Cold, limp glider?

[Marie]

Ok, seeing as it's so cold at the minute, and a few people seem to be having problems, here's what to do if you find your glider (adult or joey) cold and limp either in the pouch or on the cage floor.

It's equally important to get your suggie warm and to get fluids into it.  I have a glider warming pouch, so on finding the glider, pick glider up and put somewhere warm - inside your bra is an ideal place while you warm the pouch and check it's not too hot, you should be able to put your hand inside it comfortably (the pouch that is!).

While the pouch is warming mix some gliderade, and gather a syringe, jar of honey (the ONLY time I ever use honey), cotton wool buds (remove the cotton wool bit off the ends) and some kitchen towel.  Depending on how bad your suggie is you may or may not need the honey.  Gliderade is usually enough to help most suggies, but if your glider's blood sugar level has dropped to near critical/fatal then you will need it.

The pouch should be warmed by now, check the temp, and if it's ok put the suggie inside, leave the head poking out of one of the open sides.  It will be alot easier if you sit down, so ... sit down!  Hold the pouch so the glider is upright and facing you and try syringing a drop of gliderade on to the lips just underneath the nose (where the top teeth stick out), hopefully the joey should react and take the fluid in and swallow it.  If it doesn't DON'T give up!  If they refuse to accept the g/ade I blow on them gently which tends to get a reaction. 

It's important to warm both the glider's belly and back, if you've ever felt the temperature of a glider in this condition it's shocking, they are FROZEN!!  They have no energy left to even manage the tiniest bit of body heat.

If the suggie is not responding, not accepting or swallowing then you will need to try and sneak some fluid in the side.  In between  the bottom front teeth and the teeth in the cheek there is a gap, lift the gum and put some fluid into the gap.  If there is still no reaction then it's serious!!

So what I would do next is try and raise the blood sugar, this is where the cotton wool less buds come into play.  Unless you are ambidextrous then you may need another pair of hands, one cotton wool bud is to open the mouth, insert the end (minus the cotton wool) into the gap between the teeth and gently try and open the mouth, you may need to get the other person to hold the mouth open while you put a dollop of honey on the tongue.  This does not require swallowing or chewing for the sugars to enter the system, drip in a little more gliderade too.

You won't see instantaneous results, but it won't be long before you do see some improvement.  Once there is a little improvement then try dripping g/ade onto the lips again, if there's no reaction, open the mouth in the same way as before and drip the gliderade directly into the mouth. Rub the throat to encourage swallowing.

After the sug has 'come round', I offer food, s/he will be starving, oatmeal and agave nectar (if they will eat it), it's made with boiled water so it's warming for them (obviously don't feed it while it's hot but make sure it is WARM.)  Feed then as soon as you can and increase the amount for that night.

This is what has worked for me in the past, it's not a guarantee that it will save your suggies life but it has saved a few here.

And finally ... NEVER place your glider in to a cooking appliance to try and warm him up (I know you're not stupid but it still needs to be said)!!

[tillie]

Thanks Marie, its good to be prepared

[Angi]

Very useful info, its always good to know what to do in the case of various emergencies.

[jungleflockmom]

This emergency occurs when gliders slide into a natural state of torpor. In the wild, if the temp drops a bit and their food sources are limited, gliders can become torpid to preserve their resources for a short while.

In captivity, this is a bigger problem and no one wants to just wait and see if they "wake up". Try to keep the temp in a comfortable range w/plenty of blankies in their pouches and a comfortable temp at night for playing. Don't ramp up the heat as too warm is as bad as too cold. Just a comfortable temperature will avoid torpor.

[hday]

phew!!! read the title and thought someone else was having problems!!!

yep good info marie thanks!
and yep can testify glideraid in over an hour makes huge difference (phil did it too me once has been fine since and not sure why it happened as temperature the same - reckoned it was maybe that he hadnt liked the food and then lil nicked some and then he got cold as he was low on fuel)

and if you dont have a bra!!! think there are a few non females on here and I hadnt thought to use mine!
then a  bonding pouch next to your skin seemed to work well and meant phil was at right height and angle for me to use both hands
(every few mins inbetween warming him inside pouch and jumper!)
he was ok enough when it happened to lick and then eventually drink the glider aid/yogurt i fed him
and then had cat biscuit when brighter!

[Marie]

Torpor in the wild is ok as they live in colonies, so the body drops temps but not too far, in captivity though, two or three suggies don't seem to be able to prevent the temp from continuing to drop, maybe there's just not enough of them, and why does one drop and not the others hmmmmmmm .....  any number of things I suppose, probably not eaten enough to sustain them.

I did have a problem tonight which is what spurred me into starting the thread, it's not written quite as eloquently as I'd like but I did have a joey in the warming pouch on my lap at the time!!

My female that had 2 joeys for the first time ever, well last night at about 6pm I went up to look for a bowl I'd forgotten to pick up and one of the 9 week OOP joeys was on the floor of the cage curled up on her own, not normal, scooped her up and I thought she was dead!!  Honest to god I almost gave up trying to get anything in her, no signs of life, I couldn't see her breathing, her limbs were stiff, if it wasn't for the odd slight ear movement I'd have passed her for dead!  I was even thinking the ears were moving because I was moving skin as I touched her! I still cant believe I managed to bring her around.  I've split her from her parents now as well as her sister as I did see dad bullying one of them the night before.  He's going to be snipped I think, girlie deserves to retire anyway.  This breeding thing really jangles your nerves!!!!

Oh yes - thanks for reminding me Helen, after the sug has 'come round', I offer food, I give the usual fruit/veg mix with egg, I don't offer the cat biscuits as I think egg is easier for them to eat.  Fortunately, last night I'd already prepared the suggies food with egg before I found her!!

