New odor issue??

Sometimes my glider has good days with minimal smell, others bad. LATELY though, he has had a constant stronger smell to him. I haven't been doing anything different care wise, and when I do clean his drop tray, that doesn't create the urge to mark more for my glider. I can see him grooming consistently when I pouch and observe him, so he's obviously trying to keep up his cleanliness. This literally came out of NOWHERE. I use Elimina on his food to (hopefully) help with this weird random odor issue, but it has failed me ever since this just came up. I'm starting to think this is not food related, but rather an issue inside my glider perhaps? A blocked tract? Something? I'm not a vet, so I can't diagnosis him, but I'm wondering what is up with him. Any thoughts? Ideas? I should probably mention he was a pet store glider and he could very well be inbred. He's about 5-6 years old.

A couple of questions:

Is he neutered?

Does his urine smell strong?

Do you clean everything at once or spread it out cleaning something different each week?

What kind of wheel do you have?

With a sudden increase in the smell, I would say a vet visit is in order.

I would have him checked for parasites and a Urinary Tract Infection.

What diet are you offering?

Why use the Elimina? I, personally, would never use a product like that to try to lessen the smell of an animal not knowing what it is going to do to their organs as they are filtering it through.

If your glider is on a balanced and nutritional diet plan, there should be almost completely no smell. (no animal has no smell at all).

I have 30 gliders in my home, nobody knows it when they walk in even though they are in the room immediately to your right when you walk in the door.

If you are all of a sudden smelling ask yourself the following:

Have you cleaned the cage lately?
Are you cleaning too often?
Have you changed their diet plan?
what wheel are you using? Wheels do hold in smell.
Do you have an intact male? Is he with a female? Are their other females near by?

Take glider in for a urinalysis.

Stop using the elimina

I totally agree with the recommendations given.

A couple of answers!

No, he is not. (I do know before you say anything that can contribute to the smell. But like I tried to explain, this is a different strong smell that he has never had up until now. He has been barley smelly and still intact.)

Yes...? I believe it is the urine I am smelling. When he gets up and I pouch him he (as he should do) uses the restroom. When he pees its a different strong odor than it normally is. I've never smelt this weird strong odor coming from my glider in his lifetime. I THINK the smell is his urine?? I could be wrong.

I spread out cleaning his cage so he doesn't over-mark everything. Currently, the drop cage is fairly new and clean, but his equipment could use a good wash. I plan on washing them when I am not as busy as I currently am.

I have a Silent Runner wheel. It does catch a lot of his nasty smells, but at the same time when I sniff at the glider it almost smells like a "fresh" strong odor. Its not a lingering musty scent a wheel may hold and rub off.

I've noticed the cage doesn't really have this smell. Its more of the glider himself.

I switched from the BML diet to The Pet Glider Fresh diet a couple months ago. However, the smell did not come as I switched the diet. This new smell just came about within this week. He had been fine up until now.

He is a lone intact male sugar glider. (The answers to the other questions are in the other post I replied to.)

The Elimina will be stopped to see if this is a factor to the odd stink I'm getting from my glider.

Would fruits and veggies perhaps help the smell issue? I used to give him fruits and veggies with the BML diet since it was required to balance what the glider needed. From reading The Pet Glider Fresh diet, I did not see that it required them, and that if I used wheat germ within my recipe, I did not need to serve fruits and veggies with my diet?? I'm not sure if I read it correct, but in short, I have not been giving him his usual frozen fruits and vegetables. Should I start giving them to him again? Would it help any with the smell issue?

I don't know anything about the Pet Glider Diet, you need to feed it as directed with the vitamin/mineral stuff you sprinkle on the food.

If you feel it is the urine smell, you should take him to the vet and have him checked for a UTI.

I feel a vet checkup would be the best course of action to rule out anything or get treatment if needed.

I don't know very much about the TPG diet, I've looked at it numerous times, but to be honest I've always thought it a little more complicated.

I do!

I was afraid that was going to be the answer. I figured this as well, but it doesn't hurt to get others opinions! I guess its time for another vet call!

Thanks for the help!

Yeah, I had a feeling that would be the course of action needed at this point. I would rather be safe than sorry. It doesn't surprise me he has multiple health issues with how his breeders were...

I actually find it very fun to make his food blocks! I can't say why, its just satisfying to see all those racked up bagged up blocks. Almost like food legos!

Hoping all will be well, even if treatment is needed. Please keep us posted.

