Question About Why We Quarantine

Hey guys,

First let me say that I understand this can be a touchy topic and I REALLY don't want this to turn ugly, but I have a genuine question about the strict quarantine policy that applies to adding a new glider to your colony, and I was hoping someone could shed some light on the subject.


Now, I completely understand the concept of why we quarantine for 30 days when we get a new glider. I know that even if a new glider has had lab work done and is negative for parasites and bacteria, that the lab work needs to be done 30 days later to confirm the results since parasites have shedding cycles.

With that in mind, if one were to add a new glider to their colony before having the tests redone after 30 days, clearly there is a risk that the new glider is carrying something that could infect the other gliders.

What I don't understand is why this quarantine policy is so fiercely advocated with gliders, but not with other species.

We bring our dogs to dog parks and allow them to interact with numerous strange dogs which could pass something on to our dogs. We allow our children to play with other children, putting them at risk for infection. We understand that these activities carry some risk, but we clearly are willing to accept the possible consequences of these risks.

But with sugar gliders we do not allow for this risk, and I am trying to figure out what makes this case different.

Again, I AM NOT advocating against quarantine. People that know far more about gliders than I strongly suggest quarantine, and I would never challenge this practice.

I am simply trying to understand why this strict policy of quarantine is applied to sugar gliders, when it is not applied to our other creatures (or even human offspring). What is it about gliders that makes this situation different?

The first thing that comes to mind for me, is that dogs and cats have been domesticated for much longer than gliders. Before we let dogs play with other dogs, we make sure they have all of their shots to prevent the most common communicable diseases. If you don't have your dog's shots updated, I'd say its equally as irresponsible/opening your chances of putting your pup in harms way. Dogs and cats are also easier to treat than exotic pets. Parasites for cats and dogs are things like fleas, ear mites, or worms, all of which are preventable and/or treatable pretty easily and faily inexpensively (the same parasites affect gliders, they just don't have readily available, inexpensive treatment options.) I had the same thought train as you for sure, this is just what I've come up with as to "why" lol

I think you have brought up a very good point. In fact I was wondering this not too long ago. I have never been to a glider get together but I would LOVE too. and from my understanding people bring there gliders. Is this close contact and touching of multiple gliders not the same thing as violating a quarantine?

Not meant to ruffle any feathers, just talking here.

I was also wondering about glider playdates and things, does everyone just go by the honor system of clean health? Even if a glider got something while they were out, they can still bring it back to "home base", so thats something interesting to think on...

wow...good thought but very deep topic (imo!) And I hope no one takes offense in this question.

Yes, this is actually the main thing that prompted me to make this post. Someone recently contacted me about wanting to set up a "play date" with her glider and my two boys.

My first thought was concern about the possibility of her glider passing something on to my boys, and obviously that is a legitimate concern. But then I began to think, "if this was a dog play date, I wouldn't even think about that". So that got me wondering about the whole quarantine issue.

Ok, at get togethers, people do not let their gliders play together. Although there are a lot of gliders brought to these events, they are mostly kept separate. People wash their hands and use hand sanitizer but yes, there IS a risk of cross contamination.

I do not take my gliders anymore because of the risks unless it is gliders that are going to be going to new homes from that gathering.



Gliders are not like other animals. For one, they hide their illnesses very well. Often by the time we know there is a problem, it can be too late to save their lives. And as was already posted, gliders are exotics. I would not let two "stranger" monkeys have play dates and if I were to get two from separate places at separate times, the monkeys would go through quarantine too.

Play dates are just a bad idea all around. Often glider introductions can take days/weeks/months before gliders will go together without trying to hurt each other. Putting a glider through the stress of "stranger" gliders and then separating them again is just not nice (in my opinion).

I agree with Teresa 100%
I think playdates with animals are a bad idea in general.

In my opinion you can not have a true quarantine if the animals are in the same house. I posted a question very similar to this because. ppl do take gliders to events and touch and hold each others animals with no sanitizer being used.We risk our animals getting sick but we are all free to do with our gliders the same as we are for any of our other animals.

My gliders are like home-schooled kids. They might not get out much, but they aren't catching what the youngins at the kindergarten have. I just read the average school-age child catches 8 colds a year! Maybe it just means we don't have any friends to invite us over.

