Suz' Sugar Gliders  

• Joey found left alone in nest by both parents for more than 10-15 minutes at a time
• Joey crying a lot with neither parent responding to the cries
• Joey trying to crawl out of the nesting area (before 4-5 weeks out of pouch)
• Joey found alone and cold in a different nesting area from where the parents are
• Joey found on cage bottom
• Joey found with bite and/or scratch marks on face and/or body
• Joey found dehydrated*

You may want to try supplement feeding the joey if the mother is still taking care of the joey but the joey is crying a lot and/or trying to crawl out of the nest. Try to simply supplement feed the joey two to three times a day. Make sure that you feed the joey at about the same time every day with a few hours between feedings.

If the joey has been injured at all, such as bite marks or sores on the face or back, then you need to completely pull the joey and hand raise it. If you don't, the mother is likely to kill and cannibalize the joey in frustration.

If you have found the joey on the floor of the cage, or totally outside of the nest, or the parents have left the joey in one nest and gone to another, you should first try to reunite them. To do this, place the joey on the father's back. He should immediately carry the joey back to the nest and stay with it. He should start to clean and care for the joey once back in the nest. If he "drops" the joey off and ignores it, the joey has been rejected and you will probably need to hand raise the joey for at least a little while. Warm the joey up, feed it, then continue to keep it warm. Repeat feeding it after an hour. At this point, you can try to put the joey back in with the parents, but if the parents continue to abandon the joey, then you will need to hand raise the joey. When you try putting the joey back in with the parents, it is very important that you stay close by in case they abandon the joey again. You can not risk allowing the joey to get too cold or dehydrated. Most rejected joeys that die do so from dehydration* (see note above).

Keep in mind that a joey that is too cold will not have the energy to drink.  In order to warm the joey up, place a fleece blanket in the microwave for a few seconds until it is warm (but not hot) to the touch. Wrap the joey in the fleece blanket and hold it close to your heart - tucking the wrapped joey inside your shirt if at all possible. Check the joey after about five minutes to see if it is warm yet. You may need to reheat the fleece blanket periodically. Once the joey is warm, you can try to feed it. You will know the joey is warm enough when it feels warm to the touch. 

If you are hand raising the joey, you will need to keep it in an incubator when you are unable to hold it so that it can maintain its body heat. I recommend keeping the joey on your person as much as possible, only using the incubator when you need to sleep or bathe. Do NOT sleep with the joey on your person. In your exhaustion, you may accidentally roll over onto the joey and suffocate it. 

1) The premature joeys have no fur whatsoever so they can not regulate their body heat at all. That means that you have to keep them on your body, tucked into your shirt 24/7. Wrap them in a warm piece of t-shirt cotton*, tuck them into a small pouch and place them close to your heart. If you need to sleep, you will need to do so sitting up in a chair so that you don't accidentally roll over on them. Another option is to allow the father to take care of them for everything except feedings, if he is willing. However, you will need to make sure that you give him a few hours each night for free time so he can exercise and eat. 

 *Lynda Staker, a  renowned marsupial wildlife rehabilitator in Australia, advises NOT to use fleece on a joey that does not have fur yet. The reason is that fleece will wick the oils away from the joey's skin. She recommends using t-shirt cotton instead for the layer directly against the joey.

 

2) Premature joeys, when still with the mother, are constantly nursing. This is almost impossible for humans to do. However, you can give them a few drops of Joey Formula every 20-30 minutes to retain their constant supply of food. You will need to make the Joey Formula with NO baby cereal in it at all. Preferably, you would make the Joey Formula using Wombaroo Sugar Glider Milk Replacer. In a pinch, you can use puppy formula though - I recommend the Esbilac brand. (Do not use kitten formula - it is too high in lactose!) Please do NOT use Baby BML for a premature joey. It is best to use the feeding syringe/tip combination when feeding premature joeys to get the drops of formula small enough so the chance of aspiration is lessened. 

 

At this tender young age, your joey's appetite will be seemingly constant but not very large. Make sure the joey is warm before you start to try feeding it, or it won't eat. The joey will need to be fed every hour around the clock until it is about 2 weeks o.o.p. It will probably cry when it is hungry. The cry sounds like "Nyitch-nyitch-nyitch" normally being a three-syllable vocalization. This is not to be confused with crabbing. Joeys very rarely crab.

For feeding, you can use a 1.0 cc syringe with a feeding tip attached -or- a 2 oz. PetAg baby bottle, with the tip of the nipple trimmed off slightly -or- a 0.5 cc syringe. Make sure the Joey Formula is lukewarm. When you place a drop of the formula on the inside of your wrist, you should feel no temperature at all.

It is very important to gradually wean the joey over to whichever replacement formula you decide to use for your joey in order to prevent bloating. To do this, simply follow the plan outlined here:

     Day 1: 25% replacement formula, 75% Pedialyte

     Day 2: 50% replacement formula, 50% Pedialyte

     Day 3: 75% replacement formula, 25% Pedialyte

     Day 4: 100% replacement formula

Loosely wrap the joey in a small fleece blanket leaving just the head and arms exposed. Then, gently holding the joey in one hand, squeeze just a small drop of formula onto the joey's lips. Do not place the feeding tip into the joey's mouth. Your joey should lap the formula off of its lips, continue to gently place one drop at a time onto its lips until the joey is full. 

If the joey is even slightly dehydrated, you should start with 100% Pedialyte for the first 24 hours of feedings. This will help the joey to become rehydrated. Please note that it is important to use unflavored Pedialyte since the flavored varieties have sucralose added to them. 

You can tell if the joey is full by looking at its tummy. Holding the joey up, you should be able to see a white area on its lower left abdomen. When the area is about the size of a dime, your joey will be full. It should take about .3 to .5 cc's (or ml) at this age to fill your joey up.

