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Absolutely Confused..need advice from all #1359228
12/07/13 11:24 PM
12/07/13 11:24 PM
Joined: Nov 2013
Posts: 31
ohio
luvfurkids Offline OP
In Pouch
luvfurkids  Offline OP
In Pouch

Joined: Nov 2013
Posts: 31
ohio
Hello,
I have been reading everything on this forum. Trying to get ready for our 2 new babies we want to get after Christmas and New Years is over. I have to tell you I am so horribly overwhelmed and confused about one issue..marking and smell. This is the only thing giving me fits. I have talked to several on here and some have told me they are very smelly. Some say neutered males and females are about the same on smell. Some have said females are a lot less smell and less marking. I have read cage bars get terribly sticky from pee. That their cages smell horrible. I own two ferrets and I will tell you no one can believe it when they come in our house. But I keep bedding and hammocks changed and litter boxes cleaned. Ferrets do not run loose btw. But ferrets don't go on you when you hold them or go all over their cage (ours are litter trained) I realize you can not litter train a sugar glider and they are a complete different animal. My point was just I am not a priss butt that can't handle cleaning a cage or smell. I just have gotten really worried about some of the peeing all over and smell being so horrible. Peeing and popping all over you when they are on you.
They will be in our main living space so this is a concern. I just need to know if I am over analyzing or what. Help me with this one issue. My brain is so tired..lol. :dizzy:

Re: Absolutely Confused..need advice from all [Re: luvfurkids] #1359238
12/08/13 01:37 AM
12/08/13 01:37 AM
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 5,138
Lutz Florida
CandyOtte Offline
Serious Glideritis
CandyOtte  Offline
Serious Glideritis

Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 5,138
Lutz Florida
Being scent oriented animals, you really cannot stop glider from peeing on you and sometimes pooping - if they need to go - they go.

You can give them a few minutes to run around in the cage when they wake up to take care of business before you take them out to play. Won't stop all accidents but will cut down on them.

I will guarantee your gliders will delight in getting in the middle of your back where you can't quite reach them - and peeing just because they can - sooner or later.

Keeping the cage on a solid floor rather than on carpet makes the clean up much easier. There will be food scraps and glider pooh on the floor in the morning. I have no clue how they manage to toss stuff out of the cage instead of everything falling into the cage pan. I either vacuum or sweep the floor around the cages every few days.

Neutering all males will be the biggest thing you can do to keep the smell down. I had one breeding male and he had the whole house smelling. Neutering took care of 99.9% of the problem.

Cleaning the bottom grate and cage pan frequently keeps the smell down. I only do full cage washing - outside with dawn dish soap and the hose - about once every 2 months. I really do not find the cage bars getting sticky. My gliders like to have a shelf in the cage and they all sit on the edge of the shelf to pee when they wake up. They also like to go while running in their wheels.

You can protect the walls behind the cage for easier cleaning. Some folks use cage covers to protect walls from thrown food. My gliders cages are on my sun porch. I put plexiglass on the wall behind the cage. It is much easier to clean than scrubbing a painted wall.


Candy Otte
& the Glider Kids
Sassy, Corky, Mehitabel & Missy
Wacco, Yacco, & Dot
Mindy, Kanobles, Elmo, & Chipper

http://www.gliderkids-diet.com

CandyOtte@aol.com
Re: Absolutely Confused..need advice from all [Re: luvfurkids] #1359240
12/08/13 01:43 AM
12/08/13 01:43 AM
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 13,979
Wisconsin
Feather Offline
Administrator
Feather  Offline
Administrator

Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 13,979
Wisconsin
Ok, I am going to start out by saying I personally would have a house full of intact male sugar gliders over a ferret any day. But that is just me.

Their cages do get sticky, but not over night. The key to managing the marking is not to clean everything the same day.

Get a routine going where one day you would scrub their wheel and toys, another you would wash their fleece stuff and another day wipe down the cage.

Depending on how sensitive your nose is a complete scrubbing of the cage can be monthly.

I do not use anything in the drop pan, I wipe it out daily with alcohol and paper towel, once a week I scrub it down with dawn dish soap.

I also use dawn dish soap when I scrub the cages down.

Neutering does help with the smell. I have both neutered and intact boys here and the boys with wives smell a little stronger, specially when their wives are in heat.

