SHARING STORIES

Members are encouraged to share stories of gliders who have experienced Penis issues/prolapse/extension 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 share this story because I want to give hope and to start us off with a story with a HAPPY ending.

Tobasco was a well-bred boy with exceptional lineage. I did not get him to breed, though, so that doesn't matter. My point is that Tobasco was born and raised in the home of a well known, very loving glider slave. He was offered to me as a companion for his brother, who was a dream glider of mine. Tobasco's brother is my McDreamy. Tobasco has always had a large cage, a good diet, plenty of enrichment and a safe environment.

Tobasco and McDreamy had to be shipped to me because they were coming from half way across the country. The night before they were to get on a plane, Tobasco's breeder called me in a panic because his penis had been sticking out for several hours. I told her it was probably nothing to worry about. She called early the next morning because it was still extended. I INSISTED that she put Tobasco on the plane to me (she didn't want to). They had just seen her vet a few days before and were being shipped with a health certificate, so I felt that he would be safe to make the trip, I was excited to be getting the boys, and I wanted him with me if he was ill. So, I INSISTED, and assured her that he would probably go to sleep, retract his penis and would be fine by the time he got to me.

Tobasco arrived and his penis was still extended - and a LOT. So, we went immediately to the vet. Fecals and UA were clear, but, since we knew something was wrong, he was given a shot of Convenia and we discussed options for keeping his penis lubricated.

I felt certain that Tobasco must have a bit of an infection and that it would be all cleared up soon. I kept his penis moist with Emu oil. Each day, I would check on him and put emu oil on his penis, and each night watch him play and frolic as if nothing was wrong. This continued for TWO WEEKS!!!

After 7 days, I was pretty worried, so I took Tobasco to Tulsa to see Dr. Walsh. Dr. Walsh could find nothing wrong with him and suggested that I let the antibiotics run their course before I worry.
Tobasco's penis looked great, I was keeping it from drying out, he was not messing with it at all and he acted as if nothing was wrong. So, we went back home with no answers.

For 17 days, Tobasco and I lived with his penis extended a significant amount.


On day 17, I went to check on Tobasco, ready with my emu oil, and found his penis completely retracted. I was worried that he finally chewed it off or something, so took him for his follow up appointment a few days early. His penis was fine. Tobasco was fine.

This was many months ago, and Tobasco has had no penis problems since. He has been neutered since this happened as well. I tell this story because we are always so worried about the penis becoming necrotic if it is extended for lengthy periods of time, but if an owner is experienced, is willing to check on the glider multiple times each day and to do what it takes to keep the penis from drying out, and if the owner and their vet work closely together, then a penis can be extended for a long period of time without drying out or becoming necrotic or causing the glider to SM. We have to work closely with a vet (NEVER neglect vet care) and we have to be careful, but we don't have to be doom-and-gloom. Tobasco is proof of that.

This is Optimus Prime's story.....(he was known as OP for short)

OP came to me in August of 2008 as a cage mate for my Zoey who was recently split from a trio due to female aggression. One night in late December, I noticed his penis was out and light touching did not result in ANY retraction. So we got in the car and immediately headed to our emergency vet. As is always the case with gliders, it was the middle of the night and the regular exotic vet would not be in until the morning. Fortunately, they see enough sugar gliders that the doctor on call knew about them. She sedated OP hoping that the penis would retract and at the same time examined the tip under magnification to ensure there was no necrosis.
I was instructed to keep OP in his e-collar overnight, keep the penis lubricated with Bacitracin (make sure there are no steroids in your Bacitracin) and return in the morning to see our regular exotic vet.
OP did well overnight but in the am his penis remained out and we returned to the Dr's office.
Once again OP was sedated and the tip was examined, still no necrosis but still no retraction.
Our vet explained that she felt it could be due to one of three things
1 - Urinary tract infection and he was given an Antibiotic to treat this
2 - Any "worm" condition could cause enough discomfort in the area to cause prolapse
and he was given Panacur even though his tests were clean.
3 - Psycho-social - he had recently become sexually mature and her thoughts were that if
his sexual impulses were being thwarted, then prolapse could occur. If this were truly
the case, there is no cure. Either he would have to be neutered in the future or he and
Zoey would "work things out".

After 2 days of treatment, the penis returned about 1/2 way back in and by the morning of the third day, it was completely back in. At the instruction of the vet, we left the e-collar on until his treatments were all complete (which did result in a small wound to the back of his neck - but that is another story in a different thread).

I am happy to say that everything worked out and OP even fathered a beautiful little girl so there was no residual damage done to the penis.

Daddy's story doesn't have a lot to it nor did it last a long time, but I did notice one night, a long time ago when I was still a fairly new owner, that his penis was out and the tip of it was black. I need to backtrack for a second and say this was when I was able to interact with my gliders every single night. I sat with them while watching TV and would watch them groom all the time as well. I truly think I would have known if this had been going on for a prolonged period. I don't know how it happened or when it happened.

Anyway, here are a few pictures that I took as soon as I saw it while he was eating:






At the time, this is all I could see of it and had no idea if this was the very end of one of his bifurcated tips or if it was much further down. A little while later, I was keeping an eye on him while he was grooming and got this view:



After seeing that, we decided it looked like one of the tips. I did a cotton ball test around the cage and thoroughly checked the room, which was aready glider-proof, but couldn't find anything he may have caught it on. I also never heard any self mutilation sounds.

I was at the vet as soon as they opened the next morning. Once she got him out, his penis was completely out and we could see very clearly that it was just the very tip of one of the "forks" and no where near his shaft. Even better news-he didn't self-mutilate. She said he must have somehow just damaged the very tip. She snipped that dead tissue off (while he was eating a yogie), dabbed some ointment on it and he immediately retracted it all the way. No fussing, no crabbing, no bleeding, no nothing. He groomed himself forever, but didn't even go near his cloaca area at all. At that point, she said she thought he wouldn't have any other problems with it and it should heal just fine. She gave me antibiotics and an anti-inflammatory just to be sure.

That night and the next day, it wasn't out at all. 2 days later, I did see it out again so called the vet. She said to get some KY jelly to apply to it in case he didn't retract it for a long period or if it looked dry, but not only did he retract it within a few hours, he and one of my females were right back to mating.

He never once acted any differently and to this day, I still don't know how it happened. I've been pretty religious about checking "parts" on all of them but you never know!