In Reply to: Re: That isnt true posted by Brit on February 14, 19100 at 17:04:33:

*NOTE* Brit, I know you aren't getting your gliders from a pet store but this is just in general about anyone else who is thinking about doing so. My issues with pet stores is pretty much what this is.

now..
Brit, you needa relax. I dont have a book I wrote, all I have is my experience of nearly 2 years and all the things I have learned and seen happen along the way. That is all I have, and thats more than I can say for you.

BTW- I have seen so many cases of people being sorry for getting 2 gliders at once, especially from a pet store. Ya know why?

Issues on pet stores


• Causes of stress- People(looking, poking), lights, other animals, bad diets, cramped cages, cedar/pine bedding, sometimes no place to hide, etc.
  
  
• Gliders dont handle pet store stress very well- they're known to die from it and suffer greatly if they dont die.
  
  
• Effects of stress- diarrhea leading to dehydration(very fast), crabbing, biting, working themselves all up until they go insane, death eventually.
  
  
• Pet stores(every one Ive heard of that never met a passionate glider owner, what that means to you is a person who loves the species and cares not to see more suffer.)feed crappy diets. Gliders are exotic pets- thats a fact is it not? Exotic pets are just that, exotic. That means extra care..and the whole nine yards. Most pet stores go for the cheapest way to feed an animal, or sometimes its just out of ignorance. Either way there's still the diet issue and that makes for unhealthy gliders no matter how you look at it.
  
  
• Gliders are nocturnal, meaning they sleep all day and get up after dark. Pet stores are open and do business during the day. Need I say more here?
  
  
• Hiding spots/Cage size/Toys- Does the average pet store have toys and branches for the glider to keep itself entertained with? Not that I know of, most are cramped into a 10 gal aquarium with pine bedding, a little box to crawl in, a water bottle and some cat food to eat. I dont know whether pet stores dont care to educate themselves and change, or if they just dont give a damn for the lives they sell. Either way- its an issue.
  
  
• Health- how many gliders in pet stores are seen by vets? Do you know what a small window of time their is from when the glider gets sick to when the person notices it? and then does anything? They drop dead so fast!
  
  
• Like I said, being kept with other animals will stress them out. Dont tell me gliders aren't afraid of them. I wont go any further into this issue
  
  
• Pet stores are like brokers..they get the animals in, and maybe have for a week or so, maybe a few days, and sell them. How do they get to know the glider they're selling? How can they get to know it in a nasty place like a pet store? How can they tell YOU(the person that needs to know everything possible about what you are getting) about it? Breeders are there with the babies, playing with them, watching them..they know everything about them and their current diet too. Not to mention they have the parents, and know about the parents.(Switching diets and how that affects their health is a whole different topic tho)
  
  
• I've heard cases of pet stores mis-sexing gliders because of thier lacking education on what they are doing. This leads to major problems later when people either want babies or dont.(this also goes into the buying 2 at once)
  
  
• Selling joeys too young..its a terrible thing and a case of this comes to mind from a recent event. Pet stores ignorance on when to sell joeys often costs the baby its life. Not all pet stores do this but just 1 is too much already.
  
  

I know I am missing more on the average pet store, and I can never seem to get everything into one post. Even if the diet and cage size issues were all fixed in every single pet store I would still advise people against buying them because of the people and the business hours of pet stores..pet stores just aren't the place for gliders to be housed. By buying them YOU(Not you Brit- but the person buying) support their
A) Ignorance,
B) Carelessness, or
C) Them just not caring about the lives they sell, maybe even
D) All of the above.
No matter how you look at it you're(again- not you Brit) supporting the supply and demand of gliders in pet stores. Even if the pet store is a good, clean, caring place...for reasons mentioned it just isnt the place for a glider- an exotic pet. Mine were bought FOR ME, it was an impulse purchase and in the persons eyes that bought them wanted me to start hobby breeding. Mine were nasty PET STORE gliders. Kept in bad conditions, this just encouraged the store to get more gliders. I was mad about mine being bought from a pet store(when I didnt want them) but I love my gliders and would never give them up willingly. Just so you know I'm speaking from experience with pet store gliders- I didnt have someone telling the person buying mine for me about the reasons not to get one from a pet store. I could say more but I want this little bit to sink in to you and anyone else who thinks of buying from a pet store, or thinks there is nothing wrong with it because their is.