Good Luck


Kimberley
Feathers-Sweetie, Mister Peanut & Big Mack
Fur-Guinan, Mr. Spock, T'Mir, Cho, Toothless, Maverick & Maharet :bb: T'Pol, Elizabeth & Curzon :wfb: TY, TJ, Light Fury, Madison & T'Pring :rtmo:
Forever in my heart, Gizmo, Tucker, Khayman and the rest of my babies over the :rbridge:

Re: Absolutely Confused..need advice from all [Re: luvfurkids] #1359248
12/08/13 12:18 PM
12/08/13 12:18 PM
Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 4,182
Maine
IslandGliders Offline
Glider Addict
IslandGliders  Offline
Glider Addict

Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 4,182
Maine
Sugar gliders do smell more than ferrets, though from talking to people (like Feather's post above me) I have found that this is a personal thing and no one really agrees on it. To me, my ferrets do not smell bad, but I feed my ferrets a good diet and keep their cage and bedding very clean. Despite all this, as you know, they do have a slight musk to them, but you won't smell them until you put them up to your face.

So sugar glider lovers tend to say that gliders don't smell bad while ferrets stink, and I have met ferret lovers that think gliders are stinky but love their ferrets. rofl It is a personal choice, kind of like the age-old argument between dog or cat people!

I own 16 gliders and I own six ferrets, and the gliders smell more, in my opinion. I will say that 8 of my gliders are breeding males, so that is part of it; if your males are neutered, the smell will be much less.

If you are so squeamish about getting peed/pooped on and the smell in your house, honestly my gut instinct is to tell you to reconsider the adoption. Sugar gliders might not be the pet for you. I know you don't want to hear this but I just hate seeing gliders placed up for adoption because "they smell." It breaks my heart, and it breaks the gliders' hearts.

They will pee when they are hanging on the side of their cage, and the pee might drip on the floor or even get on the wall behind the cage (if you do not use a cage cover). They will somehow manage to fling poop out of the cage, along with bits of uneaten food. The entire cage *does* get sticky with food and urine, there is no way around this.

Re: Absolutely Confused..need advice from all [Re: luvfurkids] #1359264
12/08/13 02:31 PM
12/08/13 02:31 PM
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 13,979
Wisconsin
Feather Offline
Administrator
Feather  Offline
Administrator

Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 13,979
Wisconsin
For me, when I moved into my new apartment back in October I was in a panic. The previous renter had a cat and he kept the litter box in the closet of the room the gliders and parrots are now in.

My intact gliders went nuts marking the place up and it smelled to high heaven in there. The landlord was concerned about their smell, he couldn't smell the cat pee, he must be immune to that with all the apartments he has. But he removed the carpet and while it was out I scrubbed the snot out of the wood floor and used almost two bottles of Fabreeze on the closet floor alone and another bottle on the carpet in the room.

I put out 4 Citrus Magic solid air fresheners. Got my Hunter Hepa Air filter machine cleaned up and running in that room.

After two weeks I started deep cleaning their cages and now I can't tell they are in there and he didn't complain about the smell when he was here fixing stuff so I guess I have it under control.

He was concerned that the whole building would smell like them when he turned on the heat. LOL It is confined to that room and unless someone is in heat there are no big odors in there now.


Kimberley
Feathers-Sweetie, Mister Peanut & Big Mack
Fur-Guinan, Mr. Spock, T'Mir, Cho, Toothless, Maverick & Maharet :bb: T'Pol, Elizabeth & Curzon :wfb: TY, TJ, Light Fury, Madison & T'Pring :rtmo:
Forever in my heart, Gizmo, Tucker, Khayman and the rest of my babies over the :rbridge:

Re: Absolutely Confused..need advice from all [Re: luvfurkids] #1359269
12/08/13 03:21 PM
12/08/13 03:21 PM
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 6,576
Kilgore, Texas
Cora Offline
Serious Glideritis
Cora  Offline
Serious Glideritis

Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 6,576
Kilgore, Texas
Are there any glider folks near you that you could go visit first??? That helps tremendously.. When in doubt, check it out!


USDA Licensed Breeder
903-808-1142

http://www.freewebs.com/angelfish_37/index.htm
Re: Absolutely Confused..need advice from all [Re: Cora] #1359277
12/08/13 06:29 PM
12/08/13 06:29 PM
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 43,318
LittleRock, AR USA
KarenE Offline
Owner
KarenE  Offline
Owner

Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 43,318
LittleRock, AR USA
Originally Posted By: IslandGliders
If you are so squeamish about getting peed/pooped on and the smell in your house, honestly my gut instinct is to tell you to reconsider the adoption. Sugar gliders might not be the pet for you. I know you don't want to hear this but I just hate seeing gliders placed up for adoption because "they smell." It breaks my heart, and it breaks the gliders' hearts.

They will pee when they are hanging on the side of their cage, and the pee might drip on the floor or even get on the wall behind the cage (if you do not use a cage cover). They will somehow manage to fling poop out of the cage, along with bits of uneaten food. The entire cage *does* get sticky with food and urine, there is no way around this.



