them from cage to cage on a daily basis, I have a theory that so much time around each others' scent might accelerate their acceptance of each other. Will post on that experiment as I do it. :)

Issue #2: Diet. Winning Faction: Neither. I'm not convinced that pellets are worthless, nor do I believe anymore that they are God's gift to gliders. Today I tried the HPW ice cube thing over Banana Nut Cheerios instead of pellets, and Serenity looked like she was in heaven. :) I also decided that I agree with forumers that exposing her to variety in food now rather than waiting will help keep her from being a picky eater, so I gave her some honeydew last night (also enjoyed immensely by her) and I'll give her some kiwi with vitamin stuff tonight. As an interesting side effect, this glider is going to wind up being good for ME because I find myself eating some of whatever she eats, so my own fruit/vegetable intake is increasing, and oddly, while I would NEVER be willing to make a weekly trip to the grocery store for myself, there's something about doing it for Serenity that makes it seem more fun. :)

I think I'm going to go 50/50 on fruits/veges and protein for now. Haven't decided on her protein source yet, I like the idea of using something more "human" than the HPW mix (IE eggs/chicken). As far as water goes, I'm going to continue to mix water with something tasty (gatorade, juices, etc) and change it every three days. Not often enough by some standards here, but then I'm sure those same people would be appalled to learn that I only shower every three days myself. :P I'm not holding Serenity to a hygenical standard higher or lower than then the one I hold myself to.


Issue #3: Handling. Winning Faction: PPP. I think their approach to having "control" of the animal through the Mendenhall grip and the tunneling stuff is right on, the forumers in general don't seem to give their babies enough credit for resilience. What PPP says makes sense - these are pouch animals, used to being squished very tightly in mama's pouch, even with another joey. And, I picked Serenity because she was the one literally buried under her cagemates with just her head sticking out and seemed to accept that with a docile attitude. I think it's important to establish myself as her "alpha", and handling her with a little firmness is the way to go for this.

Issue #4: Interaction with Other Animals. Winning Faction: The Forum (mostly). Gone are the fantasies of my glider and cats gathering over a bowl of spaghettios like they showed in the demo. My cat and my glider will never be in the same room without me, and if they're in the same room with me, then the glider will be safely in it's cage, in my hand or in my pocket, and I will be sure to keep a minimum 2 feet distance between cat and glider at all times. This falls short of the Forum's "OMG NEVER IN THE SAME ROOM" imperative, which I believe to be grossly overprotective (although admittedly, it's cage only until she's at least 12 weeks old), but it's certainly a lot more in line with their philosophy than PPP's.

Issue #5: The Unknown. Well, one thing's for sure, I know a LOT more than I did when I took her home. :) I think documenting her daily life her for awhile might help with things that I have no clue about.

This morning she did the cutest thing, she grabbed a cheerio while I was munching on my bowl of cheerios and we stared at each other while eating. :) I'm going to die from cute overload.

 

Jerrycnh
Member since: Feb 15, 2012
Posts: 119 View my pictures!

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