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Lucky Glider

Edwin Margulies


Last Updated: 9/23/2009

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Gender: Male
Status: Married
Age: 51
Sign: Virgo

City: LAS VEGAS
State: Nevada
Country: US
Signup Date: 8/30/2007

Blog Archive
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Friday, November 06, 2009 

Category: Pets and Animals
Many suggie enthusiasts ask us if there is a trick to getting your sugar gliders to eat all of the "good food" you present to them. Yes, there is! You have to "fake them out" by blending what they don't like with what they do like.

Of course, this is not necessary for every food, but it can be an effective means to getting food into your gliders if they are really picky about certain foods.

Most gliders will eat cooked turkey, hamburger, or chicken and most will eat egg. Here at LGRS we have had luck in making a pate out of some meat or egg and by adding the fruits and veggies they don't like. You can also make little meatballs out of the pate and boil them or bake them. It's a blast to watch them carry off a little meatball to eat it.

You can also make smoothies made up of fruits, veggies and a little honey.
It's important to understand that whatever mixture you decide to try, that it is crucial to maintain a ratio of 2:1 between Calcium and Phosphorus. If you have trouble calculating this you can do an on-line recipe at www.sugarglider.com in their resources / nutrition section. Here, you pick the foods and the amounts and the system calculates all the vitamins, proteins, minerals, etc. for you and displays the totals. By changing the amounts or type of food, you can achieve the proper balance.

Unfortunately, meats and eggs, which are high in protein, are also high in phosphorus, so you need to offset that with foods that are high in calcium. Papaya is good for that because it has a 4.8:1 Ca:P ratio. Calcium-fortified orange juice is also good for that in making smoothies or cold soups. You can even use a little RepCal calcium supplement to balance out the ratios.

This Calcium thing is important, because if they do not get enough calcium it can lead to metabolic bone disease and hind leg paralysis.
12:47 PM 
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Thursday, November 05, 2009 

Category: Pets and Animals
It's been a few weeks since little Jones went in for his neutering surgery and all is well. Jones, part of the 9-member Indy colony, is now 4 and a half months old. He is friendly, doesn't bite, and very curious.

He faired well during and after surgery and is back with his family. Here's a photo taken this week:

 

2:06 PM 
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Monday, November 02, 2009 

Category: MySpace
The lucky ones this month are the Oscar colony. That's Oscar (9), Ponchito (2) and Rockie (2). Rockie is a fairly new rescue and was joined with the boys about two months ago. Sharon and David are putting them through their paces at their place as part of our foster care program. As you can see, they love the wheel. Rockie is a little to herself, but Sharon says she is coming along fine.

Interested in adopting this trio? Call us on 702-228-8556

 

4:04 PM 
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Saturday, October 31, 2009 

Category: Pets and Animals
Lucky Glider Rescue & Sanctuary will be participating in a local community outreach program designed to educate school kids on pets and animals. It's sponsored by Best Friends and we are happy to be part of it.

On Tuesday, we will be trekking to a local library in Henderson to address an audience of children on the wonders of sugar gliders. Of course, it's an awesome responsibility because we don't encourage children to own sugar gliders - especially since they are a "fad" pet and abandoned so quickly after the cool wears off. And the younger the owner, the quicker the rate of abandonment it seems.

So we will be enthusiastic about how wonderful these creatures are, but we will also be characteristically pointed in our warnings about them as pets. That is - that sugar gliders are a real committment.

If any of you have any topic ideas, please let us know by Tuesday morning.
8:04 PM 
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Monday, October 26, 2009 

Category: Pets and Animals
If you are thinking about adopting or buying a sugar glider, we beg you to get at least two and not one. One sugar glider is just a bad idea. Here are a few points to consider.

1. Gliders need same-species company. They are colony animals and do not willingly live alone in the wild. Lone gliders often get depressed and begin to over-grooom the hair on top of their heads. Some will even self-mutilate and stop eating. It's cruel for them to be alone. There are some cases when it can't be helped; however. For example, an animal that rejects or fights with any other glider or sometimes for health reasons.

2. Lone gliders are simply not as "fun" to interact with as a small group of gliders. When they are happy, they interact better with humans. We have seen many lone gliders turn from listless and depressed to chipper and active once paired successfully.

3. If you are planning on having more than one glider eventually, sooner is better. The younger they are the easier it is to integrate them together. Once they reach sub-adult to adult age, introductions get harder. Introductions between males are especially hard if they are not neutered. Avoid running to the store or a breeder for a glider just to plop him or her in a cage with your lone glider. If they don't get along and start fighting then you have two cages and two separate pets. If at all possible, do a trial introduction.

3:19 PM 
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Thursday, October 22, 2009 

[Disclaimer - I not picking on anyone here. This is a generic warning to anyone, because there are sadly soooo many, who just wanna breed for the experience or out of idle curiousity. It ain't personal, but meant to be educational from someone who deals with the all-to-common results of doing so every single day]

If you want to breed sugar gliders "just for the experience" then please consider neutering the male(s) after after one or two joeys are sired. If you don't you'll be dealing with a dozen or more in no time. And then if you freak out, like most wanna-be home/hobby breeders do, they'll all end up in rescue or re-homed. That's not being cynical, that's experience talking.

LGRS (Lucky Glider rescue & Sanctuary) is stuffed to the gills with 6-to-10 member colonies from people doing breeding "just for the experience." I am in no way advocating breeding for profit either. There is an abosolute epidemic of abandoned and unwanted gliders now despite the falsehoods spread by mill breeders and others who don't want anyone to know the truth. It's just inhumane to continue breeding them with all the unwanted ones languishing in small cages and ignored or abandoned.