Originally Posted By: Cora
Are there any glider folks near you that you could go visit first??? That helps tremendously.. When in doubt, check it out!


Both of these ladies have given you excellent advice.

One thing to remember with gliders. The more you clean their cage/pouches/toys, the more they will mark them. This means you cannot clean everything at one time as in once a week glider housecleaning. If you do that, you will be in for a very unpleasant surprise as they will 'reclaim' everything in a very short time.


Your Sugar Glider Resource Center
Sugar Glider Help


Re: Absolutely Confused..need advice from all [Re: KarenE] #1359307
12/09/13 04:09 AM
12/09/13 04:09 AM
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 7,748
New Jersey
JillMarie Offline
Serious Glideritis
JillMarie  Offline
Serious Glideritis

Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 7,748
New Jersey
Originally Posted By: KarenE
Originally Posted By: IslandGliders
If you are so squeamish about getting peed/pooped on and the smell in your house, honestly my gut instinct is to tell you to reconsider the adoption. Sugar gliders might not be the pet for you. I know you don't want to hear this but I just hate seeing gliders placed up for adoption because "they smell." It breaks my heart, and it breaks the gliders' hearts.

They will pee when they are hanging on the side of their cage, and the pee might drip on the floor or even get on the wall behind the cage (if you do not use a cage cover). They will somehow manage to fling poop out of the cage, along with bits of uneaten food. The entire cage *does* get sticky with food and urine, there is no way around this.



Originally Posted By: Cora
Are there any glider folks near you that you could go visit first??? That helps tremendously.. When in doubt, check it out!


Both of these ladies have given you excellent advice.

One thing to remember with gliders. The more you clean their cage/pouches/toys, the more they will mark them. This means you cannot clean everything at one time as in once a week glider housecleaning. If you do that, you will be in for a very unpleasant surprise as they will 'reclaim' everything in a very short time.



These are all such good responses, that I felt it all needed to be repeated again too.


:grey: Bosom Buddy Creations:grey:
^website link wink

Remember that God Loves You!
Re: Absolutely Confused..need advice from all [Re: luvfurkids] #1359327
12/09/13 11:18 AM
12/09/13 11:18 AM
Joined: Oct 2013
Posts: 41
Maine
Darkshiara Offline
Out of Pouch
Darkshiara  Offline
Out of Pouch

Joined: Oct 2013
Posts: 41
Maine
Unfortunately, this animal isn't one that you can litter train like a ferret, rabbit, cat, dog etc. When they first wake up, they do tend to void their bowels quite a bit. Their poop is more like a hamsters, small little oval pellets. They are similar to a rat in regards to they pee a little bit a lot and often. They are definitely not an animal who aren't going to poop and pee on you.

There was a thread in the Fact or Fiction subforum which talked about experiences with potty training. There was some info about not taking them out right after they wake up, stimulating the coculum (sp?), etc. But pretty much the consensus was that they are going to go to the bathroom on you and might not be the best pet for you if you have issues with that.

I have two females and honestly, do not have much of a problem with smell. And I'm very sensitive to smells. I use the carefresh bedding and have a pull out tray. I clean that once a week. I read that washing the cage, changing the bedding, etc too often or all at once can make the smells worse. I tend to wash their sets once a week. I vaccuum around their cage every four days. Just a quick hand vac. I haven't noticed much stuck on the ground to the hardwood floor or any liquid splashings but plan that if I do see it, I would put down a towel/cloth under the cage.

Though, when I feed them green peppers, I think their pee and EVERYTHING smells like green peppers =P


:grey: - Abby
:wfb: - Isis
Re: Absolutely Confused..need advice from all [Re: luvfurkids] #1359629
12/13/13 11:45 AM
12/13/13 11:45 AM
Joined: Feb 2013
Posts: 191
St. Louis MO
edenmalfoy Offline
Glider Explorer
edenmalfoy  Offline
Glider Explorer

Joined: Feb 2013
Posts: 191
St. Louis MO
I think it depends a lot on the gliders too. I hear people talk about their gliders peeing and pooing on them but my boys hardly ever do. They'll dribble a little drop of pee on me but I think I've only ever been pooed on maybe twice.

There's a video on youtube where a girl is wearing a long sleeved shirt and has a glider and it looks like it's peed all the way up her arm and shoulder. My gliders have never done anything like that. You are going to get peed on at least a little, just like with any other small critter but in my experience it's not that bad.

My boys will actually want out of my shirt to go potty, we'll be on the couch and they'll be snoozing in my shirt and then all of a sudden I've got extra heads coming through the neck of my shirt. They've finally (after a few accidents) taught me that that means 'Mom, hey mom, I gotta pee!'