Many thanks to GC's Crescent for this information gleaned from the vets at Cornell University while hand-raising her rejected joey, Sky.

To prevent bloating:

When joeys (or any baby animal) are interrupted from their mother's milk, introducing them to replacement formulas can present problems, especially if there is a complete and sudden change. Also, if one replacement formula is switched for another, that can present problems. These problems can be bloating, diarrhea or other intestinal distress.

When the babies are fed supplemental feedings, there is less likely to be a problem with introducing another formula. Or, if the babies are fed supplementally over a few days and gradually switched to an alternate food source, there is less likely to be a problem. If the joey is completely changing from mother's milk to replacement formula, ideally the change should be made over 4 days.

Day 1: 25% replacement formula, 75% Pedialyte

Day 2: 50% replacement formula, 50% Pedialyte

Day 3: 75% replacement formula, 25% Pedialyte

Day 4: 100% replacement formula

Dealing with bloating:

Your joey can die from bloating and digestive distress. Bloating is serious. Bloating can be treated with "Little Tummies" simethicone for infants. Mix 1 drop (.05 cc) per 1.0 cc feeding. Continue until bloating significantly reduces.

Dealing with little weight gain on Baby BML:

Many people have had good success with Baby BML. However, some joeys will not properly gain weight on baby BML, even though they are eating the proper amount. It is impossible to say all the reasons a joey will not gain weight. We do know that sometimes a joey may not gain weight because its system is not mature enough to completely digest the baby BML.

How can you tell if your joey is having this problem? If you are using Baby BML and your joey is not gaining weight, your vet can check a stool sample to see if there is undigested food in the stool. Undigested food indicates that food is passing through the joey?s system and not being properly digested or converted to energy for growth. If this is the case, you should switch to Joey Formula which is easier to digest. The switch should be made gradually over 4 days using the process outlined above. An immediate switch from one formula to another can cause bloating and other digestive problems.

Dealing with chronic diarrhea, loss of weight and increasing weakness:

If you have a joey that does not gain weight or begins to lose weight over several days and then develops diarrhea, your joey is at significant risk. He may be at the end of his energy reserves. If he does not have a quick source of energy, he can die quickly. This treatment can help: Add .05 cc canola oil for a 1.0 cc feeding. Do this until weight gain begins to be established.

Whether hand-raising or supplement-feeding a joey, there are many items you will need. It is best to purchase these items before a situation arises and keep them together in a handy location so you are not scrambling for them in a panic. There are several kits available from The Pampered Glider. Or, if you'd prefer, you can purchase the items individually on your own as listed below.

There are two types of incubators that you can easily make for your joey, a simple glass tank-style incubator or a simple plastic tank or bucket-style incubator. Whichever style you choose, you should assemble it in advance of needing it so that you can start to use it immediately when necessary. Either style works quite well. It is simply a matter of personal preference as to which style you choose.

1)  For the glass tank-style incubator, attach the small Heat Wave Reptile Heat Pad (follow instructions included in its package) to the bottom, underside (outside) of the aquarium at one end. This will keep the incubator between 85 & 90 degrees Fahrenheit*.

       *note: The average temperature of the glass tank-style incubator is 5 degrees lower than the avg. temp. of the bucket-style or plastic-tank incubator. This is because the glass retains the heat more and therefore needs to be at a lower average temperature to prevent injury to the joey.

For the bucket-style or plastic-tank incubator, drill about 2 dozen holes into the lid of the Rubbermaid storage container -or- use a 6"x8", or larger, Critter Keeper with lid. Then, lay the two large, thick bath towels flat together, place the human heating pad in the center of them, folding both ends of the towel in over top of the heating pad so that there are two layers of towel underneath the heating pad and four layers on top of it. Place the Rubbermaid container or Critter Keeper on top of the layered toweling.

2)  Using the misting spray bottle, spray one washcloth with water, then lay it on the bottom of the tank at the end where the heating pad is located. This will keep the incubator humid so your joey does not get dry, flaky skin. The washcloth will need to be freshly sprayed with water every 4 - 6 hours. The humidity level of the incubator should be kept between 30 - 35%.

3)  Lay two or three large fleece blankets along the bottom of the tank over the top of the damp washcloth. This will insulate your joey from getting burned by the heater.

4) Place the thermometer on top of the fleece blankets at the level your joey will be sleeping. This will enable you to monitor the temperature of the incubator to ensure that it does not get over 95 degrees Fahrenheit*. 

         *note: For the glass-tank style incubator, the temperature range should be between 85 - 90 degrees Fahrenheit (see note above for more details). For the bucket-style or plastic tank incubator, the temperature range should be between 90 - 95 degrees Fahrenheit.

5)  Place the small stuffed animal in one corner of the incubator for snuggly warmth and companionship for your joey.

6)  Place a small fleece blanket into each of remaining three corners of incubator.

7) Test the function of the incubator before it is needed to make sure that it heats correctly (see note above) and does not get too humid (over 35%). If too humid, the moisture will gather on the sides and top of the incubator. 

When the incubator is needed:

1) Plug in the heating pad. For the bucket-style incubator, set the heating pad on "low" (note that if the heating pad has an "automatic shut-off" feature, you will need to turn it back on every 2 hours while the joey is inside the incubator).

2) Mist a washcloth with water using a spray bottle and lay it in the bottom of incubator, at one end, underneath the fleeces blankets. Note that the washcloth will need to be remoistened every 4-6 hours to maintain the humidity within the incubator. 

3)  Place the joey inside the incubator, wrapped in a small fleece blanket or in a joey pouch, towards the center of the tank.

4)  Cover the tank with the lid.

5)  You may need to lay a hand towel over a portion of the top of the lid to prevent drafts from getting into the incubator.