Senior sugar gliders Bluee and Fluee

Bluee Memorial:
It is with a heavy saddened and broken heart that I write about my life and a special tribute to my beloved Bluee and her passing. A lot of times we hear about how tame or bonded a baby is that has passed. This is not that kind of bond or relationship I had with a sugar glider. We could pick her up and she would come to the front of cage and would nip fingers or hand but would climb on my arm. But that was not unusual for you Bluee, as I saw you nip ever new toy or box we put in your house. I realized you were tasting or testing the safety or how you just checked things out. It is more of a story of trust and her trusting me more than I could of ever imagined and probably wouldn’t believe it unless I got to see it with my own eyes. She crabbed when sleeping in her box anytime she heard me talking anywhere near HER cage, but would stop almost immediately if I made a kissy noise, that was her treat and my come here to me noise. She also responded to Tsst, psst to quiet down. She hated to be woke up but would come running with a kissy sound. It was amazing to see how she reacted and could feel a cricket as it was grabbing onto the wire of the cage, she would stop for a second and read the vibrations on the wire like a spider does with their web. She would run over and grab the live cricket and chow down. None of the above is anything special or unusual unless you factor in that Bluee was born blind. It was amazing to watch your suggie parents help you and take extra measures in raising you. I don’t think they believed there was anything wrong or different about you and didn’t just dispose of you because something was wrong. They took food into the nest box and fed you and let you eat out of their mouths even when it was time for you to come out and eat on your own. I also got the pleasure of holding food for you in the box so you could have the favorites we fed everybody. They even kept a close eye on you when you did first venture out into the world. They stayed closer to you until you got use to exploring on your own, and you were even grumpy when you could do things on your own and without parents help. And basically told the parents that you were capable of finding food and water on your own. You started to rule that cage way back then as you did later with Fluee your lifetime companion. Fluee always kept a watchful eye on you even if you didn’t notice he would watch you as you played and ran in your wheel during the daytime. He is still looking for you especially at dinner time he looked up and all toward bottom of cage and waiting for you to come start eating. Bluee wasn’t the type of sugar glider that wanted to be held, or sat to be petted , or wanted to be on my shoulder under my shirt. She was very independent and wanted to feel like she was in control which was fine by me as I didn’t want to push her or stress her out in any manner. She wasn’t real comfortable in being away from her environment for any long period of time and we could tell when she had enough human time. Her eyes would get red looking(where her eyes should have been) and knew it was time to go back home. Even with all her quirks such as nips before climbing on, sometimes missing a bug, she never nipped hard enough to draw blood on me. She taught me some different ways of handling and that verbal communication is also a big part of our relationship. She trusted me enough to launch herself blindly to me as I called and stood outside of her cage. When this first happened I really thought it was a fluke but it turned into a daily ritual that she really enjoyed and after she landed on my chest would chirp as if to say “see I can do it”. She would get up on their shelf and you could see her little feet shuffle from side to side like getting ready for take off. After I would make Kissy noise she would jump and land square on my chest. Then climb up on my shoulder and sit for a moment. We did this routine during the daytime for quite a few months and after she ate her reward we would walk around the house until she had enough time on me. Fluee would be waiting at the box hole entrance and looking for her return and only when we put her back in would he come out for his treat too. Her house was where I walked by it several times a day and if out she would stop what she was doing and sniff and listen for me, even if I was very quiet she know I was around. If she came running to cage door I would give a treat or two and then she would make her rounds and run her wheel. If she was on shelf waiting or knew I was giving others daytime treats she was always up for a treat, I’m not sure how it started with her jumping to me. But the saddest day was when I was treating everybody and had a large container with crickets in it. I unlatched the door and saw her getting ready to jump and I reached to set cricket container down and catch her. But our timing was off and she decided to jump early and missed my chest and I couldn’t reach out fast enough to catch her and protect her from hitting the floor. She was alright and not hurt physically but mentally I think she blamed me. After that and for awhile every time I made Kissy noise she went away from me and not to me. It took a lot of patience to get her to trust the noise enough to just come to the front for a treat and for a long time I had to reach in and offer the treat to her. We also put them in a crock dish(mealies) to gain her confidence back that I wasn’t going to scare her. I stopped trying to get her to launch toward my chest and moved her house so it sat on the floor on wheels by my bed and not up on a shelf. Bluee and Fluee always lived in a 2 by 2 by 4 ft tall house. Bluee was nine years old and we will always miss you and your daytime activities. Fluee is also nine years old.
Written By:
Arthur Gibbons

Photos of Bluee's friend Fluee:






Pics of Bluee the sugar glider: