SHARING STORIES

Members are encouraged to share stories of gliders who have experienced dental issues so that others can learn from it. Please share with us anecdotal information that is useful for owners or veterinarians, including:

* Symptoms you first noticed
* Tests vet ran to come to this diagnosis
* The treatment prescribed by vet
* Aftercare provided by yourself (include any help you received from community members if you like)
* Recovery information or notes that might be helpful to others
* The results of treatment.

Photos are encouraged IF they help to teach or provide examples.

I can not believe I forgot to post this over here yesterday....

I had a lady come over yesterday who is interested in buying a glider from me. She recently (a few weeks ago) purchased one from PP at the mall when they were here. We discussed diets, housing, she is doing well on bonding, and health. I suggested for her to take her little guy in for an overall wellness check, including a fecal, and told her I didnt care WHO she got her glider from, I always suggest taking them in within the first 72 hours for a check up.

She was originally going to drive and take him to the vet that Tammy, Julie and myself use, but this morning woke up to plumbing issues in her home, so she found a vet closer to her to take him to. Her name is Dr. Darlene Lundberg at the Argyle Vet clinic in Jax. So she asked if I had ever heard of anything bad on this lady, nope, never heard of her. Looked up the clinic online and she has a very high interest in exotics, ok, thats a plus, so I tell her go ahead and try her out. Cant hurt right? Its only a wellness check up and fecal. WRONG...

Teresa called me as she was leaving there. She said she would NOT recommend this vet at all. She not only called them rodents and Teresa corrected her, but she also convinced Teresa that the gliders bottom incisors were hitting the top palette and could cause an ulcer so she needed to trim the gliders teeth!! Teresa not knowing, said ok, trusting this VET knew what she was talking about....How could I NOT think to tell her not to ever let anyone trim the gliders teeth??? She also told Teresa to come back in about 6 weeks to have the gliders teeth filed some more...ugh

We are taking Skeeter in to see Dr. Gary on Monday to make sure she didnt clip down to low to where the pulp is showing. But this did raise an awareness to me...for something we all seem to just *know* it is really something that ANYONE selling gliders should emphasize to someone buying a glider from them.

Teresa told me yesterday that her glider hisses but only when urinating so I did tell her to have a UA done. They were not able to collect any urine from the glider so the vet just gave her some bactrim just in case. Teresa told this vet that her glider also sneezes... the vet told her that this antibiotic will also help with the gliders COLD....

I called this vet just to let her know that you do NOT trim a gliders teeth and they are not rodents and their teeth do NOT continue to grow. She said she has saved many a gliders lives by trimming their teeth as they hit the top palette and cause ulcers...I told her I was not trying to tell her how to do her job, but it was obvious she did not know enough about sugar gliders and their anatomy and to please in the future do not cut their teeth. I gave her Tristans number and encouraged her to call him and ask him any questions she may possibly have. She seemed *receptive* however, she also firmly believes that gliders teeth are too long and to prevent them from future problems, when she sees one with teeth that long, she will continue to trim them

So please, if you have a website, of ANY kind, please post on there NOT to trim or clip a gliders teeth...

Poor Skeeter, if his teeth were cut too far down and it has exposed the pulp, they may need to be extracted to prevent a tooth root abscess or worse a jaw abscess. He is going in to have that checked by Gary hopefully on Monday.

I have also spoken with Tim and he told me what steps to take to make sure this doesnt happen with her again.

Hopefully this will stop at least one vet from doing this.

Good point, Peggy. This is such common sense for those of us who have had gliders for a long time, that we don't even think to mention it. It is another thing to add to the list of things for new owners.

That, and the sneezing. For those that don't know, gliders "sneeze" a secretion into their hands to groom themselves with. It is perfectly normal behavior, and not indicitive of a cold or other illness.

Skeeter went to see Dr.Gary this morning. He did so good. Took a good look at his teeth and thankfully there was no pulp showing. Gary said he wanted Teresa to throw out the meds the vet had given her as he was afraid they were not diluted correctly. Gave her a fresh bout of antibiotics. Told Teresa 5-7 days...Teresa looked at him and said well she told me to keep him on them for 28 days!!! HUH??? Gary looked at her and said, umm...dont go back to that vet ok?? LOL!!

I am sure after the DBPR State of Florida Veterinarian Board gets the complaint about her she will never ever want to touch another glider

Its a shame ya know...finally get a healthy glider from PP and THIS has to happen due to Veterinarian Negligence...