WHO MUST BE QUARANTINED? Every new glider coming into your home should begin a 30 day quarantine period beginning the minute you walk in the door with them. Be prepared before their arrival, new cage set up (unless they come with one), freshly cleaned or new pouches, toys and food dishes. Yep, they need everything you provided for your very first glider - and everything has to be like new, and thoroughly cleaned if it has ever been used by another glider before you can use it with your new arrival.

WHAT DOES QUARANTINE MEAN? This means NO contact between a new glider in your home with any of your other glider/s, not even being in the same room! Everything that comes in contact with EITHER your current gliders or the new ones must be kept separate. This includes YOU! Good hand washing and changing clothes, if you have handled the gliders or they have been on your person, is also a part of the quarantine process. If you have just opened a cage to put in a food dish, then WASH YOUR HANDS before going to the next room to feed your other gliders.

Gliders who come to you together, already in the same cage from the same prior home are lucky - they get to spend quarantine TOGETHER. The do however need your frequent attention and lots of TLC while they are in a room alone.

Gliders who come to you as single gliders from different breeders or different prior homes - Well, they unfortunately need to spend their 30 day quarantine all alone in a room away from all other gliders. They will need extra attention from you, their new Mom or Dad. This is a good reason to bring a new glider into your home no more often than 30 days. You need the extra time to spend with this single glider and may not be able to divide yourself among several new gliders all needing extra TLC.

Bedding should be washed separately, as should all food dishes and water bowls. Care should be taken to wash and sanitize your hands and arms after handling the quarantined gliders or their belongings.


WHEN AND HOW LONG TO QUARANTINE: When you get a new glider, you should begin the 30 day quarantine immediately AND schedule a vet visit ASAP. The vet should do a fecal float and smear, urinalysis and an over-all check-up, including weight.

AFTER 30 DAYS and BEFORE introducing your new glider to your other glider/s, take the new glider BACK to the vet for a second check-up. This is important because there are many things that won't show up before the thirty days. BUT, if you don't take your glider back for a second check-up to see if anything shows up, the thirty day quarantine was for nothing. If something is wrong, unless you go back to the vet for the second check-up and tests, you won't find out what developed enough to be discovered on the second test. The first test is a baseline, to be used to check against the second test.

WHERE DO I PUT THE QUARANTINE CAGE? For a true quarantine the cage must be in another room. If you absolutely have no other room, (not many glider owners live in an efficiency 1 room apartment), then the cages must be placed on entirely opposite sides of the room and you must be extra vigilant that none of your gliders leave their cages, even for a moment, which would allow them to come in direct contact with the area on, under or around the other cage(s) where food or fecal matter might be found. Parasites can easily be transmitted by these brief contacts. This would be difficult for most of us who play with our babies daily. Even a moment of free play in the same room may allow contact between the two cages that could potentially expose the gliders to any illnesses carried by the others. Even the bathroom would be considered “a separate room” and a safer choice than trying to do quarantine in the same space.


NOW FOR THE WHY!

HEALTH CONCERNS are the first reason to quarantine. It is a safety precaution that's meant to protect any gliders already in your home from potential illnesses/infections the new gliders may have. Just because a glider "looks" healthy doesn't necessarily mean it is or that it isn't carrying parasites. The vet checks at the beginning of quarantine and again in 30 days, with fecal float/smear is needed to establish health. The reason for two fecal exams is that some parasites don't immediately show up in the first fecal sample but may develop during the quarantine period. Most illnesses or other problems will also become evident in this time span. Parasites are easily transmitted through fecal matter and you can be a carrier if you don't follow proper procedures.

OTHER BENEFITS OF QUARANTINE

While a 30 day quarantine may seem like a lot of extra work, there are some POSITIVE REASONS to keep your new glider separate and apart from your current glider population. The 30 day time period gives you a chance to determine the new glider’s personality before introducing him or her to other gliders (introductions is a whole other topic). Is this glider shy with people, crabby in the pouch but not out, loves to run in the wheel, likes to sleep on a hammock rather than a pouch, etc. There are so many little things you can learn about your new baby during this 30 day period. BE OBSERVANT and really get to know your new glider

Find out if he or she has a favorite food or just plain HATES a particular food. When a glider is with a colony, it is easy to assume that everyone is eating the green beans you served for dinner - but if you know one glider hates green beans but will eat romaine lettuce - maybe you will decide to serve both so each glider gets a vegetable they will eat.

Learn how this glider deals with everyday things. Can you hold them for nail trimming? Is he or she freaked out by things being changed around in the cage? What favorite treats bring happy chirps?

Also use this time to bond with your new baby, find out what kind of toys he or she prefers, learn his or her habits and food preferences and best of all let this new glider get to know and trust YOU before you begin the often stressful (for you and the glider) process of introducing him or her to other gliders.