"There's a Bathroom on the Right"

It was a few years ago when I started hearing a radio commercial for some new smoothie type drink. I heard that commercial numerous times, and I thought they called the product "lightweight keefer".  A year or so later when we were picking up Virga and Cirrus from their previous owner, she told us that they liked kefir (didn't  know the correct spelling at the time), a yogurt-like drink. So, we went to the store to find some, and there it was on the shelf -" Lifeway Kefir".  I told M that I head been hearing this commercial for this stuff and what I thought it had been called. It was much like the stories you hear about people who totally misunderstand song lyrics, such as Creedence Clearwater's "Bad Moon Rising". The correct lyric is "there's a bad moon on the rise" (just in case you forgot).

It turned out that all four of our gliders like kefir, and M has resumed giving them some a couple of times a week in the afternoon.  Cirrus really likes her kefir, and is usually the first nose to appear when it's time. M dips her finger in it and lets them lick it off, but for Cirrus that's not always fast enough, and there are three others competing with her for licks! So, she often helps herself while M takes care of the other three.

Cirrus helping herself to some kefir.

Everyone, to the Shirt!

The disadvantage to having playtime in the office is that the gliders can avoid us if they want as there are many places for them to curl up in. On some nights they run, climb, and jump all over the place, and other times they try and find a place to nap, especially CB and Foehn. When we are in the tent it's a more confined space and there are fewer places to hide.  Last fall and winter CB made a habit of climbing into my shirt and curling up for a 20 to 30 minute nap before he would come out and play. That's hard for him to do in the summer when I'm wearing t-shirt most of the time. With the recent cooler weather M has been wearing a sweatshirt in the office during playtime.  CB has found that is the perfect place for a nap, and now dives right in after meal worms have been served. Foehn sometimes joins him. Typically Virga and Cirrus spend their time being active - running in the wheel, chasing around the office, and like tonight, climbing on the window screen trying to get at a fly trapped on the other side. Last night we were both in here with the gliders.  M was browsing on the computer, and after a few minutes I noticed that it was very quiet - no wheel noise, no climbing on the screen, and no rapid patter of glider feet on the floor.  "How many do you have in your shirt?", I asked.  "Three.", said M. I grabbed the flashlight (red light) to look for the missing glider. I checked the climbing tree, behind the desk, in the extra pouches, and no glider.  "It's time for a head count", I said to M. She pulled down the zipper of the sweatshirt and we looked in where at first, there was just a ball of grey fur. Within a few seconds four pairs of dark eyes were looking up at us with that "What??" look. All gliders present and accounted for!

Only three are visible here - Foehn in the back, Virga middle, and Cirrus front.
CB is tucked in behind Foehn and probably still asleep.

Redecorating

Well, baseball season and the summer are over, so it was time to make the seasonal change in cage decor. M removed the artificial ivy and the Cubs cage accessories last weekend, and autumn leaves and Halloween have taken their place. This cage decor includes a witches hat sleep pouch which the gliders really like. It hangs in the middle of the cage and has a smallish opening (at least compared to a standard pouch), and the bottom is big enough for them to spread out, and secure enough for them to snuggle together. It's probably more like a tree nest, which they would likely have in the wild. When they begin to stir and start grooming at night, the whole hat sort of vibrates as it hangs from the top of the cage. Usually not long after a head will peek out the opening, and Virga or Cirrus will climb out and head for the wheel until it's time to go to the office. CB and Foehn wait until we have brought them into the office for play time before poking their heads out. They know meal worms are waiting for them.

The witches hat sleeping pouch

Cirrus peeking out before climbing out tonight.

Welcome to the Colony

For the last week or so the gliders have been giving M a lot of attention during their play time. Virga and Cirrus, and usually CB, have been spending  good amount of time grooming M's arm. In the past maybe one of the gliders would groom us, but to have three going at it was unusual. This wasn't just for a few seconds, either - they were very persistent and thorough. Most of the time they are licking her arm, but sometimes Virga gets a little too enthusiastic and starts using her teeth. M has to take her off and tell her "no". Her arm ended up with tiny bruises from Virga's nips.

 M is the Queen of Treats, the Mistress of Mealworms, so their attention to give M isn't hard to understand.  Virga and Cirrus, in particular, head to the door when she enters the room. Their grooming her is a sign of acceptance and trust. (Either that, or her arm tastes like yogurt or mealworms).