Now that I got the pet store issues done, the "getting 2 at once is next". Be prepared, class is now in session. Pencils down, no passing notes, lecture begins:

Reasons for not getting 2 at once


• Bonding, maybe, Brit, your friend was lucky with 2 to start with but 9 out of 10 times I see people asking how to bond with 2 gliders..lots of questions asked on, "Should I seperate both and bond with one? or maybe just take both with me?", "They bonded to each other and neither one wants anything to do with me".
  
  
• "Oh no! I just bought a pair of gliders and the pet store said they were both females! One turned out to be male and the female is pregnant, neither one is bonded to me and how do I care for babies?" I can't tell you how many times I've heard lines that go like that or very similar.
  
  
• "I just bought 2 gliders because I heard from a book"..(which was most likely outdated information).."that you MUST get 2 or one will get lonely and die". Goodness, I am so tired of hearing that one. It's false people..if you keep up with research and stop believing every single thing from books written some time ago you will see that some gliders who have their humans spending time with them instead of getting them and and FORgetting them they will do perfectly fine! It isnt as easy as you make it sound Brit, for them to die of loneliness. Some wish to be the *only* glider around. I wish those people would show themselves cuz I know they're out there. My boy was an only glider for awhile and he was happy as can be, it was him and me and he loved me and had no problem with being the only one of his kind. We were bonded- THEN I was bought the other glider of mine. She was mean and once I had a bonded one to work with the other one took more time to bond with BUT we bonded. Its so much smarter to make a bond first and be able to get control of one and the other one sees him/her trusting and not crabbing. It will soon learn. I think I covered that one.
  
  
• "Which sex gliders should I get? Im getting 2 and want to know what the best possible combination would be." My answer would be something along the lines of this, "Why dont you get one first, bond with it, learn about it's likes and dislikes, see how things go between you 2 and then find out what sex glider would be best for you and your glider, and the situation you are in." This is yet another reason.
  
  

I know I missed things but I got as much as I could in here.

....and Brit, I see the maturity level of a teen here, "I want and I dont care what the consequences are" type behavior. Guess what? Im a teen! I do have a fairly stubborn attitude as you can see, but Im proud of it cuz its me and thats it. Deal with it. If you want to think a book is smarter than me- go ahead, you've got that right to think whatever you want about whoever you want. I personally dont care what you think, because I know what I know..I have seen it with my own eyes, experienced it. A book is nothing compared to having experience. BTW there is a book out there with mostly false glider info in it, if you are comparing me with that book..well..I am not the one looking stupid. Which book are you talking about?
You also might want to check out this page I wrote and then decide about who's smarter..and about what you can learn from a book(possibly outdated) and from actual experience and current information.
My joey information page and as soon as I can get it there will be a video of a live birth of my latest twins being born and crawling into pouch. Let me see a book showing you that, or even pics from a live birth(which are on my page of my same glider). I didnt find that in any book.

• My page

Follow Ups:

• Re: Kim, whats the name of the book with incorrect info? Toni Picard 10:28:39 2/15/100 (5)
  • Books.. Bourbon 01:59:09 2/18/100 (0)
  • Toni... Ms. Shell 10:49:24 2/15/100 (3)
    • You got it Shell. n/m Kim 13:24:24 2/15/100 (2)
      • Am I good or what?! hehehe n/m Ms. Shell 13:39:13 2/15/100 (1)
        • Yeah, Im glad you caught on so quick. Saves my hands the typing! Good job. n/m Kim 21:17:24 2/15/100 (0)