It's so sad that there are such ruthless breeders out there like that, no concerns for the animal's well being. Sorry for your glider, but at least he got you to look after and care for him.

I will! I called the vet after my last posts and of course I was a minute too late to make an appointment, but thats okay. He's still acting very healthy and they will certainly call me back! I guess this is a mini-update by saying that I tested his scent gland to see if it was gland secretion smell with a quick rub of my finger. Currently, his gland isn't stinky. I think I can say its not that. In fact, he isn't scenting at the moment. He isn't making a smell from his head gland. I am starting to believe it is indeed his urine but because he is running on his wheel, eating, and drinking, I may give it one more day to determine if it is a true emergency, including some advice from the vet when she calls back tomorrow. He has to wait regardless, all the nearby vets have closed early since its Saturday.

Also, I figured I should ask this since I'm not too sure where I should place it within the forums: If I'm looking for reputable glider breeders that could perhaps email with me about some future joeys/breeding pair they could sell to me, where would I place the post? I do not have Facebook (yet) and I only have email and texting.

There are reputable breeders that offer "breeding prices" for some gliders. Check the breeder database, it can be found at the bottom of this thread, under the links below (privacy statement, board rules, ect.)'in blue print. Lol, I forgot, you can also click on the hyperlink word in blue breeders.

I found the breeders! However, its hard for me to say who is reputable unless you get recommendations or testimonies from people who bought from the place. The only place I know that is considered very reputable is The Pet Glider, but some prices for their gliders are crazy high! (probably their genetic value)

I guess I'll just have to keep on saving money to obtain the breeding pair I would like...hey, did you see my other post about "light gliders"? Not sure if you know the answer to my question off the top of your head. I'm trying to get answers so I know what I should obtain for my 1st breeding pair! It was originally going to be a leucistic and a black beauty but...yeah, thats in the other post lol!

Critter Love has been breeding gliders for 14+ years. We have a great reputation with reasonable pricing.

As for your male, please do not be too passive on the UTI issue. Gliders mask their illnesses well.

My early years (back in 2004) I had a glider that I thought had a UTI, figured I had the three days it was going to take to get her in to the vet. I was a day late. On the second day she passed. I took her in for a necropsy, and come to find out she actually had a bladder infection that went sepsis fast.

Peggy from Critter Love is indeed reputable! I'd recommend looking at her available gliders.

Oh, no worries! I wasn't trying to imply like "oh yeah, he will be fine for another week since he looks fine!" I was just trying to say that I called in late so I couldn't get an appointment today, but when the vet does call me back tomorrow, I will be getting the soonest appointment I can to get him checked. Sorry if I caused any confusion!

I will look into Critter Love for further information on if I may inquire gliders. Would I be emailing you then? (You said "we" so I assumed you are somehow connected to this breeding brand?) Either way I'll probably find an email to message on the website!

Please keep us posted on his vet visit.

Thanks

I am the owner/founder of Critter Love®.
We have had a research/development program for sugar glider diets since 2004/2005.
We have been breeding gliders since 2004.

We work with a team of sugar glider knowledgeable veterinarians and a world renowned exotic animal nutritionist that is the top of her field.

I say 'we' because it is a family owned and operated business.

yes, if you have any questions, please feel free to email me at critterlove@critterlove.com

I currently use Critter Love Plus with the salad. I've been researching the TPG diet to see if I want to try it with my gliders, but you ARE supposed to include fruits and vegetables in the The Pet Glider mix. I think you confused the last part of the recipe about wheat germ. It says that wheat germ is optional, IF you are using fresh fruits and vegetables. As in the wheat germ is optional, but NOT the fruits and vegetables. You definitely have to have the fruits n veggies in the mix! On top of fruits and veggies providing vitamins and nutrients to gliders and humans alike, they provide fiber(roughage) and something to help move things along in our digestive track. I'd re-make the TPG and make sure you include the fruits and veggies as the recipe says ASAP. Here's a direct link to the recipe. It's at the bottom of the page: https://www.thepetglider.com/pages/the-glider-nutrition-system

I guess I worded myself wrong again, since there is confusion, lol! I do put frozen (sometimes fresh) fruits and veggies into my mixes. What I meant was should I put SEPARATE fruit and veggies on the side INCLUDING the mixture block I have for him each night?