Sometimes they're too smart for their own good tounge


Proud mommy to :wfb: Lonny and :plat: Lenny
Re: Absolutely Confused..need advice from all [Re: luvfurkids] #1359706
12/14/13 11:56 PM
12/14/13 11:56 PM
Joined: Oct 2013
Posts: 80
Columbus, OH
reisak Offline
Joey Member
reisak  Offline
Joey Member

Joined: Oct 2013
Posts: 80
Columbus, OH
I find the need to chime in here.. we have 5 gliders, 2 intact males in separate cages about 15ft apart, gunner is still in ya cage by himself, then romeo is in a cage with his wife and across from them are their two girls which are about 6mons. As for cleaning I will clean the cages once a week... their bedding the following day... never had the need for air spray.. where they are now there is food on the walls behind them.. I need to sign them all up for the dodgers lol they need a few good fast pitchers! The cages walls and their toys hanging get a wee bit sticky but think its more from their food on their feet than pee... I've not noticed any poop on the floors... though I'm sure one of the dogs would take care of that (sorry!)

Now.. as far as being used as a toliet.. I let them alone for a few after they wake up.. but doesn't matter all of the females will make the effort to pee on me and hubby when we hold them it's like they have to remark us each time... romeo usually only poops and that falls right to the floor and I just pick it up with a single piece of toliet paper and toss in the trash... as for overall smell... as I said we have 5 gliders, 6 mostly indoor dogs (all over 75lbs each) and 2 cats... and when folks come over they are usually shocked when we let the herd out and they find out how many indoor animals we have and our house not smelling..

But as others have said, if you are sqwimish about being peed or pooped on then maybe reconsider bringing the lil guys into your family... I changed my shirt 3x this morning while playing with them all due to being peed on... the pee was maybe the size of a quarter. .. but still changed especially before handling the next glider..

Best of luck and let us know what you decide please.


Reisa Kersting

Our lil' glider family...
:grey: Gunner
Sisters: :bb: Maggie May & :wfb: Layla (opp 7/29/13)
Parents: :wfb: Romeo & :bb: Juliet
Brother: :bb: Henry (oop 1/17/2014)

Our other lil' fur family. .
6 dogs & 2 cats (1 that thinks he's a dog, lol)
Re: Absolutely Confused..need advice from all [Re: luvfurkids] #1360908
01/03/14 05:15 PM
01/03/14 05:15 PM
Joined: Oct 2012
Posts: 211
Windsor, on, ca
L
Lisette Offline
Glider Explorer
Lisette  Offline
Glider Explorer
L

Joined: Oct 2012
Posts: 211
Windsor, on, ca
Here are the steps I take to make sure there is no smell.

1. I keep my gliders in my living room, where my husband and I spend most of our time at home and I change their bedding every other day.

2. Once a week, after I've removed the girls from their cage, I dissolve a little baking soda in warm water and use that to wipe down the whole cage. I then take a new cloth and just plain water to rinse, then wipe dry. It takes about 15-20 mins. My girls' urine isn't really what causes the bars to get sticky. They have a large hut, under which I place all food and treats, but they still like to take it out of there and run around the cage with sticky fingers. The baking soda make it easier to remove this. It's not toxic, but they still shouldn't ingest it, hence the rinsing.

3. My breeder has carpet and says that baking soda is her hero. She uses it for all spills to help absorb moisture and smells. She also uses it before vacuuming.

That said, I find I have to vacuum up their droppings from the floor quite often (again, it only takes a second, it really doesn't bother me) and at times I need to wipe down the wall behind the cage.

As far as glider mustiness smell goes, do have a very slight must to them, probably not unlike your ferrets. Unaltered males tend to be "mustier" due to the scent pads, but neutering often reduces this to the same level as a female. Again, it's not terrible. If you're fine with your ferrets, you probably won't even notice it on a glider.

Do note that some gliders will take any opportunity to urinate on the person/people to whom their bonded. They just want you to smell like one of the family. The gesture is a bit gross, but the intentions are very endearing lol I have one that does this, but I suppose her sister is either more content with the way I smell, or she feels that Sugar does a good enough job!

Finally, if you're worried about peeing and pooping on you, I find that if I keep my girls in their cage for about 20 mins or so, while active, without treats or water, they will do most, if not all of their business. Once I feed them treats though or give them a drink, they become wild cards again, and no way to know if they're going to hear the call of nature again soon or not.

Hope this helps clear up a few things!


Thanks,
Lisette

Proud momma to
:rtmo: Sugar and
:grey: Spice

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