I got a 3 yr. old glider from a 16 year old kid who didn't spend the time with him that he should. His Mom talked him into giving it away. They took an add to my vets office where I saw it. I called the family at approx. 2 P.M., went to look at him at 5:30 P.M. and carried him into our house at 5:45 P.M. So, we have a new addition to our family and I couldn't be happier. I have always wanted a sugar glider, but they are very hard to find around here and when you do, they are very expensive. I believe in fate. I wasn't going to go by the vets office, but something told me to go get some extra medication for one of my dogs, and lo and behold, I saw the ad. The people that had the glider only live 1 block away from me. The boy knew my teenage daughter, which helped ease his mind that the glider would be taken care of.
I know he loved his glider, but unfortunatly no-one had taken the time to learn how to best take care of him. {For now, I'm calling him Skooter.} He came in a med. size Cockatiel cage that had a water bottle and 2 plastic food dishes. They had been feeding Skooter cat foot and 1/2 an apple every night. They had an electric reptile rock in one corner and a closed plastic index card box in the other corner. The lid on the box had a hole cut into it and that is where Skooter slept. He had a 6"toe end of a sock laying on the floor for him to get into, if he wanted. The cage was very bare and gave off a very cold feeling. Unfortunately, I don't think Skooter was held much. Maybe a little every couple of weeks or so, but the boy timid when I asked him to get him out and hold him for me. He didn't get him out, he just stroked him through his sock. I decided right there and then that Skooter had to come live with us. So, we have a new member of the family.
We brought him home and put his cage in the diningroom where it is fairly quiet. I had some fleece, so I made him a triangle hammock for one corner and made a quick pouch to tie to the wall so he would have two different places to sleep. I left the plastic index card box in there for tonight, but I did put some fleece inside of it. I left him alone until it was almost time for me to go to bed. Then around my bedtime, I wanted to see how close I could get to him. I reached inside his cage and found he was already in his pouch so I took that out onto my lap for "getting acquainted" time. After about 20 or so minutes, he was coming completely out of the bag to eat the 1/2 grape I was holding. Then I tried a blueberry and he took that from me, but stayed right on my lap while eating. I was able to pet him for about 30 min. of so and then he wanted back into his bag, so I let him and I put him back in his cage. I thought our first bonding time was successful. I was very pleased!! I left the cat food in one of his plastic containers but I put the apple and grape along with a little cut up turkey into another container. I'll see what's left in the morning. I am going to phase out the cat food.
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