So I think I just saw our Sugar Glider give birth..

[Burnett09]

Definitely something strange going on in the lower regions of our female sugar glider Daisy tonight.

Shes in her pouch on my desk, (Dexter our male glider is in my T-shirt) and she was making a slight crabbing noise for maybe 1 second every 30 seconds or so and licking her cloaca and pouch. All I can see is something in/around her cloaca thats brown or red (im colour blind  ) and really shiney and her licking away. She was doing this for possibly 15 minutes and has now spent 10 minutes cleaning herself and it has now disappeared and she seems to have curled up and gone to sleep. It wasnt a daily clean and was quite out of character for her to make noises on her own so thats why I was intrigued.

Im not sure if anything was prolapsed as nothing is sticking out now, shes awake again and cleaning herself all over like normal now. Last night she wasnt gliding at all where as Dexter seemed to be fine jumping about (once he had had 45 minutes to wake up!!!)

Did I witness a birth or could it be something else? Anyone know what im talking about  :hope:

[bubbles]

well not an expert but it does sound like one... i know kangaroos like a scent trail for the joey to follow.  were you expecting a baby?

[Burnett09]

We never got our male neutered to begin with as we wanted to let them at least mate once so it really was inevitable that it would happen. I just wanted to see if anyone had a similar idea to confirm it  

She seemed in no pain as as curious as I was to find out what was happening  

I guess its just wait and see time to see if her pouch starts to fill out.

In the mean time if anyone could post a list of things that we should have ready for anything or incase of an emergency it would be a great help. Ive seen lists from googling and its all american info and stuff.  

[jungleflockmom]

If all is well, the joey made its way into her pouch. The critical thing is that the joey stay attached to a nipple so resist the urge to peek. Just wait and see if she develops that critical lump or two in her pouch.

[Burnett09]

Well, after my girlfriend doing a little research this morning this is definitely what I saw crawling on Daisys tummy up to the pouch  :hope:

http://www.sugarglider.com/glidergossip/topic.asp?ARCHIVE=true&TOPIC_ID=10695&whichpage=1

I just hope everything goes well. Sadly not all did in the post above.

[Rakuen]

I'll keep my fingers crossed for you :hope:

[Rakuen]

http://www.sugar-glider.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=65.0 This should help, incase the worst does happen. Hopefully it won't though

[Burnett09]

Thanks for the link. Ill have a good read 

What happens about exercise for the female? Surely bringing her out so she can glide about is a little concerning. Is there usual method?

[Marie]

You're very lucky to actually witness a birth, it's very rare you get to see something like that! 

Just carry on as normal, the female will know her limits.  How do you think they cope in the wild?  They still have to eat, all you need to be careful of is if you pick her up, don't grab her around her pouch area.  You risk dislodging the joey from the nipple and it will die.

[Burnett09]

Thanks for the info! I guess its okay for her to glide about then. I think we'll let her if she wants to if not she'll be coming out just for a little play around and nothing too OTT.

I guess it explains why they were not eating as much.

Do we need to change or improve her diet or should everything be kept as it is?

Maybe she bit all of Dexters whiskers off for him getting her pregnant 

Again thanks for the feedback 

[Marie]

A diet with a ca:p ratio of 2:1 should be fine throughout, just increase her protein a little bit, add an extra 2 - 3 biccies to the food. 

Honestly though, mum WILL know her limitations, you don't need to change anything.  If she wants to glide she will, gliding takes less effort than using the feet and legs .

[Burnett09]

Thanks, doing that is no hassle.

Marie, do you know if its normal for her to "clean" more around/in her pouch now she has a baby in there? I presume its a normal thing and not too much to worry about but just thought we would check 

[Burnett09]

Okay just a little update. Daisy is doing well and has a nice bump. We can see the baby/her tummy move now and again too. Hopefully not too long until we see a random glider arm coming out  

[Marie]

Hi, sorry I missed your reply before last!! Yes it is normal for mum to clean the pouch more often when there is a joey residing in there. If you're seeing random limbs it should be within the next week or two.

[Burnett09]

Thanks Marie, no worries! I hope it all goes smoothly for her and she doesn't reject the baby. Fingers crossed!  :hope: