First, the colony I am speaking of had two males and two females. I hope this story helps you. A while back, I had one of my male sugar gliders begin acting ill (wasn't moving around like he usually did), I went on vacation giving the pet sitter strict instructions to watch him and if anything else arose to take him to a
vet, well the pet sitter came in one day to feed them and the male was dead on the floor of his cage with his eyes eaten out. This was tramatic to me, I have owned sugar gliders for four years and they have always been healthy and happy. So, Then a few weeks later, I found another male of the same colony, in very poor condition he had been absolutely fine the night before and it was just by chance that I had looked in on him at about 3 in the afternoon. He was barely moving and he had diarrhea and a distended abdomen. I called the only
vet within 100 miles that treats these creatures and He was in surgery and unavailable, I begged the receptionist to just allow me to bring him in and let the
vet see him after the surgery but they told me he couldn't. So, I was stuck, I didn't want to take him on a 2 hour car ride in his condition. I held him, tried to administer fluids, and keep him warm. I held him for 8 hours strait and watched him slowly dieing. If I had know that he was going to indeed die, I would have put him out of his misery, but I had no idea what was wrong with him. After 8 hours, he died. It was horrible, he convulsed the last 1/2 hour. Well, about 2 weeks later a female from the same colony began showing the same symptoms, just as the previous male, her health declined within hours. Plus, she began eating her own tail. I found her in this condition at midnight and again I couldn't take her to the
vet for the nearest 24 hour
vet service is 100 miles away, I cared for her during the night and first thing the next moring we took her to the
vet. He did not know the origin of the illness but he gave us Baytril syrup (which is an antibiotic) we gave her a dose by mouth two times a day. Plus we administered shots of Lactated ringers solution just under the skin to keep her hydrated. I took mixed baby cereal and watered it down until it was a liquid and added sugar glider vitamins and a calcium supplement, I had to maily force feed her with a syringe cause she didn't want to eat. I also gave her water and I took meal worms and took out all the gooshey insides and had her eat a few a day. I put her in a hospital tank and kept it warm. The first few days were hard, we didn't know if she was going to make it. But thank goodness she pulled through, this occured 4 weeks ago and she is as healthy as can be arnery and adorable. She stopped eating her tail and she seems to be doing very well. Unfortunately we did not have my two that died autopsied so I do not know what this illness was. I hope that this helps someone. Always consult a
vet, but if he is stumped you can always suggest what I did and see what he thinks. Thanks so much and I hope this helps you! Take care all