 | Posted by: | Sean, Rocky's dad, seanchristiansen@hotmail.com | | Subject: | Please help - worried fatherm | | When: | 10:31 PM, 02 Jan 2001 | | IP: | 209.240.221.102 |
A little under 24 hours ago, my wife posted a request for assistance on this board. To date she has had one response. I am a bit concerned at the relative lack of response thus far. We are home right now with our baby, Rocky and keep checking the boards every 5-10 minutes all night. I hope if people missed my wife's request, they will catch this one.
I have had Rocky, a 3 and a half year old male, for 3 years now. He is well bonded to myself and my wife, and up until December, he was the only glider we owned. We had been talking about possibly getting him a girlfriend and when my wife saw an ad in or paper for a female, we checked it out, and ended up purchasing Sydney, a female of about 16 months. She was hand tamed and a very docile loving glider, who took to us from the start. Since then, my wife and I spend lots of time every night with them, in our shirt pockets, sleeping on our lap, or hanging on our shoulder.
Rocky and Sydney took to each other well. We did not put them in the same cage right away, but we kept them adjacent to one another in seperate cages. At night all they did was hang on the bars and look at each other longingly. After a few weeks, we tested them out together and they snuggled up together and slept well. In fact when they were apart, they seemed to want to be together, like star struck lovers. We are interested in breeding them, and they seem to be very interested as well.
They don't fight, although every now and then you'll hear a brief squabble that seems to get over quickly, withing a few seconds. For the most part they look like two peas in a pod - my wife and I think it's cute!
The other night my wife noticed that Sydney seemed to be nipping at Rocky's extended genitalia and at first thought she was grooming it. Upon closer examinination, my wife reports that Sydndey was indeed biting at it. Rocky would hiss and push her away, and then start licking at it, and she would approach again and try to do the same thing. My wife immediately seperated the two of them, and last night they again hung on the bars of the cage gazing at one another all night. Sydney seems to miss Rocky and he, her. He doesn'tseem to want to get away from her and she doesn't look like she's out to intentionally hurt him, so we are in the air about what to do.
I examied Rocky's genitals, and they are not cut or bleeding, although he hasn't fully retracted the thing either as far as we can tell. I don't know if this is attributed to him being in perpetal heat or if its something worse. We have great fear of the possibilty of "self-mutilation" based on what we've read.
There are a lot of glider lovers on this board, so someone out there possibly knows our situation well, or at least knows more than we do. In the meantime we keep checking these posts anxiously every few minutes or so. I hope someone, if there is anyone out there will get this call, or if you don't know yourself, but know the person who might, please pass this S-O-S along to them, it would be very much appreciated. I think you all can understand when I say, that these aren't just our pets, they are like our babies, our children, our family.
Thank you for taking the time to read this and we will definitely be up tonight waiting for someone to respond.
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| Posted by: | Debbie, delliott@tulane.edu | | Subject: | I can't help you | | When: | 10:48 PM, 02 Jan 2001 | | IP: | 216.227.111.97 |
as I have absolutely no idea whether or not it is safe to keep them together. But I will lend my moral support so that you know we are not ignoring you. I hope you find your answer soon; sorry you are going through this.  Try e-mailing someone knowledgeable like Bourbon, Angie, Irish Creme, gosh there are dozens... OR another excellent way to get IMMEDIATE attention - actually this is what I suggest you do - is to join the chat room! Go there now. There is almost always someone experienced in glider ways there!! Good luck!!
| Posted by: | Chunker | | Subject: | none | | When: | 11:55 PM, 02 Jan 2001 | | IP: | 24.129.186.237 |
I don't want to get your hopes up by this post, because I certainly don't know the answer...
I just wanted to suggest the chat. Why don't you go in there and talk to the people. Maybe you'll get your answer...
| Posted by: | Chunker | | Subject: | none | | When: | 11:57 PM, 02 Jan 2001 | | IP: | 24.129.186.237 |
Alright... That other post wasn't there before... Terribly sorry...
| Posted by: | Rachel2, SugarGMommy@aol.com | | Subject: | none | | When: | 12:50 AM, 03 Jan 2001 | | IP: | 152.163.213.77 |
Sorry about that...I didn't respond to your wife's post because I just have no clue as to whether this is safe behavior or not. Maybe your male has learned his lesson since he has retracted his genitalia. Try putting them back together under close supervision and see if she does this again. Maybe let them eat together and play for a while. Then take her out for the night while you are asleep. Then the next night do the same, and the next night, and so on until you are confident that we won't be chewing on each other's privates.
