A glider Mom's blog

Oh my gosh I have neglected you all!!! No posts from me at all, eh? Well, in any case, I will update you……

NOW!

December went by breezily, as did the months prior. Christmas was nice and quiet, just my arms reach of family and myself. We did a simple dinner, everyone got one gift and we called it a day. For christmas, I really didn’t want anything, but my other half knew I had been secretly pining over something. Well, he found out what it was and took me to the store to get it! He got me an Acer Iconia A500 tablet! I love it! Of course, a girl HAS to have a glider wallpaper… it’s essential!!!

Gliders are doing really well and in the beginning of January, they got a new wheel! Bourbon started making the pink custom cruisers, and sent me a minimal bounce pink wheel! I am too excited about it! It got hung upside down in the colony’s cage with a shelf below it. Of course, after some modification to the stand, so the wheel wouldn’t just slip and fall right off of the stand.

They love the wheel and play in it a lot. Iris seems to be the one who spends most of the time in it, allowing Katy to leap frog along with her time to time.

Around January tenth, I signed online and had a bunch of IM’s from my BFF asking if I was willing to go to Chicago with her. She had to pick up a joey, so we met in Louisville and drove up to Chi-town. Let me tell you what – I drove on ICE for the first time in my LIFE. Thank you youtube for the help, by the way… We laughed hysterically all of the way up there! The freeways are tricky, so we took a few detours but still, laughed like hell through them!!! In Louisville, we met some awesome glider people and lemme tell you what – I thought i had a lot in my one room. OH NO!!! Nancy out did me! Lmao!!!!!!

SO – From January 18th to the 25th, I was in Chicago with my two best friends! I got to see snow for the second time in my whole life, got to make toys with BFF glider people aaaaand oh YEAH spent a WHOLE WEEK WITH MY BEST FRIENDS!!!! I am still talking about it like I were still there! It was a blast! I got to stuff my bra with some of the sweetest little gliders and joeys – so I didn’t feel lost without something squirming in my boobs. (Sal took care of the crew while I was gone)  We went shopping at a couple of malls (Woodfield mall is NO freaking JOKE oh my gosh that place! we only saw like 1/2 of it, IF THAT), had Sushi, Pizza and I had some sort of delightful yumminess drink called a Zombie. I built a Snowaroo, too! See?

Oh nu! An abominable Snow-A-Roo!

Esper

When they took me to the airport at 3am on the 25th, hugging my BFF was very sad. I had so much fun! It was hard not to cry!!! If she had hugged me any longer, I most likely would have… lol….

Me on the left, Beth on the right!

View on my US airways flight, going home - around 10am

When I got home, it took a few days to come back to ‘normal’. My friend Peri flew in from Australia and I got to see her once again, which was really fantastic. Let me tell you people here in the US – if you have someone coming here from there, make them bring Tim-Tams, Fruit loops, cadbury eggs, Lemingtons and Aussie fries! American chocolate is SO diluted compared to the cadbury eggs from there, same with Tim-Tams. You can find tim-tams in walmart now, but do not be fooled!!!! The fruit loops? PFFFT our cereals here are honestly, cardboard compared to that shit! There was really, flavor in each one! They taste like their colors, if that makes any sense…. LOL I hadn’t had a lemington in a really long time, either, so it was really amazing to actually have another one!

As of now, things are back to the typical grind. I’m sewing my tucket off, preparing for re-opening my store on my site, making more figurines, preparing the new layout for my site AND taking care of three other gliders on top of my own. Who says unemployment is laziness?

The three I am caring for right now, are the same three as a few months back. Lilly, Hermann & Eddie. Their human wasn’t given very good tips from the jerk that sold them to her, and she was considering re-homing them because they weren’t very tame. She was using HIS handling directions, which makes things worse for the bond. They came to stay with me for a while, and I am knocking some of the ‘wild’ out of them, while she thinks about re-homing, still.

I have them to the point that my hand can go in their bag and they will groom it. In the tent, they make a point to make contact with me, instead of me with them. This shows me that they are interested in human touch, but are still cautious about their approach. Soon, they should be okay out of the cage, without the tent… only time will tell.

For now, Eddie is separated from his mother and father because he is still intact, and just came around to knowing what his ‘parts’ were for. I caught him fondling Lilly and pulled them apart. No redneck – zombie gliders here, dammit! He has been scheduled for a ‘trimming’ on the 13th of this month (February), so he won’t be out for too long. Naughty boy!

My birthday is on 2/17. Sal asked me what I would want and while I have everything I need, I don’t have any ‘wants’. I told him a dinner and picture would be fine. He’s unsure, but I told him it still, was perfect for me. Same for Valentine’s day. Plain, and simple for me!

Okay, well, I have things that need sewing, so I am going to hop off here! In case I don’t get on here and update, Happy Valentine’s day!

October came and went with a blink of my eyes. I honestly didn’t expect it to go by so fast. Hell, this whole year has gone by incredibly fast. I remember being a kid, my mom would tell me that the years went by faster, the older I would get. She was right.

At the moment, I have an Alice in my shirt. She has decided to be cute and cuddly tonight, which works for me, as everyone else has decided to be a bunch of crabs. Heh.

Things are doing okay on Gliding Way. We have had a little disarray and much heart-ache, but we are here. I cleaned the boy’s cage today. man, they are some stinker butts and MESS MAKERS!!! Sheesh!!!

Ranger went over the bridge. He got a few more abscesses, and after draining, medication, and everything else we did, it was just too much for him. I thought we were in clear waters, because he didn’t have a flare up for a few weeks. All of a sudden, he smelled odd. Like, the smell that Fuzzy smelled like, when his first abscess was ready to burst. It was his ear. Somehow, the bacteria traveled there, called it home and overnight, I had a very ill Ranger.

I took him in for an X-ray and it showed to be a little bubble right behind his ear canal, under his skin. My vet took a sample to send in for a culture and sensitivity test. Those results came back a few days ago – he had three types of bacteria in his ear. I had a necropsy done on him and the bacteria was going from his ear, draining down his throat, and he as swallowing it. In turn, this poisoned his body, which explains why he went down so fast.

I have yet to pick him a pot and flowers out.

He was born 4-6-2003. I sent him over the bridge on 10-30-2011.

Glide free, Ranger.

Rangers Story:

I got Ranger from a local rescue. She got him from a traveling cage and sugar glider salesman. She walked into the place he was set up, (mind you, this is before people were hot on heavy, on mill breeders / brokers) and asked what gliders he brought. In the corner, sat a man wearing leather gloves, with a joey in his hand. His other hand’s thumb, was shoved into the joey’s mouth. She asked if he was a problem glider. The man responded with “Yes, he is, and I am teaching him a lesson about biting.”.  Apparently, the broker asked her which glider she wanted, and directed her to a few cages he had set up. She pointed to the joey in the man’s hand and said “I want that one”.  He didn’t get over his early abuse easily.

Later on, I got a call, asking if I was interested in a single male glider. This was Ranger. He was very terrified when I got him, and earned the nickname, “Chicken Little”. Over time, he was willing to climb onto my arm, into a pouch and even have his nails clipped. Though he was not the cuddly type, he did well when it came to being touched, and did great when introduced to other gliders, which soon became his cage mates. These were Fuzzy and Hammy. Later on, he had Fuzzy, Hammy, Boomer and Doodle. Hammy passed away, Fuzzy followed soon after, and now Ranger.

Gliders tend to hide their illnesses pretty hard, until it is the last minutes and you can’t do anything for them. Be sure to keep up on them, keep vet checks up, check on them every night and have a look-over to make sure nothing crazy is going on.

At this point, I am searching for a local vet who is willing to consult with other vets, and is willing to use Covenia. Covenia is a wonderful drug, and has proved to completely eradicate abscesses in gliders. It is a common drug used for dogs.

On the other hand, my job is going well. I enjoy it, and my boss has been swapping things up – I assume to keep me from getting bored. I am just waiting for the good hours to kick in now. She has swapped my whole position, from stocking, to mark downs and replenishment, which  means that I will fill in holes that were missed, restock things from the back rooms, and I will get to play with price tags and stickers!

Anyways, I need to feed the crew, and get to bed, as I have an early start in the morning.

Happy gliding!

Ash

Not sure how many people know what the above photo is. These are called wax worms.

I will not be feeding them to my gliders, any-longer. I usually feed them to Boomer, for his teeth. He has only a few teeth left, and they are soft enough that he can nom them with no issues, and they won’t cut his gums like regular worms.

