After the tragic loss of all three of my gliders, I didn't think I'd want to own any anymore. Come to find out, those painful memories served as the greatest learning tool I could have ever imagined.
I got Jacobi and Dakota when I was 14, and Atreyu roughly a year later. That was a huge mistake that I made that my babies had to pay for.

The first one to pass was Atreyu. Dakota bit his tail (more like tried to eat it), and he was vetted and was in recovery. I came home and found him cold on the bottom of his cage. The vet presumed that he may have caught an infection in his tail and we didn't catch it before it took him away.

Second was Dakota. To this day, her death remains a mystery. I can't help but wonder if there was a disease floating around, considering I lost both her and Atreyu so close to one another. I'll never know, though. A necropsy wasn't performed on either of them, and I deeply regret it to this day.

Last was Jacobi. I had moved in with my (now ex) boyfriend and had to downgrade her cage to accommodate our small living space. (Both of us in his room). She managed to escape her cage, and we always had the door open. I put food out, and set her pouches around the yard, along with putting her cage outside, but I never saw her after that.

I'm forever grateful to my parents who were willing to pay the $1,000+ vet bills that just Atreyu and Jacobi racked up in a 2 month span. (Dakota also bit Jacobi's tail, resulting in amputation shortly after she got Atreyu's tail).
However, I know more could have been done for them, but my parents did more than they should have had to. They were my responsibility, and I wasn't able to afford the vet care that I should have been able to give them.
I educated myself in glider care, but that doesn't make up for these magnificent creatures' financial demands.

I've grown up a lot since then, and I can attest to the fact that young people should not own sugar gliders. You can be thoroughly educated in their care, but when it comes down to it, a 15 year old can't pay the vet bills that these exotic animals need when disaster strikes.

I feel as if I'm walking on egg shells among the glider community, as the loss of my gliders is shrouded in so much mystery, but honestly no one will ever know what happened to Atreyu or Dakota. Not even me. I wish I knew the answers.

 

Konotashi
Member since: Dec 8, 2008
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