Stains?

Just so we are clear, I am not talking about clothing stains or carpet stains. Although I have a good fix for those 😄

As I am standing at my cage this morning giving the usual yoggie treat or marshmallow to my fuzzbutts, I noticed Bam Bam is severely stained on his chest and part of his belly. Being that I am not at all an expert or "veteran" on sugar gliders, I reached out for help. My first step was to post on Facebook and start asking questions... why is he stained? What causes staining? Did I do something wrong? What do I do and how can I fix it? My second step, because I didn't get an immediate response on Facebook and I am the most impatient person on earth, I Googled it! Yes, I am addicted to Google.

Here are the answers I found to all my questions;

There are literally like 5 things that can causing yellowing, or staining as we suggie slaves call it. 

1.) Poor diet - Yellowing of the fur could mean the glider is not on a good, healthy diet resulting in poor health. Changing the diet will result in an improvement but will take time. Considering all my gliders are on the TPG diet with vitamins, I pretty much ruled this one out.

2.) The living conditions are not clean - Living conditions must be improved and fur will reverse itself but, again, will take time. I deep clean my cages once a month and "spot clean" almost daily so this was also ruled out.  

3.) The glider is ill - I haven't noticed anything else going on with Bam Bam or any pressing concerns with his attitude or mannerisms. This has not been completely ruled out and will more than likely result in a vet visit if the staining does not improve over the next few days or so. 

4.) Scent gland/marking/grooming-  If the yellowing is on the chest of a male glider, it can be from his scent gland. He could be marking, flossing or grooming. Considering he is an intact male, this could be the culprit. 

5.) UTI (urinary tract infection) - this could very well be the cause of Bam Bam's staining. He has been making the hissing/spitting/sneezing sound but as we all know, that could just be from flossing or grooming. 

At any rate, I don't have an exact answer to give as to why my sugar glider is stained, however this is a good guide to finding out why he is. 

Please note that this is only possible causes of staining. This blog post in not in any way intended as a medical reference for your gliders. If you have concerns with your gliders and staining, please contact your vet for advice and/or care. 

As always, thanks for visiting my blog!

 ~ Happy Gliding