Well, I had all three boys out – sitting at my desk and I was feeding each boy their worms. Doodle and Ranger were getting giants and boomer, the waxies.

Well, I went to put the pouch up, but Ranger wanted just one more worm. (please mom????) I had Ranger his worm, Doodle a worm, and offer one more to Boomer. Boomer was hunched over and making a weird hissing noise. He flings back a little and faces me, showing me a VERY purple nose.

Grab him out, and try to figure out what the deal is, while heading out the door to the vet. All of a sudden, he opens his mouth, and at the back and side of his cheek, is the ass end of a wax worm. I had to get him to open his mouth, which, at that point, was easy… I pulled it out and BOOM, Boomer was fine.

Now, I have heard of this happening before, and the person uses tweezers now, when she feeds wax worms to her gliders.

I personally, will not be feeding them at all, anymore. What if I wasn’t here? What if I had put the pouch back, and walked out of the room? What if I put the pouch back, assumed Boomer was looking for more worms, and turned music on?

Ugh. One hell of a night….

Boomer is fine, chirping and sleeping and grooming away, in the pouch.

Now, time for a drink, for me! LoL!!!

Happy (safe) gliding!!

Ash

Gliders changed my life in many ways.

I was 21, very depressed, (still have) had social anxiety and was very dependent on meds and my inhaler. I had a miniature pincher named Copper. I had been kicked out of many stores because I would always bring him in, with me. See, the chihuahua  that just went by in it’s owners arms was fine, but my min pin wasn’t? What? Lol…

Anyways, Copper was given to me by a very dear friend. Copper and I were best friends for about 6 years… We went everywhere together. Well, after being kicked out of walmart so many times, I decided no more. I would take him to Petco a few times a week and we still did daily trips to the park, but running my own errands, was incredibly lonely. Copper kept me from having to use my inhaler while shopping alone in walmart. (I always feel like someone is staring at me, or following me, which, in my previous work, is a huge deal to me. Ugh.) Well, I was telling Sal that I wanted another pet, something small, and something I could take somewhere, and no one would know. I had kept ratties as pets in the past, and they were really great. He said the tails kinda wigged him out, and that I should google Sugar Gliders. Thus began my addiction of information, and I soon got my first pair.

Copper had little interest in the cages, and he was always really good when I told him not to go near their room. He paid no attention to the noises they made, the bonding pouch that fell off the wall, or the smells. Things were going great and I was starting to feel much better about things. One day, our landlord came and sprayed the yard, without our permission or even notice, that he was coming. Copper was sleeping in his ‘hut’ outside (even though doggy door was there) and sometime after the landlord left, we think he rubbed in the spray. Whatever he used, was potent stuff. I found Copper laying beneath the spade trees.

My life went into a downward spiral. I was so incredibly depressed. All I could do was sleep, sit, and cry. I wanted nothing to do with the world, and felt that, it wanted nothing to do with me. Copper was my buddy! My best friend! And now? He was gone…. All I could do was replay the thoughts “Oh god, had I not ran up to Fry’s, I would have caught him spraying and told him off, or brought Copper in until later that night!”.

If it wasn’t for my gliders, I would have never left that bed again. I had to get up, play with them, and feed them. I would sit with their pouch and read, or watch the telly. I didn’t eat much during the first week of Copper passing away, but thinking of what I could share with my little guys, made me eat all sorts of things, once again.

These guys have changed my life, so much. I rarely ever have to use my inhaler, since all I need to do, is pet my boobs, or reach into my ‘purse’ and feel me some sugar!!!
I have new hobbies, many friends, and many new stores to go to, that I would have passed up, any other time, in the past. These guys have influenced me to become an Exotics vet, too. I now, check for aspartame in everything and I now know the nutritional values of all kinds of foods AND the CA : PH ratios of just about all typical store veggies and fruits.

I won’t lie, I never realized the actual vast effect of Mill Breeders, until having gliders. I knew they were bad, for the inbreeding, but I did not know it had spanned so far!

I have always had compassion for animals, but having my first set of ‘bad shape’ gliders come to me – when I rescued, changed my whole perspective on this. My heart is very large (and here I thought it was to match the rest of me… LOL), but when I saw that pair of boys, with no tails, missing fur and horrible attitudes do a 360° turn around, I knew these were the critters for me.

