Fancy's Flying Furballs: A Sugar Glider Sanctuary

13/04/2025

On a whim, this evening, checked the weight of Bullwinkle and Sweetie Pie. I didn't write down their weights the last time I put them on the scales, but, if I remember correctly, Bully was 106 grams to Sweetie Pie's 122. As of today, Bullwinkle, who is ~7 yrs old and by far the most active of my gliders, weighs 103 grams. Sweetie Pie, on the other hand, found the weight the others had lost, and now weighs in at 152 grams.

Adding some photos of these two as I've not shared many. Bullwinkle is easy to spot because his tail curls up over his back, and he almost always looks like he's angry. Sweetie Pie has a white face and his tail is almost always straight out behind him.

13/04/2025

Just checked weights for Leela and Grey Brother. These two are in with Bullwinkle and Sweetie Pie. However, I've been feeding this group as though there are only four of them before Mowgli passed, and as though there are only three of them now, and they've been getting half portions of meat and cheese. Why? Because Leela, Grey, and Mowgli were all very overweight.

In January, Leela was weighing in at 222 grams when she should max out at 130. Grey Brother was weighing in at 174 when he should max out at 150. Tonight, Leela was down to 188 and Grey was down to 155.

For anyone worried that I might be underfeeding them, know that there is usually a little bit of food left in their bowls, and they don't always finish their smoothies.

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02/04/2025

Mowgli is gone.😭😭😭

Took him back to the vet today. He had an appointment for another blood draw. However, his stomach was distended and he vomited as soon as they gave him anesthesia. Instead of sedating him completely, they took some x-rays and an ultrasound. Both showed a large pocket that the vet suspected was fluid. He drew a large sample of fluid that looked like urine.

The vet gave me the option of a referral to UT Vet Hospital or Euthanasia. He offered to show me the x-rays, and then we took another ultrasound. The vet assistant offered to "spin out" a sample of the fluid to try to determine what it was since it wasn't from the bladder. I wanted as much info as possible before making a decision.

They led me back to the exam room, and I put Mowgli in my tank top. He moved around so that his head and one arm were lounging over the neckline. After a few minutes, he made some jerking motions. I peaked in at him and he appeared to be asleep, and about every 20-30 seconds he made this little jerking motion. A few minutes later, it stopped. I looked down at him and couldn't see him breathing. He made the decision for us.

I asked the vet if he would do a necropsy and take care of the cremation for me. He called before I made it home. Mowgli had liver cancer. There was a tumor on his liver and still lots of fluid in his body cavity. Vet checked his bladder as we thought there might be an issue there, but it worked properly. He assured me that I hadn't done anything wrong and that there was nothing we could have done to save him.

I was told that Mowgli was 3 yrs. old when I took him in at the beginning of February 2020, making him 8 yrs. old at the time of his death. He was the oldest of the Jungle Book crew, and the oldest glider currently in the house. Of the Jungle Book crew, he was the first to bond with me, and he was a really sweet glider. He is missed already.💔😭💔

20/03/2025

Mowgli Update:

For the first time in over a month, Mowgli is no longer in a quarantine cage.

Took him back to the vet this afternoon. Vet had originally planned to do another blood test, but decided it was too soon to try again. Mowgli had dropped for around 120 grams to 106 grams since two weeks ago. Considering he was getting a full size portions and a larger share than any of the other gliders, and he's been eating, this weight loss has me concerned.

Vet decided to take him off the liver support supplement, and said he could go back to running with the rest of his group. He goes back in two weeks for a recheck.

Waited a bit after getting home to let Mowgli out of his quarantine cage. Partially because I was concerned about how he would be received. When I first realized something was wrong, none of the other gliders would stay in a nest box with him. Recently, Sweetie Pie has been picking on him through the bars of his cage. So, I was a little concerned over how the other gliders might react.

A little bit ago, I pulled Mowgli from the quarantine cage. Next, I pulled down the shoe box the others were sleeping in and opened it up. Mowgli climbed in and crawled to the bottom of the pile. Leela, who has not bonded with me yet, tried to leave the box, but I think that was more because of me than Mowgli. Sweetie Pie came over and sniffed at Mowgli, and I touched him on the head and told him to be nice. Instead of bothering Mowgli, he hopped onto my shoulder. I closed the box up and put it back on the shelf in the closet. Will check again in a bit to see if everything is going well. So far, haven't heard any fussing from that room.