I'm a little wary about food intake for my glider because the last vet visit he was at (I have not gotten a current appointment with him, the vet has yet to call me back. Must be closed on Sundays!) she mentioned he was "chunky" and weighed 50% more than the last time she weighed him. Thing is, she never told me if he was overweight...so I'm not sure if I should just stick to his current "block a night with pellets in case he runs out of base food with a hidden snack inside the cage for him to find" or give him less...I'll have to figure it all out at the next appointment for the possible UTI!

Ahh,ok lol. How much does he weigh? 5 of mine weigh weigh around 80g. The youngest weighed in the most at 84g and shes not chunky. I attribute it to the cage she's in with her cagemate that i havent been able to get the other four friendly with them to merge colonies and using the silent runner wheel in that cage. When i got the Raptor wheel for the others their weight dropped because they are basically on that wheel allll night. They also have a Freedomw wheel too so. Sikent Runner is crap imo. I do have another that has always been tiny. She's not as big as the others in the pairing of 4 and shes been in the 60s. She eats, runs, seems fine. I think she's just a petite glider. Havent had a problem with them losing weight, they just seem to have hit a plateau with all the runnin they do. Im pretty sure the other two will do the same when their new Stealth wheel i ordered today to replace the silent runner comes in.

Good question! I don't actually have a scale for my glider so I can never just weigh him when I want; I have to wait for a vet appointment. I did have previous appointment papers but I'm not sure where they disappeared to...I guess I'll let you know when he finally gets in for the possible UTI. Miki seems to love his Silent Runner! You can always press your ear to the door during his active hours and hear him running away in that thing! I may have to clean it more often than the open holed runners but hey! Its what you do when you have a pet; they can't clean it themselves! Why do you not like them?

The way they're designed allows it to be a urine trap. I even purchased the track with the holes in it but it drips into tge crevices. Also i didnt like the outer cover cause i felt they may get hurt on it. I also wanted something wider because i had 4 of them and they had no room to be in it together, never mind run together. Now i have a Raptor n Freedom in one and ordered the Stealth for the other.

Nice! I already have my wheels purchased and ready to go, both for Miki and the future glider pair, so I probably won't be making any unnecessary purchases as I save up my money for the new gliders and (probably) vet bills going to Miki's health issues. I do agree with the trapped smell. Its what I have to work with for now though!

MIKI UPDATE BELOW!

I got miki into the vet tonight. It appears he most likely does have an infection; the vet found crystals and blood in his urine when doing the test. He's on antibiotics for 2 weeks to clear this up, and will be going back to the vet after the 2 week medicine binge to check his urine once more. The infection could have been due to a phosphorus/calcium/food imbalance. I have located the source of (what I think to be is) the issue (I was serving him way too little of The Pet Glider sprinkle roughage on top) and have corrected it. Now all I have to do is care for him and wait.
In other good news, Miki has lost a little of his extra chunk weight with the new playset and wheel I bought him! He is now at an average sugar glider size and I have been feeding him the perfect amount of food! (minus the roughage issue)
Everything is solved! (for now)

Good to hear! When u feed him the TPG, does he eat it all? Has he ever avoided eating the vitamin coated part? I ordered a 180 day supply. For some reason I thought that was for two gliders and would last me 60 days for 6. It's not. It's a 180 day supply for 1 so this would last me 30 days.

Yes, he 98% of the time will eat the entire block. I will say that when you add the roughage on top it is going to look like too much, but its the correct amount! The only time he may leave a small piece of block is if he's not feeling well, doesn't want to eat it all that day, or it isn't one of his preferred flavored block. I checked his cage before typing this out and he indeed ate the whole block including the vitamin coat top without complaint!
I honestly believe though it all depends on the glider. They all have different taste buds, you know? I think yours will enjoy the transition! I recommend slowly transferring between diets though! (I didn't and mine had severe diarrhea from the sudden shock of food switching..) That way you can kind of see if they are enjoying the new blocks as well!
When you go to buy your ingredients for the TPG, if you can't find a small size of full fat yogurt and are reduced to buying the huge tub, I also recommend making several batches and trying different flavor batches so you don't waste that yogurt. It only lasts for a few days after you buy it. (At least mine usually do when I purchase them) It also helps you figure out what fruit and veggie mixtures your gliders like the most in some cases.
I've made 4 different flavored batches:

• Raspberries, Pomegranate, Corn, Broccoli
• Mango, Pineapple, Peas, Carrots
• Blueberries, Lime, Peas, Green Beans
• Strawberries, Cherries, Carrots, Peas

He finishes any flavor block he is given, but his favorites are the Mango Pineapple and the Blueberry Lime!
I wish you luck on your TPG diet journey! Feel free to update me on how it all goes!