I have had my gliders for 5 years, now. All I can think is “wow”.

I have met many local people here in Phoenix, and though some of them make me think, “Good freaking GOD – I wish I had never met you.”, most of them are decent people, who just need some advice or correction on what others have told them. I usually stay in good contact with them, and end up ‘glidersitting’ for them when they go out of town.

Well, Off here for the night! I have 7 gliders snoozing in my shirt, and I happen to feel that it is now cage and food time!

Happy Gliding!!!!

Ash

For those of you who remember Seth & Cara, (my friend, Denise’s gliders), they are back for a little while!

Cara

Seth

Denise is moving a few miles from her house. The house she is in, she has been in for 30 years, but it has become too much work since her husband passed away. Her daughter is going to take her house, and she bought a new house, just a few miles down the road. I haven’t seen it yet, but she said it is a three bedroom house, fully remodeled. She bought it straight out, for $55,000. Not bad!!!

Anyways, her glider’s room became the ‘box’ room and she wasn’t able to give them all the attention she needed to, with everything that was going on. She decided to give me a ring, and have me come and get them. I’m not sure how long they will be here, but I always enjoy having them here, so no matter how long, they will be a blast!

I have a huge bag of glider things that I no longer need. I think I am going to give a good half of it to Denise for these two.

When they got here, I pulled them out, popped their ‘hotel’ up, and gave some treats. Both needed their nails clipped pretty bad, so clip clip clip!!!!

Well, I have some gliders to feed, and some cleaning up in this room to do.

Happy gliding!!!
Ash

Than a glider grooming my lower back while hiding in my shirt, sitting in a comfy chair, and having some sets sewn and ready for my site.

I was hired on at Macy’s, the department store. I am very excited to start, as it is exactly the hours I have wanted for a long time, and the pay will be good. With the hours, (5am to 11am) I will still have the rest of my day to do the things I need here at home and spend time with my love and the gliders. Let’s not forget, this leaves MUCH room for SEWING!!!!

I have been catching up on things the past few days, tweaking the site, sewing a bunch of things to put on it, and cleaning house! Cages still need to be done, along with washing the dirty cage items, as I have a basket full that needs to go in the wash. Those should get done tomorrow, as long as the world doesn’t have a crisis, LOL!

Boomer is doing very well. His mouth has healed and he has been eating regular food, though I mash it good, he gets his noms, instead of ensure. He is very happy for this, as am I. I did swap their wheel. They had a full bounce Yellow Custom Cruiser in their cage, but the boys are so old now, and they were hardly using it. I gave them a regular smooth runner, and they have been back at it. Still, not like they did in their good days, but it works, right? LoL.

Yesterday was nail clipping day. I still haven’t gotten to the boys yet but the family got theirs. Alice and Iris were very unimpressed.

Alice bit me through a canvas styled bag. She was VERY angry that I had hold of those tiny fingers! LOL!!! After clipping Iris’s nails, I put her in my shirt for snuggle time. She decided that snuggling was very over-rated and decided to bite…my boob… OW!

Dinner last-night for everyone was the basic mix, with honeydew, cantaloupe, blueberries, strawberries, peas, carrots, and cucumbers. They ate decently, and left only a little behind.

Okay, off here now, I have someone coming over for a bag of fabric I’ve had sitting here for ages. I decided that giving it away was much better than just throwing it out.

Happy gliding!!!!

Ash

I am not the most patriotic person, anymore. In leu of this, I would like to make a post regarding where I was when the planes hit the twin towers.

I was 15 years old, living at the base of South Mountain in Phoenix, Arizona. I stayed up late the night before and of course, I was running late for school. I was waiting for my dad, as he was giving me a ride to school, since I missed the bus. I hadn’t eaten breakfast yet, and I didn’t want to miss it at school, so I walked back to my parent’s bedroom to ask my dad if we could leave yet.

My mom shooshed me right away. On the screen of her 2o- something inch television on top of the dresser in her room, was the news, displaying explosions in a building, with smoke and fire. I willnot lie, I laughed at first, and said “Whoah! What are they demolishing? Is that downtown?”. I thought it was a demolition of a sky scraper or something that was so special, a one time check this out while we fuck shit up for a movie kind of thing.