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15/03/2025

Mowgli Update:
The pr*****ed p***s has finally, completely retracted!!! Discovered this in the wee hours yesterday, but I was too tired to post about it before going to bed. He's getting out and climbing in his cage more, spending some time in his wheel, and moving about a bit more steadily than before, but he's still a bit shaky.

This morning, I pulled him out so he could play in the living room a bit while I prepped the food for all the gliders. He climbed over the piled up clothing on the couch, and went to the floor on the other side of it. Had to get up one time to keep him from going into the kitchen as I don't allow the gliders to freely roam in there. He sat in my lap at one point eating a piece of Turkey, he liked a couple of grape slices, and ate a couple of pieces of corn and at least one green pea. Then took off again. Once the food was done, put him back in his cage before I started cleaning out their old bowls to replace with the new ones.

Partway through the food change out, Bullwinkle came out and joined me. He road around on my back, climbed down my arms, back up, chewed on the seam for the collar on my T-shirt, and simply hung out on me while I set up the moat and water bowls, distributed the fresh food bowls, and then made and distributed their yogurt smoothie.

Since last night was the dose for Mowgli's Gabapentin and Amoxicillin, which I'd been mixing into his smoothie, I'm testing to see if he'll eat the yogurt smoothie with his liver support meds in it. Tried this before and he turned his nose up at it. This time, it has several drops of a liquefied lollipop in it to try to help mask the flavor of the meds. It worked for the Gabapentin and the Amoxicillin. Here's hoping it works for this one, too. I really hate having to fight with him to get him to take his meds. He goes back to the vet this next Wednesday.

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12/03/2025

Mowgli Update:
He's still using the bathroom, but his f***l matter is mostly fluid. He's still cleaning himself, and he's finally starting to get out and move around more. All of my current quarantine cages are either really small or old and rusty. So, I bought a new one that's a "medium size bird" cage. Mowgli is climbing all over it, and he's running in the wheel some. He'll grab a piece of food and climb into the wheel to eat it. His p***s has almost completely retracted. There's around 1/4" of it still sticking out. Per the vet, he's getting ReptiCal and ReptiVite sprinkled on his food daily, while the rest of the gliders get it every other day. He goes back to the vet in another week to redo blood tests.

In other news:
Weighted Leela and Grey Brother. Grey is down to 168 grams, which is a slight decrease since last month. Leela dropped from 210 grams to 200 grams over the past month.

Bullwinkle and Sweetie Pie are both very outgoing. Despite having been separated from the rest of the gliders, Bullwinkle is checking Mowgli out when he climbs on the bars of his cage. Sweetie Pie is being aggressive with him, but not sure why. Grey Brother is still avoiding him, as is Leela.

Everyone else is doing well.

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06/03/2025

Mowgli Update:

We made it to the vet for our scheduled appointment. Turns out the tooth the vet thought might be infected, then said wasn't infected, actually went full abscess and burst through the skin beside Mowgli's nose. This was the swelling I'd seen on Monday.

Since giving him a bath Monday evening, he's been keeping himself groomed.

The base of his p***s has receded back into his cloaca, but the rest is still pr*****ed.

New blood work showed the liver levels were back to normal or near normal, but red blood cell count, calcium, and several other levels were low.

Vet gave me a different antibiotic as, apparently, SMZ affects the liver. He's to stay on everything for a while longer and goes back to the vet in 2 wks.

Asked if dissolving lollipops and adding them to the meds each dosing would be okay as an effort to make the meds more palatable. Vet gave me the go-ahead. Don't have any at the moment, so I've dissolved a couple of pinches of sugar in orange extract and apple juice. Will load the syringes with meds, then add some of this mix to see if it makes it easier to get Mowgli to take his meds.

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05/03/2025

Mowgli Update:

Apparently, I forgot to close his cage before going to bed this morning. When I woke up this afternoon, the cage door was open and he was not in his nest box. He wasn't in any of the usual nesting places in sewing room, but thought I heard something under the cutting table. Keep in mind that this cutting table is actually a 3' x 6' counter from my grandmother's dress shop that has two columns of two drawers, and each drawer is at least 12" high and the full depth of the cabinet.

I stepped out of the room for a moment leaving the light on. When I stepped back in, I saw movement at the bottom of one of the legs on the cutting table, and realized it was Mowgli's tail. Stepped around to that side of the table and he was trying to crawl into a cardboard tube that fabric had once been rolled up on. He barely could get his head into it. I scooped him up, cuddled him for a moment, and then put him into his cage so he could get something to eat and drink since I had no idea how long he'd been down there. Gave him a couple of mealworms and left him alone until I had to give him his meds, which he wasn't very thrilled with. Since he'd neglected to touch the smoothie after I added the antibiotics, he got those via syringe as well.

