Hello everyone,

I just registered on this forum and i would like to share your thoughts on somekind of a problem i am having now with one of my gliders. I have had for half a year two sugar gliders, it is going really well with them so i decided to add another one since they are still pretty young so bonding goes easier and i think for them the more gliders added the better. Now i got a beautiful whiteface added and the bonding between them did go very well. She is following the other two everywere and exploring everything (including me!) by copying them in behavior After a day (already?) i noticed some kind of nub on the cloaca of the new glider in the morning (after she was playing all night), but in the evening (after she slept all day) it was almost completelly gone/normal. With difficultness in my mind i took her to the vet, what was quite challenging, because i am still in the bonding process with her. The vet said it is straining because of stress with the moving and he gave me to be sure meloxicam to home with the glider in case the nub would get inflamed. It kind of sounded logical, so i went with it. She is acting normal by the way, poops normal and i just noticed her peeing for the first time i noticed in drops when she sat on my back and she as well does it without hissing, so that is kind off fine. She is very vocal tho, hisses on the running wheel and whines whenever she has the feeling she doesnt get threats and the other gliders do. But... After five days of giving the medication, the nub is not getting less in the morning, while she is becoming less stressed. Maybe i am just an overreacting parent, but i was thinking maybe she got somehow a UTI or something from the previous owner that she maybe tries to pee all the time whenever the nub is big? I thought i share it with you guys, because i want to be sure she does not have any discomfort and have a happy life with the other two.
So i have two pictures added, one in the evening (when it is at its worst) and one in the morning (when i only see a little dot, almost as not noticable as the cloacas of the other two). In comparison with the other gliders it is in 'relaxed mode' a bit more, but if the other gliders are staining to pee or poo, the cloaca kind of temporary looks the same. Just for extra context: When i just made the picture in the evening and i touched the cloaca with a towel to maybe promote peeing, the nub was coming back like she was staining. When messaging the vet, he said give the prescribed medication again and he responded after that not anymore, probably (and hopefully) thinking that it is worth the wait.
When i am typing this, i do really feel like a overreacting parent. I hope i am only that and it is just still a bit of stress of the new habitat she experiences and the more than normal nub is maybe a physiological characteristic aspect of this glider itself.
So again: What do you guys think she has and what i can do the best as next step?

Yours faithfully,
Melle

Hi and Welcome to GliderCENTRAL!

How old is she?

It isn't inflamed, if she is just a joey, that is joey behavior. I see this in my joeys when they are getting ready to skunk. The droplets of pee, if she is on you she is marking you as one of her colony.

Keep and eye on her and if she is hissing while she is peeing or if her urine starts to smell strong that is a sign she could have a urinary tract infection.

She is from november, so now about 14 weeks. Is that still called a joey? If so, what a relief that this looks like normal behavior for a young glider. I will keep an eye on her!

I consider them joeys until they are about 8 months to a year old.

Allright! I discussed this with the vet and then i will stop medication as well, assuming this is some normal joey behavior. I will keep a good eye at her and her further health. Do you want me to keep you posted? If not, this thread can become inactive. Thanks for your help!

Yes, please keep us posted on your little one.

Hi!

I agree with Feather that it could be just a joey thing. But worth watching.

I would also do a tent test to check for dehydration. It's where you grab the back of their neck, pull up and let go. It should drop back in place fairly quick. If not, she needs more fluids. Check water bottles to make sure they are working and maybe add another water source like a shallow bowl of water (changed daily). She may not care for using the water bottle.

Please keep us updated.

Hi there! Just a quick update: Now she is a lot more curious and she hangs out really great with the other two gliders. I added a photo where you can see her chilling in one of the three pouches with another glider and looking at what i am doing. Everything looks very well, but... Maybe a bit off topic tho, i have a feeling she is over grooming the tip of her tail or she has somehow an injury on her tail, see the other picture added. The tip of her tail is not really looking like how it looks on the other gliders and the 'core' feels thicker. This morning i noticed her just chilling in her pouch alone, looking like she was grooming herself between her legs or maybe the end of this tail if it would be bent to there. I couldnt see it very well. The chances again are that i am still a bit over concerned sugar dad, but i am feeling anxious about her wellbeing all day already. I hope this is somekind of normal development of her tail getting fur or something, but i doubt it..
What would you guys do if you would be in my situation? Again go to the vet or wait a week or so, unstress her more by enriching the environment and adding her birth pouch or something to see if it gets better?

Thank you all so much in advance!

I managed to look deeper in the tail and there indeed is some kind of wound under the fur, so there is or some kind of injury or she is self mutilating already or something! I really do not know what i am doing wrong, especially because her whole behavior looks normal and she does not look like she is very stressed What do i have to do now?

Thank you for the update. I'm so glad she'sdoing better..

As far as the tail, another vet visit is needed.

Depending on how vet proceeds, she may need an ecollar. You may want to be prepared for the vet not to have the correct size.


Here are instructions:


ECOLLAR INSTRUCTIONS

1.) Trace template onto clear plastic notebook cover, then cut out.
2.) 1 sheet Dr. Scholls molefoam- cut 2 strips �� along long edge.
3.) Remove one adhesive strip and stick one on top of another leaving one adhesive strip for later.
4.) Cut �� off of dual layer molefoam- remove backing and adhese to clear plastic as shown.
5.) 1 sheet moleskin- sut a strip 1-3/8� wide down length
6.) Cut slits �� deep at � � intervals down length
7.) Turn collar over molefoam side down. Remove backing from moleskin. Affix uncut edge to collar- about �� of it
8.) From the middle of moleskin- wrap around over molefoam, maintaining contours. Trim excess mole from edge.
9.) Cut 1/2� strip from moleskin
10.) Remove backing and adhese over slitted mole skin.
11.) Cut 1 strip 1-3/4� long X 5/8� wide
12.) Remove backing and place on edge of collar
13.) Wrap around edge of collar
14.) The Complicated Collar- Apply a small amount of duct tape, Fold a small amount of duct tape over to make a tab for easy removal.
15-18 are photos

https://www.glidercentral.net/ubbth.../1639/filename/494411-ecollarproject.jpg

ALL steps can be seen in above attachment.

I agree with Dawn, a vet visit is in order.

She may need a partial tail amputation. If your vet needs surgery, tell your vet NOT to shave the tail. I have found they go after their tails if they are shaved, therefor needing another surgery.

Keep us posted on your little one.

Allright. I did contact the vet! I did some detective work as well. At the very first video (after we put her for the first time in our cage three weeks ago), i think i got a screenshot where the nub is noticable, added in this reaction. It is not very sharp tho. When touching the end of the tail, she reacts to it while she is sleeping and i do think it hurts her. I have a feeling because of this information her tail was already injured before i resqued her and she is all the time biting because it hurts. After sharing all this information with the vet via whatsapp, he thinks the same. He prescribed her novacam metacam for now untill the appointment in a few days so we can assure beforehand why she is biting: If the bitemarks will fade after the medication we know she has bites because of pain (probably because an injury before i got her). If the bitemarks continue/get worse it is really self mutilation because of something i am doing wrong and the vet can instantly help her in that case.

I do hope (as well for her) that the tail is 'just' broken, because that sounds for me like the least bad case for her.

To be continued...

Allright, a little update: after a talk to the vet, it looked like an injury what she had before we got her. Therefore we are continuing now giving meloxicam till the jar of 5ml is empty. Now the actual wound looks like its healing so she was probably overgrooming it because of the pain, After that, we hope the biting wound and the injury is healed that she does not feel pain, as well without the meds so she does not overgroom it anymore. Some good progression so far so we hope she will be allright in a month!

Glad she's healing well!

Allright! Now we have been stopped giving medication for a week and she does not have any pain anymore and she is not overgrooming it anymore. It healed really well, it is almost not noticable anymore so maybe in a few weeks there will be hairs growing back on the now kindoff baldish spot. Thank you all so much for helping me out!

Thank you for the update
I'm so glad to hear she's doing so much better!

Great news! Thanks for the update!

Happy to hear things are looking up!