My mom shooshed me again, and I realized that this was something serious, and not a demolition. I sat down at the foot of her bed and watched with her, the second plane hit. My heart and my stomach dropped. We both bursted into tears. My dad stood there like stone. None of us could believe it. What got me more, was when I looked up, and I saw people jumping 30 stories up, from that building, just hoping that even if they are hurt badly, they will be able to live.

My dad left for work soon after, and my mom took me to school. The whole campus (Cesar Chavez High) was on lockdown. We had to wait outside the gates with the security guards for about ten minutes before we were let in. I got my pass, kissed my mom goodbye and got to class.

My first class that day was Honors Social Studies. I got in there, handed my pass to the teacher and had a seat. There was a 32 inch TV going with what had happened an hour prior. Everyone was in awe at it. I couldn’t watch that happen again, that second plane hit, those people jumping. I felt guilty also, since I laughed at first that morning, thinking it was something different. I felt like I was laughing at those people who died.

I wrote a poem that hour.

US UNDER ATTACK

I regrettably gave that poem to the teacher to review. He put it in his wallet and said he was going to contact a publisher’s house about it. I have yet to get it back, but I know it would bring me to tears if I were to read it again.

Other kids were being called up to the office. So many kids were pulled out that day, that there were only about 60 of us left. We were ushered to the cafeteria and given free time, to watch the news and catch up on homework. After that, we were ushered to the ‘performing arts’ building, so they could keep a good round on all of us without us all getting too crowded. Again – we were given free time. I remember hearing my JROTC instructors talking about things. “Yeah, well they sure as shit just stirred up the biggest wasps nest they have ever seen with this one. I hope to God they are ready for the consequences.”.

I got home later that day to my mom unloading bottled water and canned foods. She informed me that a close friend of the family was killed in the first tower.

_____________________

I am 25 now, and since that day, I have seen many things which resulted in this day. Incredibly angry people, a steady decline in the North American economy, gas prices go nuts, less and more compassion, jobs lost, racism in a whole new light, veterans from Afghanistan with missing limbs or PTSD.

I have caught myself becoming racist at times. I loathe this feeling, and this is not me. The real me is very carefree, earthy and hippie-ish. When you are surrounded by the negativity, it is hard to not let it catch on. There was one time that I was in a store, and a middle eastern guy got pissy because I went in front of his cart while crossing an aisle. He says to me (most likely hoping I would hear him) “Hey mofuckuh”…. After a few steps, I looked back and he was still giving me the stink eye. I turned back the other way, being the larger person and finished my shopping.

Where were YOU ten years ago?

Boomer is doing much better now! His face went down a few days ago, and he is back to his old self. He’s on a soft foods diet, though, as I want to see ow his face does for a little while. He’s on ensure, with watermelon, avocado, wax worms and mealie guts along with pina colada yogurt.

Periodontal disease is the number one cause of death in small animals. Most people don’t think anything of the color of their hamster or rat’s teeth, but they should.

You can see my post about this issue here:

Molly’s UTI went away two days after my last post. She was on the meds for a few more days and it hasn’t come back! Go Molly!!!

Things between the boys and Herbert are still a bit bumpy. Their cages are very close, but they still fight through the bars. Boys have to establish their manliness, and this is something I see the most in humans and gliders… lol….. There isn’t as much fighting, but until there is less, we can not move to stage two of introductions. I am hoping everything goes well, because that means I won’t have to find someone to take Herbert, or someone to let him be with… I would prefer he stayed here and I could have my 2 cages back LOL! I knowhe is missing his buddy, and I know he is longing for the companionship. Funny enough, Boomer was calling to him last night! It was very cute until he did the crackhead glider ‘imma kick a yo ass’ dance on the side of the cage!

Well, cage cleaning tomorrow, along with nail clipping and weigh ins. I have been bad and haven’t cleaned the cages, other than the wheels and larger toys for the past couple of weeks. Of course, they don’t mind the stink, but my gliders are froofy things and actually seem to prefer it clean…. and they call themselves marsupials… pah!!!

Anyways, gotta clean this dingy room up and get it ready for tomorrow’s cage clean! I have some dapper pouches to post on my site for you all to see, soon!

Happy Gliding!

Ash