I have a baby glider here, adopted to a wonderful glider mom, but she has come back to me temporarily because she has a condition that needs specialized treatment. She has trismus, lockjaw in layman's and her tongue is stuck out. Before anyone panics she does not have tetanus. Whatever is going on the x-rays show that it is an inflammatory condition that has caused her jaws to spasm shut. I have never heard of this in sugar gliders before, neither has my vet. But it does happen in people and in other animals like dogs and cats.
So, I'm posting this here as a journey journal. Belle, the baby sugar glider with trismus.
We are treating with:
Metacam to reduce inflammation - once a day
Buprenex for pain - twice a day
Laser therapy to reduce inflammation
Acupuncture - first treatment this coming Friday
Warmth - carrying her in my bra during the day
Massage of jaws, neck face, back - as often as she will let me
Hoping for the very best for Belle. She is able to open her jaw just a tiny fraction, enough to suck in thinned staple and to drink.
An update on Belle... Last week she had her first rounds of laser therapy and acupuncture. She was on anti-inflammatory medication and pain medication. After the acupuncture she gained a little movement of her bottom jaw forward and backward, but still hasn't been able to eat, though she tries so hard.

I have been trying to hand feed her formula or Ensure, anything to get something into her, but she couldn't open her mouth even enough to put a tiny 2.2 mm feeding tube in her mouth. She has continued to lose weight.

Today she had an appointment with Dr. Ritchie but this morning when I went to get her she was pushed to the outside of the colony and was cold. It was obvious she was giving up. I bundled her into my bra to warm her and rushed to the vet. I was early but I asked them to put her in a warming cage and sub-q her to see if she would perk up a bit. I felt like I would not be leaving the vet's office with this little precious girl alive today.

I conveyed to Dr. Ritchie, her jaw has to be opened today or she needs to be euthanized. I didn't want her suffering any more. Because she had forward and backward movement of the jaw I knew she didn't have any bony seizing of the jaw. He was concerned about potential muscle fibrosis, but agreed with me that opening the jaw was worth the risk. He anesthetized her, gave her sub-q fluids and gently pried open her jaw.

What he found astounded us both. Behind her right jaw was a tight bundle of fibrious material. Filling her mouth, gluing her teeth together, and nearly blocking her throat was a bundle of fibrous material. I brought that material home and disected it under the microscope. It was long, silky, fine fibers of different colors. After talking with her owner and checking her pouch we determined these fibers are from the outside of her former pouch and cage set - not fleece. It was flannel fibers.

Belle is not out of the woods yet. Her jaw will be very sore. But at least now she has her tongue in the right place and a mouth that has room for food. She is still on anti-inflammatory medication, still on pain medication, and is now on antibiotics. If she can't eat tonight I will attempt again to begin hand feeding her. I will be continuing her acupuncture and laser therapy.

I use those pom pom balls in their ball pit. Sometimes they shred them and the fuzz is in the cage. I wonder if these would also be dangerous because they shred into little fibers and totally could get in their mouths.