Breeding Issues
We always see pictures of cute little joeys, so who wouldn't want to breed for them? It's an amazing experience, but isn't for everyone. If you are considering breeding, there are some cold hard truths that experienced breeders try to educate others about.
Breeding isn't always full of fun and joy. It can be a very heart wrenching situation when things don't go as planned. There is always the potential for premature births, rejected, cannibalized, or over groomed joeys. Most times, we have no warning these things are going to occur, and typically we cannot prevent them from occurring. Rarely do we ever know the cause.
The following photographs are from various breeders that have experienced some of these issues. This is the side of breeding that is not typically shown, but something I feel very strongly should be.
Breeding isn't always full of fun and joy. It can be a very heart wrenching situation when things don't go as planned. There is always the potential for premature births, rejected, cannibalized, or over groomed joeys. Most times, we have no warning these things are going to occur, and typically we cannot prevent them from occurring. Rarely do we ever know the cause.
The following photographs are from various breeders that have experienced some of these issues. This is the side of breeding that is not typically shown, but something I feel very strongly should be.
Ick
“Ick” is not a medical term, it is a description. “Ick” describes how the joeys look. Their fur looks “icky”, hence the name “Ick”. The parents have an infection that they can pass to their joeys, whether it be from the mother having a pouch infection, a skin infection, or a urinary tract infection (UTI). This requires veterinary care!
Mating Wounds
Mating wounds can occur with any pair of gliders:
Undeveloped Testes
Under-developed testes (top pair) from a sub-species cross with a 1.2 year old male Mosaic x Caramel sugar glider compared to those from a 3.5 year old Leucistic (bottom pair) sugar glider. Testes collected from neuter procedures. (Crossing a Carmel with our gliders results in sterile offspring.)
Premature Joeys
Came OOP weighing at only 1 gram: One week early and was being cannibalized by the parents:
Milk Production Issues
Joeys that died of starvation while in pouch due to lack of milk production (likely caused by mastitis or other infection):
Deformities
Joey that came OOP with no pouch or pom photos below are of the same joey on different dates)
Inverted Scrotum
Glider was originally thought to be a hermaphrodite because it appeared to have both a pouch and a penis; upon veterinary inspection it was found to have an inverted scrotum, not a pouch. This glider was neutered. Condition may have been genetically related or happenstance; undetermined by vet.
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Rejected Joeys
Rejected joey that has bite marks on its face:
Over groomed chest from a pair of rejected joeys, one was trying to nurse from the chest of the other:
Rejected joey being hand raised:
Over Grooming
Over groomed joey while in pouch which resulted in a missing ear (photo below on left required surgery):
Over groomed tail on a joey:
Injuries
Joey that had an injury and the parent(s) removed the foot:
Teat ripped off of mom, joey with mom's blood all over it:
Breeding Trio Issues - Fighting Females
Joey was fatally wounded when two females were fighting over the baby causing one side of the joeys face to be brutally ripped off.
Cannibalized Joeys
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Owner woke to check on gliders and this is what she saw. No known reason for the cannibalization. Photo Courtesy: Donna Shivler |
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Cannibalized joeys that were due OOP any day (separate litters/moms/home):
Cannibalized joey, what you may see in the cage (sometimes there is no visual evidence left):
Cannibalized joey that was not quite OOP, from 3rd set of joeys
All photos are produced with express consent from the owners.