This is a story of my family's glider named Tinkerbelle. I'd like to place this one into the hind leg paralysis because that's the closest to our assessment of her on the list.  She was born of a
pair in my hometown.  My brother came home on his spring break and he wanted a sugar glider.  Before his break I told him I knew a girl who had one, and eventually that led us to a breeder in town.  He went in one night and bought Tink basically on impulse. She was about 5 months old.
Despite the fact of the impulse buy I knew he'd be a good owner.  He loved her very
much.  We only spent 2 days with her and then my bro took her off to college with himself.
   They spent a good 2 months together and then my brother e-mailed me saying he didn't have enough time to spend with her.  I of course then welcomed Tink into my home with open arms.  I only was able to have her as my pet for 3 weeks.  As you can guess this isn't a story with a happy ending.
   I took her in and she slowly became adjusted to our home.  She began to jump and soar from the ceiling tiles and onto lamps and such.  2 nights before she got sick she began to play her favorite game.  She would crawl up my leg and up to my shoulder and then she'd jump onto the bed and
do this over and over and over....  It was quite entertaining, one of the best memories.  We had a very small cage and my friend and I wanted to build her a new one.  We went to Ace and bought wood for the frame, and galvanized steel caging.  We worked for probably 2 days on that thing, and it
was a work of beauty and one of love.  The night before we fed her some overripe mangos.  She ate them up as she did almost anything else.  The next day was the turning point.  We moved her into her new cage and of course she'd eaten the mangos.  Later that night she became very sluggish, and
didn't move around much.  We thought maybe she was tired or had a small flu or something.  We soon found out that nothing is small to a sugar glider.
   The bad part was the next week I had to attend Wyomings' Boys' State.  I went away from my sick baby and I regret it (though I probably could've done little).  My parents told me halfway during the week that she'd gotten a little better, but she still didn't jump like she used to.  I got home expecting a healthy glider, but she was the same.  She really didn't get any better or worse during the week that I was gone.  But no improvement was not enough.  I got home to Tink and wanted to play, we found that'd she'd only sit on our arms and hide her eyes from the lights.  We were a little worried but we waited.... For 2 nights she ate only a tiny bit.  On the 3rd day I was back she began to wheeze and we noticed she was having trouble breathing. Definitely a respiratory problem.  In a panic we took her to our breeder. She gave us some information and told us to go to the store and get some Pedyalyte and she gave us some calcium.  We gave Tink some of these things that night and she ate vegetables fairly well, this consoled us because she was eating and going to the bathroom.  This would be her last
night.  The next day we woke her up and gave her some food in the evening.  She wouldn't take it.  Nothing. She wouldn't drink.  It got to be about 11 o'clock and we then put some food in her bowl and put her into the cage for the night.  My Mom and I took turns holding her, we had a gut feeling that this
could be her last night.  I prayed that we were wrong but we weren't.  Mom and I went to bed.  My dad went in to check on her, and she'd gotten out of her cage. She was running on couch, we weren't sure if this was a good sign or bad. She hadn't been this active for quite some time.  He woke up my mom to tell her that she was running, and then when my dad returned Tink was under a blanket.  She had run her last steps.  She died at 11:30 pm. on June 12th.
   In hindsight of this poor babe's death, we wondered what it could've been.  No one really knew.
   One thing that contributed was our neglect to get her calcium.  We thought about it, but never acted.  Weak bones could've contributed to her death.  Also pneumonia can be triggered by lack of Vitamin D and calcium.
   Also her new, big, made in love cage, smelled like rust.  Maybe the rusty smell contributed to her respiratory problem.    Maybe it was the mangos, too ripe and ugly for a person to eat, but we
threw it to her.  Maybe there could've been bacteria or other stuff on the mangos.
   Maybe it was just the flu which nothing could've prevented.    Who knows? but our lack of action, definitely was wrong.
   My word to you.  If you have a glider, new or old, get it on some supplements.  Neocalglucon, Rowdy bush Powder, Super Preen, RepCal: all were recommended to me in the last of Tink's days.  Get them the supplements they need.  Feed them right.  I just heard that dry cat food can be
bad.  You learn of many no nos and stay away from them.  The first time that your glider gets sick, right away take it to a vet.  Especially look for an exotic one, but any vet can do stool an urine tests and such.  It could've saved my baby's life, now I'll never know.
   One thing I noticed in these last few days.  People in the sugar glider community come to your aid.  They're quick to offer advice and they want to hear how things work out.  I regret of what I have to tell them.    The people's love for these little animals are so great.  Sugar glider's are great pets!  Take care of your furry little pet, you never know when you won't have a glider anymore. Think of this story, and give your glider what they need, and you won't be sorry.
Joe Lopiccolo