| Posted by: | Barb, blooprints@yahoo.com | | Subject: | none | | When: | 1:56 AM, 03 Jan 2001 | | IP: | 63.180.14.110 |
I'm sorry but I can only reiterate that I believe you did not get any answers because no one seems to have them.....I have had gliders for nearly 5 years and never had to deal with something like that. My gliders have been healthy, so I'm virtually no help when it comes to issues like this. My thoughts are with you, and I wish I knew what to tell you....I think I'd try putting them back together. I really don't think the male would allow himself to be mutilated without putting up a fight - doen't make sense that he would. Good luck.
| Posted by: | Tessa, TeMaGa@aol.com | | Subject: | none | | When: | 2:06 PM, 03 Jan 2001 | | IP: | 152.163.213.206 |
It says that Rocky hasn't (has not) fully retracted his genitals. I've heard of this before and I suggest getting Rocky to the vets ASAP. A glider knowledgable one. I forget what causes this condition but it does have something to do with self mutilation. Do you have regular galvanized steel cages with no plastic coated protection? If so that could be the reason for your problem. Otherwise, there are a few other things that cause it. I think Bourbon would know the answer and I'm going to post her number because she said it is there for the using if anyone does have a glider problem so it's not like I'm putting up her phone number without permission. It's 931-552-4225. At least if your vet has never seen anything like this before, Bourbon can explain what research has been done on this situation and what can be done about it. I Would Strongly Recommend To NOT Put Them Together Until This Situation With Rocky's Genitals Is Over!! Not to scare you but if not taken care of, it could have serious consequences. Thanks and Good Luck!!! 
| Posted by: | Sean, Rocky's dad, seanchristiansen@hotmail.com | | Subject: | none | | When: | 10:58 PM, 03 Jan 2001 | | IP: | 209.240.220.143 |
Hi everyone,
I just wanted to thank you all for your help
and your concern regarding Rocky. Here's the
update on the little guy. I had also posted a
message at Glider Central and someone urged me to
keep his genitalia moist since he hadn't retracted it
yet, they suggested using mineral oil. I dashed to
the store because upon examination I found he had
dried out and it was already stuck to his fur. I
applied very little as I wanted to be safe incase
he started to lick himself. It seemed to work
because he retracted some last night and this
morning when I checked on him he had retracted
fully. Whew..Anyway I've not yet put he and
sydney together yet i wanted to wait until I was
absolutely sure he'd be ok before letting them
have playtime together again and even then I plan
to keep a close eye on them. We really do
appreciate all of your responses, your help and
concerns. I was so worried, we love that little
guy. I sure am glad we found this link, now we
just need to find a very good vet.
God bless you all for your kindness.
Angie, Sean, Rocky and Sydney
 
| Posted by: | Brittney Jones, chdrfry@hotmail.com | | Subject: | none | | When: | 11:52 PM, 03 Jan 2001 | | IP: | 65.6.222.166 |
I'm so glad everything is getting better. Hopefully it is nothing too serious and Rocky and Sydney can be together agian soon. Please keep us updated on how everything turns out.
Brittney
Kayla and Lily
Arnold, Katie, and thier twins
Sydney (aka Sid™)
| Posted by: | Barb, blooprints@yahoo.com | | Subject: | none | | When: | 12:09 AM, 04 Jan 2001 | | IP: | 63.178.69.39 |
I'm glad your little fellas ok. Thank you for sharing your findings...I am sure it will help someone else out in the future. Good luck and good gliding.
| Posted by: | Lu, frufru33@hotmail.com | | Subject: | none | | When: | 8:36 AM, 04 Jan 2001 | | IP: | 207.17.58.59 |
I'm sorry you had no response to your question promptly. I know Angie is always there for us... I'm glad all is well. Maybe it was just a coincidence that this happened while both babies were together. I think Sydney was curious
Wishing you all the best!!!
Lu & Winky
| Posted by: | Kat, Bookrat68@hotmail.com | | Subject: | none | | When: | 6:04 PM, 04 Jan 2001 | | IP: | 198.207.222.130 |
I just wanted to tell you his genitalia may have not been retracting because they had sex for too long. Ben's did that and I had to separate Ben and Joon for a week for him to heal. What happened is that Rocky pulled his groin muscle and couldn't retract his genitalia (at least that is what the vet told me) If I hear Ben and Joon going at it for longer that a couple of hours or if they won't come out to eat, I separate them for awhile for a breather. Hope Rocky is well and you are a good daddy. Kat
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