[Mark]

aww poor little thing, is she ok now?

[roxyandboys]

this is a similar emergency tactic for if you find any of your animals sick and lifeless, it has helped me to bring around several rodents in the past.

Recently when Scrap became sick i eventually mixed Fruit Sugar into warm water along with the honey - this helped (although he later died) and would be a good alternative if you happen to run out of glideraide or infact you're treating something which isn't a glider!

Although i do not have a glider warming pouch i do have several old socks which have been stuffed with rice, about a min in the microwave turns them into little heat pads.

Also, i think it's worth investing in a couple of feeding syringes or bottles, they're only 3 or 4 squids in P&H and make this kind of feeding so much easier and less messy (imo)

How is you little joey now Marie?

[hday]

hope said joey is back on form now and well fed up
(and you had some sleep marie!)

re boosting sugars - basic medical priniciple - the british hot sugary cup of tea after a shock is for that very reason!
and if a human is hyperthermic whilst warming them they will give a stimulant and sugar
(with us tend to use glucose as it is a 'simple' sugar so quickly absorbed) which is the advantage of glideraid type things rather than just a bag of sugar!

infact quickest sugar boost (if only a mild one is needed) is a glass or pure orange juice....obviously dont use for gliders due to the acid! but it is important that is then followed up with a more slow releasing complex carbohydrate to prevent a peak and then trough in sugars

[Marie]

Honey is a simple sugar too which is why I used it, it's instantly absorbable and it did the trick, as about a minute after putting a dollop into her mouth an eye opened ... just the one though!! 

She's doing ok now, she ate last night, really tucked in bless her.  So, fingers crossed she'll be ok. 

[roxyandboys]

pleased to hear she is doing well marie. 

[Marie]

I'm bumping this up to the top - winter is coming!!! 

[Rhianna]

this is great marie.

good for letting newbie owners and those less experienced in an emergency know what to deal with.

i have already got my chins ready for winter. i have stocked up the hay in their cages, they look like they are in a nativity in the stable where jesus what born, thats how much hay is in! lol

my little one has extra hay with her only being a baby and soo tiny like! she loves her hay!

holly is sitting all snug in her bag with a mountain of baby blue cotton wool stuff! not sure what else i can do to her cage to keep it warm. she is next to a heat source i guess (pipes run behind the wall behind her cage), but better safe then sorry.

[Asim-Liam]

Ok, seeing as it's so cold at the minute, and a few people seem to be having problems, here's what to do if you find your glider (adult or joey) cold and limp either in the pouch or on the cage floor.

It's equally important to get your suggie warm and to get fluids into it.  I have a glider warming pouch, so on finding the glider, pick glider up and put somewhere warm - inside your bra is an ideal place while you warm the pouch and check it's not too hot, you should be able to put your hand inside it comfortably (the pouch that is!).

While the pouch is warming mix some gliderade, and gather a syringe, jar of honey (the ONLY time I ever use honey), cotton wool buds (remove the cotton wool bit off the ends) and some kitchen towel.  Depending on how bad your suggie is you may or may not need the honey.  Gliderade is usually enough to help most suggies, but if your glider's blood sugar level has dropped to near critical/fatal then you will need it.

The pouch should be warmed by now, check the temp, and if it's ok put the suggie inside, leave the head poking out of one of the open sides.  It will be alot easier if you sit down, so ... sit down!  Hold the pouch so the glider is upright and facing you and try syringing a drop of gliderade on to the lips just underneath the nose (where the top teeth stick out), hopefully the joey should react and take the fluid in and swallow it.  If it doesn't DON'T give up!  If they refuse to accept the g/ade I blow on them gently which tends to get a reaction. 

It's important to warm both the glider's belly and back, if you've ever felt the temperature of a glider in this condition it's shocking, they are FROZEN!!  They have no energy left to even manage the tiniest bit of body heat.

If the suggie is not responding, not accepting or swallowing then you will need to try and sneak some fluid in the side.  In between  the bottom front teeth and the teeth in the cheek there is a gap, lift the gum and put some fluid into the gap.  If there is still no reaction then it's serious!!

So what I would do next is try and raise the blood sugar, this is where the cotton wool less buds come into play.  Unless you are ambidextrous then you may need another pair of hands, one cotton wool bud is to open the mouth, insert the end (minus the cotton wool) into the gap between the teeth and gently try and open the mouth, you may need to get the other person to hold the mouth open while you put a dollop of honey on the tongue.  This does not require swallowing or chewing for the sugars to enter the system, drip in a little more gliderade too.

You won't see instantaneous results, but it won't be long before you do see some improvement.  Once there is a little improvement then try dripping g/ade onto the lips again, if there's no reaction, open the mouth in the same way as before and drip the gliderade directly into the mouth. Rub the throat to encourage swallowing.

After the sug has 'come round', I offer food, s/he will be starving, oatmeal and agave nectar (if they will eat it), it's made with boiled water so it's warming for them (obviously don't feed it while it's hot but make sure it is WARM.)  Feed then as soon as you can and increase the amount for that night.

This is what has worked for me in the past, it's not a guarantee that it will save your suggies life but it has saved a few here.

And finally ... NEVER place your glider in to a cooking appliance to try and warm him up (I know you're not stupid but it still needs to be said)!!

This is happening to my glider right now!!

[Marie]

Now?  Is it cold where you are?  Is your glider poorly?  

Follow the instructions, get him/her warm top and bottom and get some fluids and honey in to him.  

If you bring him round, then a vet check would be a good idea as this sort of thing normally happens during the winter when they can't maintain their body temps because of illness.