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tyblueThis may be a little bit of a long story. I am sending this hoping to get some feed back and hoping it helps someone else.
I have 25 gliders of my own. I have had them for about 3 years now. Not all. I started out with 6. I am just now trying to separate the males and females for the second time. Anyway, I was surfing the net and saw this ad from a young kid that had to give his 2 gliders up because he was going to college. I gave him a call and told him that I am not looking to buy them but if he does not find a good home for them I would take them. I have heard so many times people just giving them to pet stores. I heard once that someone just let them go in the wild. I didn't hear anything for about 2 weeks. Then I got a call from his mom saying that her son was very upset and didn't know what to do.
One of the gliders was very sick and lethargic. I asked her a few questions about diet and age and so forth. She didn't know much about them and said she will have her son Steve call back when he gets home. He called me and told me that he has been feeding them raisins and glider pellets only. He admitted he did not know anything about them. He got them from someone else that just wanted to get rid of them. I could tell he was very upset about them and did love them. He was just young and didn't know he was doing anything wrong.
It was about a 2 and half drive for me and I didn't get off work till after 7pm. I got there about 10pm. I took with me my nectar, fruit, meat, and calcium drops. When I got there the neither one was looking too good. I gave them the drops and fed them. Told him it best to keep them until they get better so the stress does not kill them with a new home. He said he would. He called me 2 xs the next week and said they were doing a lot better. He said he has gotten a lot of calls of people wanting to buy them. One person even offered double what he was asking. He said he is not going to sell them right now. I was happy to hear he took my advise since when I was there it was obvious they were bonded to him.
The following week on Friday I got a frantic call from Steve saying the one glider is hardly moving. He was trying to call out of work to get him to a vet. The vet he took them too did not see gliders. His job told him he had to come in but could bring the gliders with him to keep an eye on him. This was around 2pm and my fiancé had the car. I got to his house about 7:30pm and he said the one died. He said that week he was having some good and some bad days.
I looked at the other glider and he looked like he was very sick also but at least still moving around. Steve wanted me to take him since I knew a lot about them and give him a good home. I told him I can't until he is seen by a vet to make sure he doesn't have anything my gliders could catch. He said he could some up with some $$. I told him I would help with the vet bill. While I was still there the little guy started waking up more and was playing a little. After watching him for a few minutes I noticed that he would only pounce on the toy when he heard it. It look as though he was blind. We did some other tests and almost convinced he was.
I drove home that night with a heavy heart. I went back in the am and picked him up to take them to my vet back near my house. (anyone doing the math on the drive time at this point?)
About a month ago I gave my vet 2 gliders about 4 months old. She was bringing them in so I could see them. They were so cute and sweet. The male was just getting his bald spot.
My vet could not get any blood from him because he is so skinny and so forth. But she said I did the right thing with the change in diet. She said he has a chance. When she checked his eyes with light the pupils responded but he didn't. he didn't try to run or turn his head. He just sat there. She said that is not a good sign and would need to see a specialist. She knows one that will see him for free. When we got to how old his is, Steve said he thought they were a 1 1/2 yrs. But when he saw the vets gliders and saw they were about the same size, only his skinnier, and had the same size bald spot he said they may only be a few months old. He thought the guy said he was getting them last year but may not have gotten them until recently. Steve had them for about 2 1/2 months. So this means that they were WAY TOO YOUNG to be taken from their parents.
Just to let everyone know, before you judge the kid Steve, He was almost in tears and felt so bad about this. He loves animals and he paid most of the vet bill. He gave them to me instead of taking the person up on their offer to buy them at double the price ($400.00) and to a young kid that is a lot of money.
My vet said she does not want me to put them with any of my gliders for just in case something is wrong. She wants to do blood work first.
The vet visit was last Saturday 3/22/08 and today is 3/27/08 . I have had him for a week ( his name is Stevie wonder for the kid and if he is blind) I have noticed that he does not know how to do anything a glider should know. He doesn't groom himself. I have to hold food for him if it is something solid. He doesn't know how to hold it himself. He only eats a fraction of what he bites off. No matter what is done to him, ( medicine and so forth) he does not bite at all. His cage that came with him has huge gaps in it and his doesn't escape ever. I think the other glider took care of him. I have been bringing him to work with me so he has someone. I noticed yesterday when I was petting him that he likes his belly rubbed. The strange thing is it is almost like he needs it rubbed. When I started rubbing it it was a little hard. After a few minutes he went to the bathroom. I am going to ask my vet it has anything to do with the fact he was taken away so young.
I am hoping that my vet can get blood and he gets the all clear. I want to put him with mine ASAP. It seems like all my males and females either know he is sick or very young because they talked to him like it was one of their babies and seem to want to take care of him. ( this was done before my vet told me to keep him from my colonies). I have high hopes for him. He seems to be relaxed and happy at work in my lap.
I will keep everyone informed about his progress as much as possible. If anyone has any commits, questions, or suggestions please let me know. This is all new to me with him. I just hope he lives and I don't make too many mistakes.
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