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Sugar Glider Medical Reference H-Z PDF Print E-mail

Listed here are many ailments and problems, symptoms, and real-life applications common to captive gliders and owners.

Click here to view Medical Reference A-G 

  Medical Reference Index:   

 

Hind Leg Paralysis

A common symptom of nutritional secondary hyperparathyroidism, hind leg paralysis (HLP) is not a disease in and of itself.  Low calcium levels result in calcium being leached from bone to compensate for low calcium in the bloodstream. This condition is fatal if not treated, but, in many cases, reversible.

Causes:

  • Inadequate calcium absorption due to poor diet (low calcium, high phosphate, low Vitamin D) leads the glider's body to produce increased parathyroid hormone, which removes calcium from the bones

Prevention:

  • Always feed your gliders a healthy, well-balanced diet

  • Always know the calcium to phosphorous ratio of anything you feed your gliders

  • Maintain a positive calcium to phosphorous ratio in the overall diet

Research:

Signs and Symptoms:

  • Paralysis

  • Lethargy

  • Limping

  • Fractured bones

  • Tremors

  • Weakness

  • Loss of use of hind legs or favoring one leg

  • Poor gripping ability

Treatment:

  • If caught in time, this disease is reversible

  • Seek veterinary care immediately. Only a veterinarian can do the necessary testing and treatment plan, which may include calcium, vitamins, hospitalization, and more.

Intestinal Blockage

The partial or complete mechanical blockage of the small or large intestine. The bowel is physically blocked. This most often occurs in sugar gliders when a foreign body is present in the intestines (such as wood, seeds, or millet), blocking the bowel. 

Causes:

  • A foreign body, such as seed husks, seeds, millet, or wood, physically blocks the intestines, allowing fecal matter to build up in the intestines

Prevention:

  • Always feed your glider a healthy, well-balanced diet

  • Never give gliders inexpensive dry cat food

  • Moisten dry foods for easier digestion

  • Steer clear of seeds, nuts and other dry foods

Research:

Signs and Symptoms:

  • Abdominal fullness, bloating, or swelling

  • Vomiting

  • Diarrhea (if blockage is not complete)

  • Breath odor

  • Absence of passage of stool (when blockage is complete)

Treatment:

  • Seek veterinary care immediately! If blockage is complete, surgery will be needed

Lumpy Jaw (Impacted Salivary Gland)

Lumpy jaw, or actinomycosis is an infection primarily caused by the bacterium Actinomyces israelii. Infection most often occurs in the face and neck region and is characterized by the presence of a slowly enlarging, hard lump. It produces abscesses and can also infect the lungs and intestinal tract and other parts of the body and can lead to gangrene and other complications. It is fatal if left untreated.

Causes:

  • Bacteria are introduced into the facial tissues by trauma, surgery, or infection. The most common cause in gliders is dental abscess

Prevention:

  • Moisten dry, hard foods before feeding them to your gliders

  • Do not feed low quality cat food to your gliders

  • Consider that gliders were designed to eat primarily insects and gums

Research:

Signs and Symptoms:

  • A swelling or hard lump appears on face, neck or chest

  • Weight Loss

  • Discharge draining out of the eye

Treatment:

  • Seek veterinary care immediately! To eradicate the bacteria, your glider will have to get prescription medication

Self-Mutilation

This can be caused by depression, other illness, and even improper surgical procedures, such as neutering. Where possible, request laser surgery for neutering your glider.  Please see the following article for more information: 

 

Stress

Stress is defined as an organism's total response to environmental demands or pressures. When stress was first studied in the 1950s, the term was used to denote both the causes and the experienced effects of these pressures. More recently, however, the word stressor has been used for the stimulus that provokes a stress response. In gliders, stress can be fatal. 

Causes:

  • Actual danger

  • Grief or loss of a loved one (human or glider)

  • Loneliness

  • Illness

  • Poor diet

  • Thyroid problems

  • Low blood sugar

  • Sudden change in environment, diet, or companionship

  • Overhandling during daylight hours when gliders should be sleeping

Prevention:

  • Provide your gliders with a healthy, well-balanced diet
  • Keep gliders in at least pairs
  • Keep gliders in a large enough cage
  • Do not allow other pets near your gliders
  • Give your gliders at least a few hours of playtime each night
  • Keep your gliders out of places that are very noisy or full of lots of people
  • Do not allow your glider to be overhandled, especially by strangers
  • If you are bonding during the day with your gliders, do not disturb them. Allow them to sleep during the day
  • When a glider has experienced a change, give him extra attention and love, and watch closely for any sign of illness

Research:

Signs and Symptoms:

  • Diarrhea
  • Vomiting
  • Trembling or tremors
  • Change in sleeping habits
  • Loss of appetite
  • Pacing, doing back flips consecutively, self-mutilation

Treatment:

  • If your glider is experiencing any illness brought on by stress, seek veterinary care immediately
  • Spend lots of extra quality time with your glider
  • If the stress is coming because the glider is new to your home, make sure the glider has familiar surroundings (old pouch, same cage).  Even if the pouch/cage is old or dirty, keep at least one item that is familiar and change slowly

Toxicity Issues: Plants

See the following:

Prevention:

  • Do not expose your glider to any toxic plants

  • Do not give your gliders live tree branches unless you know they are 1) glider safe, and 2) uncontaminated from pesticides or chemicals

Trichomoniasis

A bacterial disease caused by a flagellate organism known as trichomonas. Trichomonads are usually pear-shaped and posses anterior flagella with a recurrent anterior fagellum which is attached to the body as an undulating membrane. Trichonomas can infect birds, cattle, dogs, carts, rodents, primates, and humans, among other species. 

Causes:

  • Ingesting food or water contaminated with the trichonomas organism

Prevention:

  • Provide fresh, filtered water at all times for your gliders

  • Consider freezing fresh fruits and vegetables before serving them to gliders

  • Always wash your hands before you prepare food for your gliders and before handling your gliders

  • Always wash raw foods thoroughly before offering it to your gliders

  • Consider freezing your insects fully before offering them to your gliders

Research:

Signs and Symptoms:

  • Weight loss

  • Vomiting 

  • Diarrhea

  • Change in fecal matter: feces may be golden in color, undigested food may be passed with feces, mucus may be present in feces

  • Dehydration

  • Loss of appetite

Treatment:

  • Quarantine the infected animal, and clean and wash the cage, toys, and anything with which the glider may have come in contact

  • Seek veterinary care immediately. The vet will need to do a a direct fecal smear to test for the presence of the trichonomas organism, and prescription medication will probably be given to kill the bacteria.

  • Closely monitor other gliders who may have also been exposed to the organism. To be safe, get them all tested for the presence of trichonomas.

The information provided herein should not be used during any medical emergency or for the diagnosis or treatment of any medical condition. A licensed veterinarian should be consulted for diagnosis and treatment of any and all medical conditions.

 
 

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