Consider this. Once a colony gets large, and it happens fast, you'll end up with multiple cages owing to the bad behavior of un-neutered, large colonies. It's a real horror show and we see it all the time. Here's why:

Large colonies do not happen in the wild. Mom and dad drive away the sub-adults and they start their own colonies. But in captivity, large colonies, especially if the males are not neutered, promote early death, maiming, inbreeding and are simply gory and disasterous.

It is not often you can go beyond seven without them tearing each other apart. So what happens is when the mating wounds start, when the tails and fingers start getting bitten off, people finally separate them and then end up with two or three cages. That's when they knock on our door. Or they knock on our door just from freaking out over the volume and the vet bills or because the fad has faded and they just don't want them any more.

Please, do the animals a big favor and keep it small. The best way to keep it small is to neuter. Curious? Just have to roll the dice to see a baby joey not knowing if mom is healthy or emotionally stable enough not to cannibalize it? Great. Have one or two and then neuter all the males. Please.
3:51 PM 
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Thursday, October 22, 2009 

Category: Pets and Animals
Little 4-month-old Jones of the Indy colony is scheduled to come home today after his neutering operation at Cheyenne West Animal Hospital. Dr. Kolmstetter likes to keep them overnight after surgeries to keep an eye on them in case they tear at the surgery site. This is a best practice we hope your vets do. If they don't ask them to do it if and when you take your male sugar gliders in for neutering.

We strongly recommend neutering male sugar gliders. Here's why:

1. There is an epidemic of abandoned and unwanted sugar gliders. Over 70 stuff our rescue. There's no need to make more. All you need is one fertile male in a mixed family and within a year you can have a dozen gliders. Then you'll freak out at the responsibility of all those animals and end up at our doorstep.

2. Males don't smell after they are neutered. The testoterone that fuels their scent glands dissapears upon neutering.

3. Males are less aggressive after they are neutered and generally get along better with other males.

If you can think of any more reasons, let us know.

3:16 PM 
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Monday, October 19, 2009 

Category: Pets and Animals
Poor little Diana. Not only does she have a bitten-in-half tail from back in the "15 member" colony days - but now her sisters in the now-separated-from-the-boys Princess Colony have shunned and picked on her for some reason.

We noticed a small, fresh, wound above her right shoulder this week and immediately separated her into a solo cage and began hydrotherapy and antibiotic treatments.

There's really only one safe thing to do once an animal in a large colony has been banished to punk/picked-on status... Get that animal away from the others. She will be continually picked on from that point forward. Agression like this tends to decrease as the colony gets smaller. In the wild, you would never see a colony of eight females, let alone a colony of 15 mixed sex individuals. Moms and dads typically drive away sub-adults so they can start their own colonies and keep their numbers relatively small.

Padme, of the same clan, is still in a separate cage recovering from her head wound. Perhaps we can join Diana and Padme together once they've both fully recovered.... Stay tuned.

 






5:16 PM 
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Wednesday, October 14, 2009 

Category: Pets and Animals
[LGRS comment] This past month, Gary, Jinx and Hexx have been in the loving care of our friends Sharon and David who are by now accomplished suggie fosterers. Here's Sharon's report on how these three are doing:

[Sharon's Report] These three little ones Gary, Hexx and Jinx were with me for about a month. Gary of course was the leader of this colony, Jinx ( dominate female) and sweet Hexx.  Gary and Hexx were coming along nicely but Jinx was still standoffish. However it was getting better.

Gary and Hexx love the wheel.  I have two, they would go so fast the wheels would move all over the bathroom and crash into each other, so I had to tape them down, it was really fun to watch.  Jinx was coming up to me to get the worms but wanted to climb up onto the curtain rod to sleep.
 
At night they were waiting for me to come with their dinner around 8:00 or so.  I liked talking to them during play time and dinner time.  They would look at me as if they knew what I was saying.
 
These three just need love and patience.  I have no doubt in my mind they will make great pets if they have both.  I pray anyone who adopts these three will enjoy them as much as I did.

[LGRS Comment] Interested in adopting? Call us on 702-228-2886] 

 



4:04 PM 
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Wednesday, October 07, 2009 

Category: Pets and Animals
Over the years, we have tried all kinds of remedies against ants. Ants are attracted to suggie soup recipes that have honey in them. And after it rains, ants are more prevalent. It is not a good idea to spray insecticides or other poisons in the same room you keep your sugar gliders, so you may want to try some of the natural home remedies we use here at LGRS. These are used in combination depending on how bad the ants are...

Food grade Diatenatious Earth

Diatenatious Earth is a fine white or red powder made of crushed fossils. It does not harm small mammals, but the microscopic particles are sharp and kill insects when ingested. You can buy it at some feed stores, pet stores or on line.

To be safe for your animals, the type of Diatenatious Earth you buy must be food grade. It is a good defense against ants and other insects when dusted along the walls and corners.

Essence of Cinnamon

Can be bought at Whole Foods market, some health food stores and on line. You can dab this on cotton balls and rub it along corners on the floor or other spaces where ants get in from outside. You can also rub it on the legs or wheels of your suggies' cages.

Water Moat around Food Dish.

Ants don't like to cross water, so you can create a moat around their food dish to discourage the ants from getting into their food. You can put a small amount of water in a broad Tupperware container or plastic shoe box, then put the food dish on top of that in the water. You an also put soaked handi-wipes or fleece on the floor of the container and put the food dish on top of that.
2:52 PM 
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