Shy sick!!!!!!!!! She is my very 1st glider.

I got Shy out of her cage this morning because she was still out at 9:00 am and I tried to feed her mealies and yogis (her favorites) she didnt eat them though. She had a difficult time hanging on to me and going poop. She is extremely constipated and was apparently straining to go. My regular vet is a good vet but he isnt great with emergencies, but I found a vet in edmond 45 minutes from me that has 15 years of experience with gliders.The soonest appointment he can get me in is 4:30 this afternoon, but his secretary said she would call me if an earlier appointment became available. When I last weighed her last she was 62 grams isn't that small for a glider that is 2 1/2 years old? Any suggestions please would be very appreciated.

You could try some libby's pumpkin or a slice of orange and see if that helps her go. As for weight it really depends on her body size although it sounds alittle light to me. I have been weighing all my gliders every sunday so I can see weight changes easier and have a good baseline on what all my gliders weigh.

good luck , call me if you need anything

It's small, but some gliders are just small framed, my smalles is 72 grams and she is healthy, but she is just petite. What are you feeding them?

Thanks Janie. I wouldn't be so worried but everything she's done has really been out of character for her. She has her yearly well check up coming, but it's not for another week. She finally went poop, the first little bit was hard, btu then it came out more like a thin ribbon (quite a bit of ribbon, but a ribbon.) She's now in with her cagemates sleeping, she actually fell asleep on my shoulder, under my hair.

They eat HPW as their main diet and then I usually give them a couple of different fruits and vegetables. About twice a week they get yogurt and twice a week they get glideraide. Oh, and they get yogies and mealies (I usually put those in the foraging cups.

I think I am just reading that wrong...you do give fruits and veggies each nite right? You just switch them up a few times a week, correct?

They get fruits and veggies ev. But I switch up every night on the yogurt and glideraid. They get glideraide on Tuesday and Friday and then yogurt Monday and Thursday. I've been doing that for awhile now.

I know you are very worried. PLease let us know what the vet says after your visit.

Was the only poop she gave the little thin string of poop? Nothing else?
There are several things a vet can recommend for constipation.

I had a glider here that had constipation repeatedly for many months. He would strain so hard to poop that he would have a seizure. It was terrible. I tried so many things with him, and nothing worked for more than a day. So, we decided to get very serious and "overtreat" the constipation issue. We finally treated him with this:
prune baby food one day and pumpkin the next - repeated for 10 days.
that ferretlax stuff that they give ferrets - I can't remember the exact name, but I gave it to him once and then again 7 days later.
No yogurt for that 10 days (as yogurt can be binding)
Twice the amount of fruit and 1/2 the amount of veggies as normal - veggies tend to be binding as well.
Pedialyte mixed in the water for 10 days.
The addition of "gentle digest" powder (made by Ark Naturals) into one batch of staple food.

This seemed to regulate his system. He did not have a seizure at all during that 10 days and has not been constipated since.

I'm wishing you and Shy luck. Let us know how it goes.

I might be wrong but I think Papaya is good for the digestive tract also. It keeps things moving along if I am not mistaken.
Hope Shy feels better soon.

Hoping to hear good news! Please do update on how this little one is doing.

You are correct, papaya has a natural enzyme that helps aid in digestion. It's better for people too instead of loading up on tums, like my husband does.

Does the milk protein and soy protein clog up an already prone to clogging glider?

I love this new vet!! He was so gentle with her and really seems to know what he is doing. He asked me some questions about her diet and then went to weigh herm she is still at 62 grams. He said that yes she is a little underweight (as you can feel her bones.) After he examined her, he told me that her colon is rather large and she is somewhat compacted. He advised giving her small amounts os mineral oil every other day (he even flavored it with grape, lol.) Iff she still has no noticable improvement after a couple of days he wants me to contact him right away. He told me if he was not on duty the emergency vet that would be on duty also has quite a bit of experince with gliders, so not to worry about that. He also told me to try feeding glideraide more often along with watermelon and grapes (high fluid content.) I'm hoping this works.

Shy was the first glider that I was given and she means the world to me. It's hard to think about anything ever happeneing with her. She is the first one I see every evening and usually the last to go to sleep. She is always trying to make sure everyone else is taken care of before she sleeps for the day. I've always thought she would make a wonderful mother, but with her small stature and her being a rehome I would never think about letting her have joeys. It just scares me too much. What really amazes me is that even tho she is blind she has not let it slow her down at all. She still has more enery than all my glider combined, lol.

But anyway I'll keep everyone in the loop how it goes and thanks for all the well wishes, it really means alot. Love you guys

Andy - I hope that the treatment works for Shy!!! Sending prayers your way!!!

Paula