I'm just kidding about home-schooled kids. I know most of them have active social lives.... just not the ones locked in the basements. But they aren't catching any colds!

So basically, the risks outweigh any benefits (which, for the gliders, as Dancing said, aren't many, as they don't like strangers, and if they DO like the stranger, they don't want to be taken away from it.) The benefits for us are to show off our babies and socialize with other glider people (cuz who else would understand lol.) The benefits may outweigh the risks for dogs and more "usual" pets, because dogs seem to enjoy the playdates as much or more than their human friends.

I personally think dogs are probably the only animals I really see as "play date" animals, and only with proper vaccines. My friend recommended we bring our cats together for a playdate, she swore hers had vaccines, I KNOW mine do, but I STILL just didn't want to risk even a "common cat cold" transfer. As safe as everything presumably was, I still didn't want to mingle the kitties. She thought I was being snobby and thought my cats were "too good" for hers. Nothing personal lol, I just gotta do whats right for me and the creatures in my care.

I was homeschooled for HS and I think I had more of a social life than I did in public school. We had so many things going on all of the time. LOL But I totally get what you mean.

Teresa, there are gliders brought to the glider gatherings, but from what I hear, hand sanitizer is used like crazy and they're (starting) to enforce that you have to have proof of recent fecals/UAs/clean bill of health before any activities that will result in gliders being exposed to areas that other gliders have been or may be later on.

I've wondered about the quarantine thing many times too! But like what was mentioned that they are exotics and to be on the safe side I quarantine. It makes me feel much better that nobody will get sick my dogs are another story lol! Just the other night we had their brother over to play in the backyard while we had a bonfire and since we all know they're all up to date and fixed, no issues Might even have (as crazy as it sounds) a birthday party with them and the rest of their siblings lmao!

Back on topic gliders can't have vaccinations so there isn't a true way to protect them from infections or parasites other than to do the quarantine

As far as play dates go for sugar gliders go, besides the possibility that they could pass along Giardia or another parasite to the gliders they are to be having the "playdate" with, play dates are very bad for gliders as gliders are very scent oriented and if another glider doesn't smell like someone from their colony they will fight with it to run it off.

Gliders have to be carefully introduced over a period of time and even then some introductions go bad or don't work.

A play date with gliders could result in serious injuries, tail amputations or worse DEATH of a glider.

I do not want to ruffle feathers either but I was wondering...In the event you did introduce your gliders early and one of them did have something...would it really be that much hassle to treat another glider? I mean treating one would be like treating another. Just like when I went from one to two it wasn't that much of a difference I still went through the same feeding routine and all that jazz. I am fairly new to gliders so I don't know near as much as you guys but this has been a question that has been on my mind. I promise I am not speaking against the quarantine just curious.

I know I read recently about someone who had their new glider with them when they went near their resident glider. Their resident glider just went and hopped in with the new one and they were buddies from the get go in which case the quarantine wasn't completely done cause they didn't want to separate them if they were getting along as great as they were.. In this case, you'd just want to take them all in for their wellness and fecals (etc) and if one has something it's best to treat both. Now if you had say 4 gliders being intro'd to 1 glider and the 1 glider had something it could get quite costly so at that point quarantine would make the most sense. Hope I made some sense and helped to answer your question lmao!

You really did Kristi. I had something sort of similar happen when putting my Rita in her cage she was so scared when I went to take her out of her pouch she jumped out of my hands onto Dexters cage (she was going in a separate cage) and Dexter was on one side of the cage and Rita was on the other but they were licking each other and making their happy noises I just didn't have the heart at all to separate them especially since Dexter was very depressed and really didn't want to come out of his pouch at all. I took them both to the vet and both checked out great but I will be taking them back in a few weeks for another check up. I figured if the off chance one of them does have something I would dish out the extra money at the vet for both if being together made them that happy. Dexter is a completely different glider since Rita got here I am glad it happened the way it did I was worried about Dexter so bad but now they are both happy and healthy so I think sometimes it is warranted to introduce earlier.

If you have one glider and you bring home one more, you can put them together and treat BOTH like they are in quarantine. Vet checks at the beginning and again at 30 days. If something is found in either one, you treat both.

But if you are like me and have 27 gliders, the quarantine of a new glider is essential. The cost of 28 fecals and meds for 28 gliders (if even ONE is infected with something) and then another 28 fecals at the 30 day mark...

well.........add up the expense and ask if you would risk it or just go through the quarantine?

Lol Teresa I definitely wouldn't risk it if I had that many. I was only stating if you had 2 gliders of course !! I can't wait to get more gliders though and for sure will be doing the quarantine as I get more

Also, as far as the difference between quarantine with gliders vs. dogs or other animals, dogs respond to & are easier to treat for parasites than gliders are. Also, far more vets are very knowledgeable in treating more common domestic animals for parasites than in gliders. It's harder to find a vet to treat a glider. Let alone to treat a glider correctly for parasites.

Actually, birds have an equally strict quarantine recommendation for the same reasons. They are very vulnerable, and can go from healthy to dead in a matter of hours. They also hide their illnesses, and by the time you notice, it could be too late.

Dogs can eat trash, throw up, then go play fetch. I'm not saying dogs don't get parasites, but when a dog is sick - you pretty much know!

This is how I am now too. I used to take my gliders to get togethers, until one year they all came down with something after a get together. I absolutely don't know for certain that it was caught there (there was also a new glider in the mix, and my whole crew was super stressed as I had been out of town for a while as well). Regardless, everything came together to result in a parasite when I had never had one in my colony for years before.

I'll be honest, I think part of the reason everyone recommends quarantine so strongly is because we have all seen how many times something is transferred. We have heard (or experienced first hand) the horror stories of sick gliders, long (not always effective) treatment, recurrence, etc. It is something that is difficult, and no fun at all, to deal with. So we decide to suggest the path of caution...just in case. If something does happen, if the person was warned and followed the cautious route, they may only have one glider or one cage sick rather than an entire room. If they made the decision not to follow quarantine and something happens, well, at least they knew the risks and are hopefully prepared.

And yes, you absolutely take a risk when you take your gliders to get-togethers. No matter what people say, I've been to several and many do not use hand sanitizer nor wash their hands (arms, shoulders, backs where unknown gliders frequently crawl) often enough to avoid potential cross contamination, never mind between handling each separate glider. Be comfortable with the risk, or keep your gliders to yourself to reduce the risk if you take them.

Not everyone quarantines every time. In all my years of glider ownership I have gone through introductions a fair number of times and I have only quarantined once...and I'm sorry to say THAT was the time everyone got sick. BUT - I also know that I didn't do everything I should have with the quarantine; most importantly missed - I only tested the new glider at the beginning and end of the quarantine, when I should have tested ALL of my gliders both times. I know just a month before that none of my colony had anything as I had tested, retested and retested (and retested) over the course of about 3 1/2 months because I wanted to be absolutely certain that my kids weren't taking anything to their pet sitter (as I was gone for 3 weeks). But because of the prolonged stress and then going to a gathering for several days the day I got back, I definitely should have tested everyone out both times (at the very least). So when quarantine is discussed, that is a point I try to make clear - quarantine doesn't do a lot of good unless you have everyone involved tested before and after.

No matter what you do or don't do, something can happen. If you research and understand the risks and make an informed decision to skip quarantine, make sure you are prepared to deal with the possible negative outcome (financially, emotionally and just time wise as 'sterilizing' everyday is taxing and time consuming).

Some people get into gliders without a lot of financial cushion and one parasite in their colony can wipe out any 'extra' money they had for them, and it still may not be enough. It is worth it to make people aware (and then let them make their own decisions, in my opinion) of the risks involved.

I have to say, I've been lucky enough to learn from other's experiences with this. I've not had any of my gliders come home from a gathering ill but I'm just not willing to risk it. 12 cages, 27 gliders would be so very expensive to treat and so very time consuming to clean everything every day. Everyone will just have to look at photos if they want to see my gliders.


But I do have to admit...it is sometimes difficult seeing all the babies and not having one with me of my own.

I just wanted to thank everyone for the insightful, and RESPECTFUL comments.

I was worried when I made this thread that it would devolve into a big bash session- I'm glad to see how calm and respectful everyone has remained.

People have brought up some good points and provided good answers as to why we are so strict about glider quarantines when we are not nearly as strict with other animals we love.