Comments by user: Dancing
Part two
Gliders are complex. They are not little rodents you can just feed some pellets and expect them to live long healthy lives.
Heat rocks! OMG how wrong it is to put a heat rock in with gliders. 1st, providing that they are actually OLD enough to be away from their parents, they do not need a heat rock. Only very young joeys (under 8 weeks out of pouch) do not have the ability to regulate their body temperatures. 2nd, there is such a risk of them burning themselves on the heat rocks or chewing the electrical cords. These are hazzards that are NOT necessary with healthy, appropriate age gliders.
Anyone that is insisting you buy THEIR cage (which what he sells is TOO SMALL, minimum for 2 gliders should be 2 foot by 2 foot by 3 foot or larger) , THEIR diet, THEIR heat rocks, THEIR other garbage in order for you to own one of their gliders is ONLY ABOUT THE MONEY, not the welfare of the animal.
Diet, there is much more to a balanced diet than just the calcium:phosphrous ratio. And a diet lacking in calcium or having too much phosphrous is NOT the only cause of hind leg paralysis. Illness such as giardia (which MANY of the gliders Larkin has sold has) or parasites can cause gliders to not absorb the calcium properly and that too can lead to hind leg paralysis.
Perhaps you should ask Larkin what happened at the Wichita home show and why he is not welcome back there. Ask about how he sold two joeys that were taken immediately to the vet where they were determined to both be infected with giardia and less than 8 weeks out of pouch and not properly weened yet. I bet you will NOT get the truth from Larkin on that!
Part one
Ed, Gail, Keep up the good work.
I'm in the Kansas City area. I have had gliders over 11 years and have been rescuing for about 6 years. I also have experienced situations exactly like Ed and Gail. I also rescue gliders and many of those I have had come to me originated from Steve Larkin. I've had gliders come to me having been fed his "diet" that were so malnurished that I've had some die as a result. Others that took months to get healthy.
I've even have two gliders here right now that were rescued in Utah and brought to me, again, thanks to Larkin.
Part three
Ask Larkin about how many breeding gliders he has and ask to see their living conditions at his "breeding facility". My bet is he won't let you see for yourself and if he does, he won't show you ALL of them.
Gliders have (usually) 1-2 joeys at a time (3-4 are posible but extremely rare). They breed in the wild once or twice per year but in captivity, on average 4 times per year. So one breeding pair MIGHT produce 8 joeys per year. Do the math. How many breeding gliders would he have to have to be able to take 30-50 joeys to each home show each weekend? How many does he sell per year?
Now tell me how those breeding gliders are properly cared for and socialized (interacted with) so that they are healthy, both physically and emotionally, as well as tame?
My opinion of Larkin and others like him is they are all parasites feeding off of impulse buyers who either don't know or don't care about where the animals come from or what living conditions they must endure, simply because they are cute.
For those of you that have purchased from Larkin, I wish only the very best for you and your gliders and hope that they are fortunate enough to live long healthy lives. Sadly, that has not been the case with the "Larkin" gliders that have come through my home.