Weighing in on the Weigh-In

We weigh each of the gliders every week to monitor their overall health. Drastic changes in weight can mean onset of a health problem, just like in humans. Cirrus was a wisp of a glider when she came to us, just 59 grams. Her small size, for a 7-year old glider, was a bit of concern. This past October she reached 70 grams, a milestone for her. This weekend, Cirrus was 85 grams for the second week in a row! Despite her weight, she still feels small when you pick her up.

All of the gliders have been slowly gaining weight. Virga actually was dropping weight early this winter, and was down to about 82 grams in January. She weighed in at 105 grams this week. CB is 97 grams, up from around 89 grams in January. Foehn is the only one who's weight has remained fairly steady, 82 grams at this week's weighing. In looking at their weight data, it appears the weight gain began about the time we started using four "glider kitchens" in the cage rather than two. That gives each glider an opportunity to claim their own feeding spot and lessens the chance that any of them get shut out of eating. Prior to that we had just put in two kitchens, but with enough food for four. We're not quite sure why Foehn isn't gaining much, but on the other hand she isn't losing weight, either.

This a graph of the 4-week moving average of Cirrus' weight. The 4-week average smooths out the week to week weight fluctuations and makes it easier to see a trend in the data.

Cruisin'

Sunday is weigh day, when we weigh each of the gliders and chart their weight.  So, today after breakfast I went to get things set up. Usually M coaxes them out of the pouch with some yogurt, and when they venture out I take them one by one in separate pouch to weigh them and then bring them back. When they all have been weighed, they get some mealworms and then head back to sleep.

The last step in prep is to get them from the cage.  Usually it's a matter of just unhooking the pouch they are sleeping in and bringing it in the office. There are currently three pouches in the cage, one large one and two smaller ones. I first checked the large pouch, and no gliders. OK, no problem...sometimes they split up and go in different pouches. I check the first of the two smaller pouches, and no gliders. I check the second, and it's empty. In a bit of panic I quickly check all the doors on the cage and thankfully they are closed. The only other place they could be is the boat on the bottom of the cage.  I reached in to check the boat and as soon as I touched it there was some crabbing. Sure enough, all four gliders were tucked back in the boat. This was a first for them - they always have slept in their pouch, or at least in a blanket on the floor of the cage.  So, I picked up the boat and brought it into the office. M called to them, and  four little heads peeked out to see what all the fuss was about.

The toy boat in the cage where I found them sleeping

Cirrus gets a few licks of yogurt while Foehn and CB peek out. Virga was hanging back.

Cheap Fun

A week on the road and a week battling the flu has kept me away from the blog lately. There are a few new things going on with the gliders. Two weeks ago M was at one of her favorite stores, Big Lots, and picked up a strange but cheap cat toy.  It consists of a 12" plastic "fishing pole", on which is tied an elastic string.  At the end of the string is something that looks like a rabbit's foot with a couple of ribbons hanging out the back.  We used to have a feather thing that the gliders liked to play with but they pulled the feathers out of it.

This inexpensive cat toy turns out to be way more fun.The three girls chase "it" around and wrestle it, but CB is the fun one to watch. He is the hunter. He doesn't chase it, he pounces on it from his "hidden" position! He grabs with his teeth and front paws and hangs on. When I pull pack he tries to dig his rear legs in and hold on.  He eventually lets go, I toss it back in his direction and we do it all over again. All four gliders enjoy this and it gives them more interaction  with us and something more to do than just climb and jump in the room.

Our Glider Enigma

It's hard describe Foehn's personality, and one reason it has taken me so long to write this last "personality profile".

When we picked up Foehn and CB, Foehn sat in the pouch and crabbed and lunged at the sides of the pouch most of the way home, while CB snoozed away the whole trip. She was obviously scared,  Foehn has always been a little skittish, and we're pretty sure part of that has to do with their living conditions at the breeder's. If she wants to climb on you or be handled it's on her terms, not yours.  Yet, she readily bonded with Virga and Cirrus. Of course, she and CB get along very well.

