it slept in your pocket all day with you. I was trying to picture this creature in my head. Hmm, semed pretty interesting to me. Mario sarcastically mentioned getting it for me and then we decided to leave. I thought about this new creature
for a few days. I knew I wouldn't be getting it because I had a bunch of pets already. I had 2 Russian Dwarf hamsters, some freshwater fishies, 2 mice, 1 Syrian albino hamster, 1 Black Bear hamster named Preston(He was my fav and spoiled rotten..he was a sweety tho), and a dwarf bunny. These were all mine.
I certainly did not need anymore pets. Plus we had our family pets, a dog(Chow), a potbelly pig(who sadly ran away and was put down for a broken leg, which is a whole long story in itself), and some saltwater fish in the livingroom wall.
After a while I forgot about that 'Pocket Pet' and continued on with my normal life.April rolled around and come April 2nd at about 3 pm I walked in Toms petstore with Mario. He told me to go look at the 'Sugar Glider' in the 10 gallon tank in the back. I did but didn't see anything but this black cave type thing and pine shavings with some cat food in it.
I was trying to figure out what was in there and this lady came out of the back and told me to lift up the black cave and pick the Sugar Glider up. I did as she said and the funny looking creature SCREAMED at me. I jumped back about 2 feet!! She said, "It won't hurt you just pick it up and hold it." I told her to pick it up and hold it cuz I was leaving.
She, now frustrated with me, picked it up and put it on me. It ran all around my body, but never bit me. She told me to walk around with him, I was too stiff to. I played with him for a little while then told Mario it was time to go. He asked me if I wanted that Glider and I said, "Well, I kinda do, but what will I do with my hammies?" (At this point my albino hamster had 8 baby golden hamsters, my mice died, and most of my fish were dead too)
He said I'd have to get rid of them(the babies were already going to Tom, as he had asked me for them--He keeps his hammies very nicely so I didn't mind them going to his petstore. Mario meant I'd have to get rid of Preston and Momma, the albino) I told him no glider cuz I loved my hamsters and would not part with them. I then looked back at the glider and was going to say goodbye to it BUT.... The lady was putting it in a box, at this point I got a little shaky. I turned back around and saw Mario paying Tom. I started in with the questions and before I got any answers I was holding a box with a loud, scared male glider in it. Tom said to get a 10 gallon tank with lid, pine shavings, some catfood and waterbottle, and he handed me Caroline MacPhersons book. Then after Mario paid for all of that, I was in the truck and on my way home with an animal I knew absolutely NOTHING about. To say the least, I learned very quick- sucking in anything glider related I could find. Now for a name- Well at night when I watched Jerry Springer(No comments on that please! he he he) he curled up in my hands and went to sleep. My mom suggested naming him Jerry and it just kinda stuck! That is how Jerry came about. Jerry was bonded to me in about 2 weeks. As I learned his diet and cage improved. Now he's a sweet, healthy, happy daddy. After about 2 weeks when Jerry was bonded to me we went back to Toms petstore. He now had a female there! She was nice and chunky, too cute! I tried to touch her now having more confidence since I had 'tamed' Jerry. I tried to pet What I didn't know was what was going on while I was not around! Here's the deal with why I got 2 cutie gliders so fast: That is a perfect example of what NOT to do!! Always research an animal before you get it. It saves time, hassles, $$, and lots of worrying. It turns out that after I got Jerry I found out who the breeder was that supplied the petstore with him. I had known her since I was 8 years old. We got to talking and I decided to go visit her farm. There was tons of different animals there! Sadly they were in terrible condition. The gliders were caged in tiny, dirty cages and were fed a terrible diet! The chinchillas and Prarie Dogs were also looking pretty sad. There was 13 untame gliders there and were caged in these cages that was like one huge cage with seperaters in between. There was no spaces so the gliders could chew each others feet. There was a pair of Flying Squirrels in a cage next to the gliders so those could also fight with the gliders! I saw this and I let this lady know I was very angry and upset with what I saw! She told me I was allowed to take home a 7 year old female and give her some love and fix her diet. I had her for 2 months and then had to bring her back home. She was sad and I couldn't blame her. I felt at least somewhat better that while I had Lily(the 7 yr old female) they built a room for the gliders and got a little bigger cages, the diet improved too. Since then I have not gone back. I just could not bear to look into all those sad eyes. It's made me cry before. The ending to this story: What ended up happening with the hammies is Tom had a friend come in who wanted an albino, exactly what I had. I ended up giving her up, fighting a losing battle with Mario. That friend took the babies too, he found them homes. With Preston, being my baby, I wouldn't give him no matter what. I won that battle with the ol' man! Preston lived with me until he died. Sadly, he also made me give up my 2 Russian Dwarf hamsters to Tom. :-( Shortly after I got Cher I got ONLINE!! Then the Glider Mania started! |
her, NO DEAL! She crabbed(Remember--I learned more now) and lunged at me. I still jumped back. When Jerry heard that he stuck his head out of my pocket and
looked at this new female glider. She shut her mouth so fast!!! Talk about instant Gliderlove. So, of course Mario bought her for me too. Jerry and Cherie wanted together right away so there was no seperating them for very long. She bonded instantly to Jerry and gave me the hardest time. Now for a name- I couldn't just call her little brat, so I thought about this one. My name was going to be Cherie and I really like that name. It's also a relative of mine's name. Plus it sounds good, "Jerry and Cherie."
That just kinda stuck for her. She hated me for 4 mos. Then once she birthed Salem in my hands she became this wonderfully sweet girl and so loving. She is now the baby of the group and is such a love.