That is what bothers me about that diet, sprinkle on the vitamins. I have dealt with gliders on that diet and once on the diet I feed they gain a bit of weight and basically look healthier.

Eh. To me its not that big of a deal just to sprinkle stuff on the top. Its not a crazy hard task or anything. I was in the wrong, it wasn't a faulty diet plan. I wasn't putting enough on the food block so I was unfortunately responsible for his current issue. Miki did need to lose a little weight, so this diet seems to work for him. I'm not saying its the recipe for every glider, just that this particular one is successful with my boy. Had I not bought him a new toy set, new wheel, and changed his meal plan, I can almost guarantee he would be overweight right now, so losing that extra chunk was actually healthy for him. ^_^ The vet says he's right where he needs to be! (minus the UTI, lol)

It's not a big deal to me to sprinkle it, it's a matter if they will be eating the sprinkle part and all their food to get what's in the sprinkle. I'm way paranoid about their diet plans. lol

I would believe so! But again, thats probably why its a better idea to transition from the old food diet to the new food diet; to see if they even like it! Lol. All I can say is that mine eats his whole block including the sprinkled top. I think your gliders will be willing to at least try it!

There is more to it than just sprinkle on top. If you have more than one glider in the cage, the first glider to the dish could get more vitamins than he or she needs and the last one to the dish could not give enough.

And then there is the little thing about not having the list of ingredients on the package or the percentages of daily values. that in itself is against the law I believe.

That is what I am concerned about. I have 6 now. 4 in one cage, 2 in another(still haven't been able to merge them because I think Lilo and Buttercup will have this massive fight given how they STILL are with each other with the cages side by side) So I'm supposed to put 6 cubes out and sprinkle on each of them. How do I know Yuki(who likes to eat everything and everyone else's food) goes for someone else's too cause they're not hungry atm?

I called one of TPG people yesterday and she said I could could combine the cubes and let them melt and mix say 4 and 2 servings of sprinkles in each melted group of cubes. To me this sounds like a way they could get way too many vitamins depending on how much of it they ate or didn't. Like you said, there is no listing of what is in the vitamin sprinkle either so I don't know what exactly they'd be eating. I'm just not sure how to go about feeding the four in the cage effectively. The two in the one I think could work, but not sure about doing more than 2 at once.

When my four were babies they were lapping up the CLP like crazy and there was very little left. With the 4 in the one cage I don't even put a tablespoon each in their bowl now because even with 2TBs they don't finish it even half way. I do know at least one of them is drinking it because I usually see someone drinking it, but in the morning I see it splattered on the sides of their kitchen. I feel like alot of it is going to waste. They are also very picky about their fruit/veggie choices. I was initially putting the fruits in one bowl and the veggies in the other. They never liked when I mixed them together every night and this seemed to help with them eating more of both(they still preferred the fruit bowl). Maybe this allowed for them to become extremely picky. It was taking 30-40 minutes every night to get their fruits, veggies, CLP and water bowl changes so I decided to make a massive batch of one of the salads and mix it all together for 6 in a 2.5 gallon container. This saved me A LOT of time getting things rdy at night, but now they just pick at the salad and a lot goes to waste also. They seem to prefer if I pick things out of the salad and feed them by hand. THEN they want it. They're like little princesses! Yuki, Kara, and Lilo all are in the 80-85g range and are a yr old or a little over. Roxie who is also the same age has been 60-64g. She's the smallest of all my gliders and her size really hasn't changed. She eats like a little pig though and seems happy and healthy. Out of the 4 in one cage she has the nicest fur too. The others I think are getting crackly again because it's winter and things are dry again. In the other cage there's Buttercup and Princess. Buttercup is 80g and Princess last check was 84 and she's the youngest! She isn't fat and has soooo much energy.

I just want to know they're all getting the food and vitamins they need and I guess it's the part of me that if I don't seen a good amount of the the CLP or their salads eaten then I don't think they are. I don't know what to think/do so I ordered the TPG to try that.