Foehn is the "housekeeper". Sugar gliders don't normally relieve themselves where they sleep (i.e. their pouch).  When we first got Foehn and CB, CB would occasionally relieve himself in the pouch in the morning, mostly because they were still a little scared and uncertain and didn't want to leave the security of the pouch. Boy, would Foehn get on his case about that, hissing and "tsking" at him.  Virga and Cirrus also had the same problem the first month or two they were here, mostly because they were in an unfamiliar place, scared, and didn't want to leave the pouch.  When all four of them finally got together as a colony, Foehn was none to happy with a messy pouch. Fortunately, everyone got along well and Virga's and Cirrus' stress levels went down. So did Foehn's.

Foehn likes the security of her pouch. During play time she is content to sit at the opening of the pouch watching me or letting me pet her. If and when she's had enough petting she will give me a gentle bite on the finger to let me know. Foehn is very gentle and careful taking treats from our hand - she's almost dainty about it. She doesn't particularly like to be held, although once in a great while she will sleep in my hand. Sometimes, when she does come out with the others she will run to a dark corner and groom herself and stays out of the action.  Yet, when she does decide to join the the others running around she has no qualms about jumping on us and climbing up to our shoulder.

All four of our gliders have distinctly different personalities, and if we could not tell them apart by their physical appearance we certainly can by their behavior and personalities. Thar part of what makes them so interesting, and loveable.

More Fun

The gliders have continued to be rather active during "office" time, which has made it a lot more fun for me. I think part of their activity is because they were sleeping through the day without their afternoon snack. They were rested, more more importantly, they knew that they were getting mealworms once they were out and around. That always gets their attention!

One of their discoveries this week was the screens on the office window. Periodically one of them, usually CB,  has crawled up and down the screen n the past. CB likes to climb to the top and then (sometimes) jump off to me. This week, however, they were all on it at the same time climbing up to the top, then down to the bottom, and then back to the top. Part of the attractive might be that the window was open and a breeze was blowing.They had a pretty good time on it for awhile. Unfortunately, Foehn, in one of her more neurotic moments, managed to chew a hole in the nylon screen. The last thing we want is for one of them to open it up some more and decide to go on an adventure, so we'll need to keep that window closed when they are in here until I can fix or replace the screen.

The gliders' new climbing venue

Today was the warmest day of the spring so far (89°F) and humid, too. Tonight Virga was the first one on the screen. Several times I saw her stretched out, her legs and patagium extended, apparently enjoying the nice breeze the was coming in the window!

A Playful Night

The last several nights with the gliders during office playtime have been very low key. OK, almost boring. Tonight, however, was a refreshing change.  All the gliders have been having a great time running and climbing tonight, even Foehn.  Lately she has spent much of playtime in a corner grooming herself, or crawling into a blanket and resting. As I write this three gliders are in the wheel, and one is on my knee - can't tell who it is at the moment - getting ready to jump off to the tree. I can't quite explain all of energy and activity tonight, but they have been going full tilt for over an hour now. This week they have not been getting their afternoon snack because M has been occupied with our 1 1/2 year old grandson who is visiting and she hasn't had the time. So, they have been getting long days of uninterrupted sleep. That's been the case for the past four days, but this is the first night where they have been this playful. In fact, it has been a long time since they have all been this way.  I wish I knew why, but for now I'm just going to enjoy it.

Back to Normal

M said I missed a good photo op yesterday.  She had finished giving them their afternoon snack, and was sitting at the computer with the gliders in their bonding pouch hanging from around her neck. They were all settled in, and M was enjoying a cup of yogurt herself at the time. At one point she got caught up with what she was looking at on the computer and paused eating the yogurt with the spoon suspended above the pouch. A few seconds late she felt something and looked down. There was Virga with her head out of the pouch licking the spoon! 

After our little period of weirdness last week everything seems back to normal. The four gliders have been pretty active during their "office time", and they seem to have their appetites back.  All of them showed a small weight gain on Sunday's weighing which is encouraging.  Cirrus is now consistently holding her weight above 70 grams and has been a high as 76 grams.