parasites

Question
I had bought an adult sugar glider in the beginning of this June, and he seems to be pretty healthy. I had bought another baby about 3 weeks ago. All of a sudden the baby got sick and died the next day. i brought her to the animal hospital, but they didnt know what was wrong. I have been reading about the symptoms of internal parasites, and that seems to be the best reasoning for her sudden death. I was just wondering if there is any chance my adult glider could have caught the parasties from the baby, and should I get him checked out?  I would also like to know if you know of any good glider vets in the rhode island area. thank you so much!
- Jennelle

Answer
Dear Jennell:

   I am very sorry for your loss.  

   It is always a good idea to get the remaining glider checked out if it came into contact with a glider that was recently sick or died.  That being said, it would have been real easy for your vet to check for internal parasites - it's called a fecal float and they should have been able to do that when you brought the sick glider in.  

There are many reasons that a baby glider can "crash" quickly.  When they get sick or injured it is not uncommon for them to die in a matter of hours.  In joeys, common causes of quick death can be dehydration and hypoglycemia, malnutrition (sometimes a joey is pulled from its mother too soon), giardia (a contagious parasite ingested from eating fecal matter with the most common symptom being diarrhea).  In the future, it is the best practice to quarantine any new sugar glider for at least 3 weeks before introducing it to your other gliders.  

   I could not find a sugar glider vet located in Rhode Island, but here is one located in Connecticut.  Perhaps it is close enough.  Perhaps they can give you a referral to a sugar glider vet in your area.  Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any further questions.  

Connecticut
South Wilton Vet Group, Wilton, 3 Danbury Road, 203.762.2002