Rest In Peace: Cricky & Pika
(a.k.a. Grampa & Gramma)
When I adopted Cricky & Pika in January, 2003, Pika had a female joey in-pouch. On February 13, 2003, Bungobittah came out-of-pouch and is now my best breeding mother! Within a month, Pika was pregnant again and on May 22, 2003, Coobah came out-of-pouch. He is now the father of Carina's joeys. Since Cricky & Pika had Coobah, they did not have any more joeys. However, they were the proud grandparents of all joeys bred by Suz' Sugar Gliders! Sadly, Cricky passed away on November 20, 2006 and Pika passed away on March 12, 2007. They both lived very long lives and I was privileged to have them in my heart & home for their last 4 years here on earth. Since I was their 3rd or 4th home, at least, I do not know exactly when they came oop. However, based on my knowledge of them, I believe that they were about 13 years old when they passed away. I still miss them and always will.
This is my beautiful Pika at sunrise in West Virginia just a few days after Cricky passed away.
Pierre & Bungobittah
(a.k.a. Pepe & Bittah)
I adopted Pierre (a.k.a. Pepe) from a nice, young man who simply couldn't spend enough time with him. It took awhile for Pepe to get used to his new family. Now, Pepe is one of the sweetest gliders I've ever known.
Bittah with two of her joeys, Rodan (m) and Yukira (f), Spring 2007
Pepe & Bittah are beautiful gliders and wonderful parents. Bittah is the perfect little mother. She is excellent with the joeys both in-pouch & out. She even adopted a female joey, Allira, that was rejected by Mareki in July, 2004. Pepe is a fantastic father who really cares for and about his joeys. Once the joeys are old enough, he helps to take care of them so that Bittah can get some "free" time. He also adopted Allira and whenever she was in the nest with them, he loved to clean her & nuzzle her. Allira is now paired up with Gizmo (see below).
Pepe playing in the mums, Fall 2005
Coobah & Carina
Coobah is a handsome male glider who came o.o.p. on May 15, 2003. He is Pika & Cricky's son. He has a beautiful silver coat, and although he is on the smaller side for a male at only 92 grams, he makes up for size with speed & agility. It is so fun to watch him play in the small trees in my yard (as pictured). I don't worry about him running away because he is so well bonded to me, that even while I'm taking pictures of him, he is trying to jump onto me.
Carina is the most beautiful glider I own! Adopted from The Glider Playroom in NE Ohio in October, 2004, she is a very loving, wonderful mother. She loves her joeys so much that she keeps them in her pouch for an extra week or so. Carina (pictured below) is always the first glider to come out to see me each night when it's time for the gliders' breakfast!
Carina and Coobah forage for mealies, Spring 2007
DaisyMae & Luna
Luna was one of Pepe & Bittah's very first joeys and came oop on September 26, 2003. Originally adopted by my husband's cousin Alice, she came back to live with us in the fall of 2006. Now she is DaisyMae's companion. Luna is a very sweet glider. She is also my tiniest glider at only 76 grams.
Mareki
Mareki is DaisyMae's first joey. She looks almost identical to her mommy, and I have to look carefully to know who I'm holding! She came o.o.p. on Valentine's Day - February 14, 2003. She matches her birthdate in that she is a very lovable, huggable glider. She has also been separated from Coobah for the same reason as DaisyMae. Mareki used to be my "fluffiest" glider, weighing in at a whopping 202 grams at her heaviest - she is now down to about 155 grams. Mareki was diagnosed with hypothyroidism in Sept. 2007 and will be on thyroid replacement therapy for the rest of her life. Mareki is a Special Needs glider because she has a recurrent problem with Self Mutilating her patagiums and her chest. It was in an effort to determine the root cause of the Self Mutilation that testing was done and the hypothyroidism was found. Mareki is only the second glider ever to be officially diagnosed with hypothyroidism. Although this may be a factor in her Self Mutilation, sadly stress seems to be the root cause of it. We now have her in a special Glider Condo so that she can have companionship without direct physical contact with her cage mates - Darwin & Nara. This works very well for her and seems to keep her content.
Darwin & Nara
Nara was adopted on December 16, 2006 from Elisabeth at My Sugar High in order to be Pika's new companion after Cricky passed away. Pika had been very grief-stricken and she fell in love with little Nara right away. My only White Face glider, Nara is a very beautiful little girl. After Pika's passing in March, 2007, Nara was lonely. Nara was successfully introduced to Darwin that summer and is happily housed with him now in their half of the Glider Condo.
Darwin in an oak tree, June 2007.
Darwin is a neutered male who came out of pouch on 12/01/01. I adopted him from Karen at The Pampered Glider in June, 2007 in the hopes of housing him with Mareki. Although they were together for about two weeks, Mareki had too much of an Alpha personality and they had to be separated. Darwin then decided that he wanted to be Nara's companion instead and they were successfully introduced to each other that July. Although Darwin has lived in three different homes since he left his original breeder, he has a very sweet temperament and just loves everyone he meets! He still tries to be Mareki's friend, through the mesh of their reptariums and in Sept. 2007, Teresa (Dancing Water Designs) custom-made a Glider Condo Reptarium so that Mareki can be housed in one half of it and Darwin & Nara in the other half to eliminate the physical complications of Mareki's Alpha personality. Sadly, last February Darwin broke his tail in two places. About half of his tail had to be amputated and after a long recovery period of almost four months, he was finally able to be put back into the Condo with Nara and Mareki. The missing portion of his tail doesn't seem to phase him at all and he still glides and jumps and runs on his wheel with alacrity.
Nara took care of Pika at the end when Pika could no longer care for herself. Here they are on their last day together 
Gizmo & Allira
I adopted Gizmo from a young woman in Michigan in July, 2005, when he was about a year old. He is a super-sweet glider who loves to be cuddled in his fleece pouch. Gizmo & Allira fell in love at first sight and didn't need any time at all to adapt to each other. Gizmo has since been neutered. He is still very handsome, even without his bald spots!
Allira, as mentioned above, came out-of-pouch on July 15, 2004. The only daughter of Mareki & Coobah, I hand-fed her from her first day oop. She was adopted by Pepe & Bittah and they took care of all of her needs except feeding until she was old enough to move in with Pika & Cricky. Needless to say, I became very attached to her! Allira is by far the most tame glider I own - always wanting to be held, no matter what!
I often get comments asking me about the outdoor pictures of my gliders. Please note that all of my gliders are very well bonded to me and when I have them outside, they see me as their "safety zone"; consequently, they keep trying to get back to me the entire time they are outside, so there is no fear of them getting loose or running away. Gliders should not be allowed to play outside unless they have an excellent bond with their owner. If not bonded very well they may run away and this would be disastrous.