Why not voice your concern to the company making the sprinkle product? Or Priscilla herself?
Thought/Question: No matter what diet you make, there is a certain amount to feed and serve your gliders. Doesn't the same thing you just pointed out go for all diets? You can put the plate of allowed food in for your gliders, but no matter how it is made, one glider could get to it before another and eat more than its share. That would also leave the other glider with less nutrition. The only true way you could get your gliders to eat their proper fill would be to either sit and watch them eat or separate them during dinner time, right? Its more of "survival of the fittest" mentality for them even though they are colony animals. They won't always share nicely like us.

If you are concerned about your gliders picking out what they want to eat, I would blend it all together so they don't have a choice BUT to eat the mixture. That way they would get all the nutritional value with every lick. If each of your cubes equal 1 1/2 tablespoons then yes, it would be 6 cubes with 1/8th of a teaspoon sprinkle on each one! As for the question with one glider eating more than the other, look at my other post I put in reply to Feather if you would like to include yourself in the conversation. Those are my questions and thoughts on diets.

You are not supposed to blend the gliders fruits and veggies up. It forces them to eat the insoluble fiber they would normal leave.

This could cause digestive issues, like constipation, prolapsed cloaca......

Read this article My glider won't eat his vegetables and fruit.

Unfortunately, this is news to me as of today. I guess when I read recipes and they would say "ice cube trays" I assumed it would be hard to put loose food mixes into the tray holes, so I would blend them. I've always blended food recipes and fed them to Miki. This is all he has known for his 5 years on earth. I haven't seen any health related issues with blending the food for him, but I'm not saying that means this is an appropriate way to feed a glider. The only issue now is I have a TON of stocked up food blocks! (enough to last the rest of the year and then some) Should I re-buy ingredients and re-create them in salad form when I get the chance? Or should I use these food ice blocks since I have not had any issues with his health thus far and THEN when I run out switch to salads?

Happy to hear about vet visit, finding what's wrong and a treatment plan. Please keep posted on follow up. Thanks.

Its just with the TPG mixing all cube together by themselves seems ok. But mixing 4 1/8 teaspoons into them all sounds like it could make the concentration of vitamin amounts b very high for even one glider drinking it depending how they drank. I actually asked twice what was in the vitamin mix and she misunderstood my first time asking and said she already told me how to make it. I clarified ny question and she pointed me ro the link for the vitamin mix which doesn't give specifics of what is in it.

The actual TPG cubes themselves seem highly nutritional in regards to calcium because of the yogurt and oj with calcium in addition to adding fruits or veggies with calcium. Its just what is in the vitamin mix in regards to vitamins in addition to the bee pollen, calcium, and what kind of herbs

From reading the recipe she says to finely chop it in a food processor or by hand, not pulverize it into pulp or mush. This would be similar to chopping up things for the CL salads but a little bit finer so that when mixed with the yogurt, oj, etc it has even dispersement when making the mix and fitting into the ice tray so each cube has a good of fruit and veggies as oppsed to say one giant chunk of a fruit or veggie taking up most of one ice cub.

I got that, lol! But my question still remains in my previous post. (about if I should keep using the cubes I have or when I have the time make a new batch salad style)

That is the issue Feather mentioned as well. I suggested why not call up Priscilla and ask her your questions about the diet? (unless you were talking to her, lol!) It would be even more vitamins if you took the 6 cubes with sprinkles method. I'm honestly not quite sure what to say at this point. Its a good concern to point out but I'm not sure myself how to resolve the situation. I can only think of calling up Priscilla and shooting her your questions and concerns. I am curious to know as well now that we are getting deeper into the conversation. I'm going to be getting 2 joeys in a couple months and now I want to know how do I keep them from overdosing if I'm using TPG diet?

If you do choose to chop veggies up in a new batch, I would feed what you have, alternate at least for a couple of weeks from the old batch and the new batch. This will give your gliders time to acclimate to the change in taste, and new textures. Feed less of the old batch and more of the new batch as time progresses. Their tummies don't do well with big changes in their diet.

Feed up what you have mixed up but don't blend any new batches.

Can do, will do! Thanks!

Gotcha! Thanks!

NEW MIKI UPDATE BELOW!

Miki got his re-check up the 26th and still has a rare trace of a urine crystal and some blood. He will be staying on the same antibiotics for the next 21 days with an updated urine test January 16th. His pee smells normal again and he is still the healthy and happy glider I know and love, so this last wave of medicine should kick the infection!

Good to hear!!!

Thank you for the update!

Mine had to have 2 rounds of med too first time.