“Ick”: An emerging disease – A disease syndrome has recently been observed in sugar gliders that includes diarrhea, anorexia, wet, “sticky” joeys, pouch exudate, and joey deaths. The furred, but still largely pouch-dwelling joeys appear poorly groomed or are covered with tacky mucus. Clinically, the joeys are lethargic, dehydrated, with evidence of diarrhea. Some adults appear to be asymptomatic, although mild diarrhea has been noted in many cases.
The sugar glider (Petaurus breviceps) is a small marsupial native to Australia and New Guinea. Although sugar gliders lack marsupial bones, also known as epipubic bones or pelvic ribs, female gliders or “dams” possess a pouch or marsupium. Like all marsupials, the glider gives birth to a fetus, which completes development inside the pouch…
Free-ranging sugar gliders live in the treetops and glide from tree to tree using their patagium like a kite and their tail as a rudder to control the direction of flight. The patagium is a furred membrane of skin or gliding membrane that stretches between the forelimbs and hind legs. These skin folds are extensions of the lateral body wall. When the glider is at rest, this excess skin appears as a rippled border along the sides. During a glide, the skin spreads out to form a rectangle…
