 | Posted by: | star, teverett | | Subject: | disturbing deaths /sorry long | | When: | 7:07 PM, 07 Dec 2000 | | IP: | 209.81.169.190 |
I wasn't going to post this because this is not my babies I am talking about, but with all the recent posts about sick and dying gliders I keep thinking and wondering about it. My friends had a family of gliders. They got the mom and dad about a year and a half ago. They were told that they had previously been at a petstore and that they were about a year and a half old. The mother had a baby in its pouch when they got them. Shortly the baby was born and was healthy. They all lived happily for a little over a year. The mom did not get pregnant again over the next year. Then about a month ago the dad died. He was found lying on the bottom of the cage. They checked him over and found no marks on him. They disenfected the cage. Mom and son showed no symptoms and appeared perfectly healthy. The son even appeared to be eating more and getting bigger. Him and mom were crabbing at eachother slightly more, but it didn't seem like enough to be worried about. Then about a week ago they found the son dead in the pouch. Now the really disturbing part-The mom had eaten parts of him. This leaves many questions what could have caused the dad to die? What could have caused the son to die? If it was the same illness as the dad why did it occur almost a month later? They are also wondering if mom could have caused these deaths. I could not imagine gliders that were bonded to one another suddenly killing. I know mine are best buddies and love eachother. Has anyone ever heard of anything like this before. They are obviously afraid of getting mom a new companion because they keep thinking what if she did this. They were very devastated by loosing most of their happy glider family. I am sorry this was so long. Thanks for taking the time to read it.
|
| Posted by: | Debbie, delliott@telocity.com | | Subject: | none | | When: | 10:13 PM, 07 Dec 2000 | | IP: | 216.227.111.97 |
I don't have much experience at all with these, but I wonder if we just have not studied these animals adequately in the wild... Maybe we're missing something? For instance, we are pretty smart about dialysis for patients in renal failure, yet our technological efforts do not sustain people as well as nature, and they will slowly get sicker and sicker. That is why they eventually need a kidney transplant. It could be the same with the gliders. We are doing our best but we do not simulate their natural environment well enough perhaps... The physical and psychological effects of captivity may be more of a burdon to these non-domesticated animals than we realize.
Also I think these gliders do not show that they are unhealthy, as to do so in the wild where predators can pick up on the slightest weakness would be sure death. So we can't really pick up on it until they are actually completely compromised and extremely ill. That is why they seem to get sick so fast, or are found dead after being "the picture of health" the day before.
I'd be interested in how the more experienced glider owners feel about this. Meanwhile, I'm going to do a pretty good job (will do my best) of giving my gliders what they need, and enjoying their company and "love".
| Posted by: | Barb, blooprints@yahoo.com | | Subject: | none | | When: | 11:42 PM, 07 Dec 2000 | | IP: | 63.178.66.247 |
Do you know what kind of diet the gliders were being fed? I wonder if they were lacking something in it....I have had gliders 5 years and have not had anything like that happen....I did lose one male I got from a breeder; he was perfectly healthy, but died suddenly one day. The autopsy did not reveal anything: The vet said that all organs were healthy, that he could not find anything wrong with the glider...
| Posted by: | Mary/Beck, intr01dc@frank.mtsu.edu | | Subject: | none | | When: | 2:51 PM, 08 Dec 2000 | | IP: | 12.77.80.176 |
Without those gliders having a necropsy there is no way to know what happened. Gliders are still very new to the US and unfortunatly soem gliders do die for what appears to be suddenly and for no reason. However since gliders do hide their illnesses and injuries...it may be that the gliders were not as healthy as they thought.
KNowning what diet they were on would help a lot. If the mother did both in then it is liekly because she did not have enough protien or calcuim un her body...but she didn't eat the male so I doubt that happened.
In the wild the colony will eat a glider that is already dead. The reason for this is to protect their comlony from attracting others. In the case of the baby it could be that he died of somethign else and she ate him to protect herself.
This is all speculation...there is no way of knowing without the necropsies being done.
|
| 
Home
Glider Gossip
Gliderpedia
Journals
Resources