Neck Wound

I think I jinxed my self this week... I was telling someone how happy I was that all the gliders were healthy for the first time in months....

I went to bed early last night and I didn't see my two girls, Willow and Wicket, so I just had a feeling I needed to check on them before heading to work. Loki, the 3rd member of this trio was in a pouch by himself and the two girls were in a different pouch. When I reached in to check on Willow this is what I saw:



I've had this trio for almost 4 years and never had a wound like this show up. I did have an almost identical wound show up in a different cage last year. I ended up having to separate that pair.

I treated her with quickderm and separated her for now into a cage right next to Wicket and Loki. I'm too nervous to leave them together, but I will make sure they get time together every night.

Can you get a better close-up picture of that wound? from this angle, it does not look like a dominance wound, it looks like a ruptured abscess maybe.

In any case, Quickderm is great stuff. I'd make sure she has an antibiotic as well. With a good wound assessment from the vet, he/she can make an appropriate determination of which one to use.

We're off to the vet in about an hour. I don't think it's a ruptured abscess. Looks more like overzealous grooming, but suppose it's possible. I'll let you know what the vet says. Thanks!

You called it Val!

This is a ruptured abscess from a bite wound. The vet cleaned it up, debrided a little bit, put silvadene on it and gave me oral antibiotics to give her.

Hopefully it will heal up quickly!

Sometimes, I do know what I'm talking about.
In all seriousness, I could tell from the edges of the wound.

I am actually quite pleased it is a ruptured abscess and not related to a behavioral issue.

And, let me just say, I am soo happy you know what you're talking about!



but not in a creepy, stalkerish way.... more of a glider-crazy kinda way

LOL, Kevin

Even better is that she won't have to be separated from the others. Glad she was taken care of :)

Yes, she is back with Wicket and Loki, but I am soo nervous they are going to make it worse or torture her by trying to groom it! Please tell me I'm !

Well, they might groom it, but that's not necessarily a bad thing, so you're not entirely crazy, only a little.

Grooming it will keep it clean, so that's a good thing. If one day, it's one size and the next day, it's twice the size then that's a bit overzealous on their part. But if they're keeping it healthy but it's continuing to heal, then she'll be just fine.

I couldn't take it! I was lying in bed keeping an ear open and going in their room to check on her and kept hearing Willow repeatedly telling them to leave her wound alone. When I went in to check on her at about 1:30 she was hiding in the bottom of their fleece/pvc palm tree and the edges of her wound were an angry red. It just looked too painful. She seemed so relieved when I packed the wound with silvadene. She wasn't being very active. I think she was in pain so I gave her some Metacam as well. When I checked on her at 530 the entire room of gliders was up and playing; wheels were spinning; and little faces were pressed up to the bars to see me and Willow seemed much more at ease munching away at her food. I put some quickderm on her wound, gave her antibiotics, and let her play for awhile.


I feel like I'm being mean by putting her with her cagemates, but I know it's stressful on them to be apart. And rationally, I know that the grooming will keep the wound from getting infected and is not a bad thing.... But, putting them together just makes me crazy with worry.



EDIT: I got her up to put more ointment on her and she made it clear she wanted to be back in her own cage. So, I'm going to medicate myself and hope for the best!

Lol! For the first time ever (and I've had more than my share of glider wounds!), I left a glider with an open wound in with the cagemates and all went well - this was just a few months ago and was a small mating wound that ended up healing great with Quickderm. I'm sure Willow will be just fine. :) Good luck!

Despite my fears, or perhaps in spite of them, she is doing fine back with her cagemates. The wound still has a long way to go, but I'm happy I've got her back with Loki and Wicket.

Warning for the faint-hearted: graphic images of a wound below.

Yesterday morning I took Willow out of her cage for antibiotics and to treat the wound and ended up keeping her with me all day until feeding time last night. She had spent the night with her cage-mates. The first image shows the wound after treatment that morning. This morning I heard her fussing and when I got her out for antibiotics and treatment the wound was inflamed and bleeding as seen in the second image.

I put her back in the hospital cage for today.

Just a quick update: This wound is finally healed after almost two-months, but I am thankful she healed without complications.

Update: After many months with no problems Willow's cagemates either over-groomed the scar or otherwise injured the same area and created a new wound. I had to separate her again for several months. She has been back with her cagemates since Oct. 2014. The image below is how that area now looks. " />

She looks great! Yay!!!