July 1999 - March 16, 2002

Nox is the second glider from the top right in the group picture.
To be honest, I'm not sure which one he is in the baby picture.
NAME ORIGIN
Nox is Latin for "night," which seemed appropriate for a nocturnal animal.
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION
Small and dainty, like his mother, Dextrose.
PERSONALITY
Nox was always on the shy side, like his father, and preferred the company of his fellow gliders to that of people - unless one of those people happened to be presenting a honey-smeared finger for him to lick.
MEDICAL CONDITIONS

During the summer of 2001, Nox developed what appeared to be an abscess on one side of his face.  Apart from the swelling, he seemed to be fine.  We treated him with antibiotics for several weeks, and eventually the abscess went away.  For a long time, he seemed perfectly normal except that he sometimes made an odd whistling/hissing noise that the other gliders didn't make.

In December of 2001, he developed a marked head tilt, though he again appeared to be normal in all other respects and didn't seem to feel bad.  We - and his vet - suspected he might have an ear infection, so he went on antibiotics again for some time.  The head tilt improved, but never did go away completely.  Since gliders are so small, there is only so much you can do diagnostically to figure out exactly what is going on, and the head tilt was a bit of a mystery to everyone.  Since he was eating and running around like the rest of the gliders, we figured he would do all right in spite of it and hoped that it would eventually resolve itself.

On the evening of March 14, 2002, he appeared to be very sick.  Not only was his head tilt worse, but he was very weak and wasn't much interested in food.  Not knowing what else to do, we started him on antibiotics again and fed him as much as we could with a syringe.  He perked up a little bit, but it was obvious something serious was going on.  We debated separating him from the other gliders, but they're such gregarious little animals that we figured it would be more of a stress for him to be apart from them than a help.  That is a mistake I'll never make again.  On the morning of March 16, he looked really bad.  In addition to the illness, the other gliders had beaten him up quite a bit, which I guess is something they do instinctively when one of their own is ill.  I took him to the vet where he got fluids, steroids, and more antibiotics, but he died on the way home.

We didn't have any idea what had been wrong with him until Dextrose died exactly six months later.  Her post-mortem examination revealed liver and kidney failure and since their symptoms were so similar, I think Nox had the same problem, even though he was quite young.

For a couple of days after Nox died, the other gliders seemed confused and subdued.  I guess they missed him, despite their behavior toward him earlier.  We certainly miss him.