Sasha is a glider that was loved too much. Can you love your glider too much? You can if you let your love for your glider influence the care that you give it. Sasha's people loved her so much that they gave her what she wanted to eat rather than to give her a balanced diet with all of the nutrients that she needed.
     Sasha has HLP. A friend of Sasha's people accepted responsibility of caring for her while Sasha's
people went on vacation. You see their friend and mine also have a glider and while going on various
trips they have allowed each other to glider sit for the other until Sasha and my friends glider Dale had
bonded so now they share custody of the pair. Well when my friend came back from vacation and picked up the pair of gliders so that her friend could leave for her vacation, she noticed that Sasha was not doing well and she called me. I asked her what she meant by "not doing well"? She then told me that Sasha was dragging her back legs and she wondered if she was depressed. I told her to bring her right over. It being a weekend and a holiday weekend at that, I was unsure if we could find a vet to treat her. I explained once again to her about HLP. I told her that I would make up some nectar with calcium in it for her to drink and together we would try to get her to a vet. We could not get a vet to even look at her that day. We had to wait for the vet that was coming in that evening at 6PM. Sasha was in sad shape. She would grasp my finger and bunch herself up as if in severe pain. Her appetite was good when the spasms passed and she drank the nectar well. Dale did not seem to be affected.
She took her into the emergency vet that evening and Sasha had two seizures while at the vets office.
She received two injections of calcium-one in the muscle and one under the skin. The vet sent home a
dose of calcium in a tuberculin syringe to be given to her the next day. My friend brought her back to me and asked me to keep the pair and care for them while she is going thru this. She said that she would feel more comfortable with my caring for them. I agreed to do so. She brought me accu-feed and gliderade to give to them. When I questioned her about their diet she informed me that yes they made sure that she had accu-feed available at all times, putting in fresh daily, but that they also fed them fruits and veggies and all the treats that they wanted. They loved her so much that they let her dictate what she would and would not eat. She was not overweight, she only weighed in at 100GMS, but was still malnourished due to an imbalance in her diet. The fact that she had two seizures in the vets office indicates that she was nearing death if some type of action had not been taken. I gave her the sub-q. injection that next day. She was beginning to show signs of improvement by pulling her hind legs up underneath her instead of dragging them. I continued to give her the nectar with the calcium in it. Dale of course wanted his share of it and that was a good thing because last night he too began to show signs of HLP by favoring one hind leg. Every hour or less I would wake Sasha up and hold her over the crock dish of nectar so that she could drink. She had trouble holding herself up and would only lay on her side without assistance. I made sure that she stayed hydrated and kept receiving her additional calcium throughout the day and that night.
     Dale has stopped favoring his hind leg but is still going to the vets with Sasha today. I caught him trying to ride Sasha so I separated them into two separate cages. I believe that she already has one baby in pouch and if she does she does not need him impregnating her again right now. This is what can happen when you love your glider too much and you let it dictate what it should eat. The diet is off balance and any number of conditions can occur. HLP being the most common. Sasha's people's excuse was she loves yogurt, oh but she does so enjoy her corn. I give her what she likes to eat. They loved her too much and let that blind them to her needs rather than what she wanted. Pine nuts are her absolute favorite. How can you explain to someone that if you really love your glider you want to provide them with a properly balanced diet? There was nothing wrong with the foods that they fed to them, but rather it was the proportions that they gave. They nearly loved her to death and she isn't out of the woods yet. Hopefully she will pull through with intensive treatment and my being with her full time.

After approximately three weeks of giving Sasha her calcium gluconate in nectar, I mixed it 1.0cc's of
calcium gluconate in 300cc's of nectar, Sasha has made a full recovery from her HLP. I put both her
and Dale on the accu-feed for sugar gliders from BPP. She and Dale are back with their people now,
and they are better educated on diet and what to watch for should this happen again.