It's been about 7 hrs. since I gave him his meds. So, went to check on him. He didn't really want to come out of his nest box, but I felt I needed to at least give him a once over, if not spend some time with him. Opened the pouch he was clinging to so he could go inside of it. The swelling in his face seems to have subsided a little. The base of his p***s appears to have retracted back into his cloaca, but the split portion is still pr*****ed. Also, since giving him a bath, he appears to be grooming himself again. If he's p**ped on himself, he's cleaning it up.

Here's hoping for a good visit with the vet tomorrow. Hopefully I can get some reassurances about his health because, right now, I keep expecting to go in there and find that he's gone.

In other news, everyone else is doing well. Nagaina still avoids me like the plague when I'm awake, but she likes climbing on me when I'm sleeping, or when she thinks I'm sleeping. I've yet to figure out Flower's schedule for getting out to play. Bambi likes me so long as I'm not lying down when trying to pet him. TJ and Messua are their normal selves. She likes to explore late in the evenings or in the early mornings. TJ likes to get up in the afternoon and fuss with the other boys through the screen doors. Leela still runs away from me. Grey Brother likes me, but doesn't stick around if Bullwinkle and Sweetie Pie are on me. Sweetie Pie is more reserved, but still climbs on me a lot. Bullwinkle will climb onto me as soon as he can and start marking me as his. Other than Grey, none of them are overly fond of being petted, but some tolerate it more than others.

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04/03/2025

Mowgli update:
Last week, the vet stated I could put Mowgli's meds in his yogurt smoothie. This way, I wouldn't have to fight with Mowgli to give him his meds. Tried this over the weekend. It started out looking like it was going to work.

I was pulling him from his cage and keeping him with me for part of day to try to keep him from getting lonely. However, he'd started getting a little fussy. So, I left him alone most of Sunday. On Monday, thought he had a vet appointment for late afternoon. I get to the vet and am told the appointment is for Wednesday.

When I got home, I pulled Mowgli out to check him over. He'd messed himself multiple times, hadn't cleaned it up that well, and even had stuff smeared on his face. His claocal area is also still swollen. I wound up holding him under the tap in the kitchen and using a mascara brush to clean out as much of his fur as I could. Earlier this morning when I took him his food, his face was swollen around his bad eye. I decided to give him his prescribed meds via syringe, and added three drops of SMZ (antibiotic) to his smoothie. Gave him a couple of meal worms and leaving him to rest.

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01/03/2025

Mowgli Update:

I think something in the KY jelly is hurting Mowgli. When I pulled him out to give him his meds this afternoon, he'd p**ped all over himself again without cleaning it, and his cloacal area was swollen again. Used a rag and warm water to try to clean up as much as I could and was able to get his p***s unstuck from the p**p. It has receded a little bit, but not much. He'd also eaten more of his food, which is a good sign. Will stop the KY and see if he continues to improve. He goes back to the vet on Monday for follow-up blood work.

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01/03/2025

Mowgli Update:

Went to give him his meds a bit ago and noticed that the swelling had definitely gone down and he had cleaned himself up. It, also, looked like his p***s may have retracted a little bit, but not a lot. After giving him his meds, he climbed onto the bars of his cage and was rubbing his mouth on the bars. He really doesn't like his meds, but I think he may be feeling a little better than he had been.

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01/03/2025

Mowgli Update:
The P**p Dam has Broken!

He's still not trying to move someplace other than where he's laying to go to the bathroom, though. I think he's drinking whatever p*e comes out as my shirt hasn't gotten wet all day, but he did p*e on me a tiny bit when giving him his meds. That's also when I found that a large pile of p**p was stuck to his nethers. Cleaned off as much of that as I could, which was most of it. He didn't like that. Just found he'd p**ped another pile onto himself. Pulled some of it off, but he wasn't happy with me doing that. For those who don't know, sugar gliders are among that group of animals that will consume their own waste because they didn't get enough nutrition out of it the first go round.

At present, he's primarily eating grapes and mealworms and not much else. I'm keeping him in shirt with me during the afternoon, and keeping him in a small quarantine cage in the sewing room the rest of the time because I'm trying to keep track of when or if he starts p*eing and p**ping normally.

Also, the p***s is still pr*****ed. The entire cloacal region was swollen when I gave him his meds. Just tried to check it again, but he's not willing to cooperate with me getting anywhere near that area, even to clean it. From what little I did see, I think the swelling may have gone down, but not sure.

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