Virga (top), Cirrus, and CB (bottom) at work grooming M

M's Special Time

While we were away on vacation up north the gliders seemed to sense it was a time for relaxing as well. Most nights they slept until 10:00 p.m. or later, and I often had to take them into the tent and encourage them to come out so they could get some play time in. Since we have been home they have returned to their normal routine, especially Virga.  She is almost always the first one up at night, usually sometime around 9:30 or so.  Often our first sign that she is up is when we hear her in the wheel. As soon as Virga sees us she usually leaves the wheel and comes to the front of the cage waiting for her "ride" into the office. M is often the first to the cage, and Virga climbs on to her arm and stays on her arm or shoulder for the short trip to the office.  I think they both look forward to their little ritual.  Virga and M seem to have quite the bond between morning yogurt, the trip to playtime, and their meal worm snack. Lately Virga has been spending time grooming M's arm, essentially giving her arm a bath. Cirrus sometimes joins in as well, and as M says, it's hard to believe two little tongues can get you so wet.

Vacation Escapade

This has been a crazy six weeks.  Since the middle of July I have been gone two full weeks, and then last week M and I headed to northern Wisconsin to enjoy a week in the Northwoods with good friends of ours. I have had little time to blog about the gliders until now. As was the case last year, the gliders accompanied us on the trip up north. We were much better prepared this year and departure and travel went without out a hitch. We spent one night in a hotel, a La Quinta Inn, which are pet-friendly. It was clean, comfortable, and we all got a good night's rest, or play, in the case of the furry four.

During our week up north I tried to spend some time in the tent each night with them. They all were "sleeping in" during our week up north, and frequently were still asleep at 10:00 or 10:30 p.m.  Normally at home they are up and around sometime around 9:30 p.m. On Wednesday night we wrapped up play time and they all climbed into the pouch for the trip back to the cage. Their travel cage is a portable "pet playpen" with a top that zips on. I opened up the top an placed them on the floor. They all came out of the pouch, but Cirrus climbed back up my arm and didn't seem to want to get off. Finally, I coaxed her down and zipped the top closed.


Sometime around 4:00 a.m. M got up to use the restroom and on the way out the bedroom door heard barking coming from the tent. I left the tent up in a loft area in the cabin. It was out of the way and I didn't have to fold it up each night. Anyway, at first M didn't quite comprehend what she was hearing, as she was still sleepy and not expecting to hear barking from the tent. She checked it, and sure enough it turns out Foehn was in the tent. After a few minutes of coaxing she as finally able to gather Foehn up and bring her back to the cage. In the meantime I had awakened to M talking to Foehn, shocked that she was out. We thoroughly checked the cage to make sure that someone had not chewed through the screening or tunneled through the floor. Everything as intact as far as we could tell. What likely happened was that Foehn climbed out while I was dealing with Cirrus and I never noticed her leaving. They move so fast that she was probably out of sight before I finished with Cirrus. Fortunately, she chose to head at some point to the tent which was familiar to her. M thinks Foehn was barking to attract her attention. I couldn't believe I didn't see her leave.  There are a dozen other places she could have ended up in the cabin where we would have had a difficult time finding her, and possibly with a tragic outcome. Needless to say, from that point on I made sure to do a head count after things were all zipped up for the night. Other than that little incident, all of us had a relaxing time, and they are all back to their regular routine at home.

It's All in the Presentation

Sugar gliders are still relatively new in the pet world, in the last 10 years or so. Since they are an exotic and relatively new as pets, you can't go to your local pet superstore and buy a bag of glider chow.  Diets have been developed over the years to try and meet the nutritional needs of gliders. There must be a good balance of protein, vitamins and minerals. In particular there should be a 2 to 1 ratio of calcium to phosphorus in their diet. Too little calcium or poor calcium uptake can result in several health issues, most notably Hind Leg Paralysis, of HLP. Most of the diets developed are a variation of the Leadbeaters Mix as a staple, and then additional fruits and vegetables. We use one called the Blended Diet, and our gliders have done very well on it. I wrote in an earlier post about how we started to see significant weight gain in the gliders when we had a feeding station for each of them. So, each night, M usually is the one who "plates" their dinner and places the glider kitchens in the cage while they are playing in the office or tent. Some owners just place the food, especially the fruits and vegetables, on the floor of the kitchen. The staple diet is liquid (about 1.5 teaspoons) and has to be in some sort of dish. Well, we found some nice "tasting plates" on clearance at a local Pier One Imports, and that's what we use for their fruits and vegetables.

Four dishes of Blended Mix Diet (top),
and the fruit (melon) and vegetable (bok choy) servings.

One dish of each is placed in a glider kitchen, and the kitchens are placed in the cage. Each kitchen (plastic storage containers we purchased)  has two 2.5 inch holes cut in the side for access.  Gliders like to play with their food, and they also tend to flick it around, so the kitchens contain the mess. They sure have made my life easier when it comes to cleaning the cage every week.

The kitchens are loaded and ready to be placed in the cage.