Does A Sugar Glider Make A Good Pet? What Is A Sugar Glider?
by Lorrie Davids(428)
What exactly is a sugar glider? Wikipedia defines a sugar glider as a small marsupial native to Australia, New Guinea, Bismarck Archipelago. Over the years it has been introduced into Tasmania and is gaining popularity as a pet in the United States. They are small, no more than 7.5 inches long with their tails being longer than their bodies. They look a lot like a baby squirrel, weighing no more than 5.5 ounces. They have a silky gray fur with black and cream splotches around the eyes and ears and generally have beige undersides.
Being a marsupial, they are mammals with the females carrying their young in a pouch (think kangaroo) through early infancy. Sugar gliders also have a wing-like membrane called patagia which extends from their forelimbs to their hind feet. Extending that membrane is where they get their glider reputation as they stretch the membrane to glide from limb to limb in their natural habitat. They have been known to glide up to 55 yards.
Should I consider purchasing a sugar glider as a pet? Sugar Gliders like to live in groups and are very social. If you only have one, you will need to spend a good deal of time with it. Gliders like to be kept in a loose pouchlike pocket of your clothing and will get lonely if just kept in a cage all the time.
What do they eat? Sugar gliders like sweet things; in captivity they eat mostly fruit and protein. Some experts recommend baby food for the protein.
What about a cage? Sugar gliders require a wire cage, the larger the better. It would be cruel to keep one in a small cage. They like to climb and a plastic or glass enclosure would make that hard to do. If you are going to get one, treat it right!
Where do I find one? Online is always a good place to look, but be sure to check the credentials of any breeder you consider. Some pet stores carry them, but I recommend finding one another way. Check your local newspaper's animal section and always, in fact first, check with your local SPCA. You'll be surprised the variety of animals you will find there to adopt.
What about immunizations? Anytime you obtain a new pet, contact your local vet to see what requirements your state demands. Also, your vet is your best source for information on this sweet little marsupial.
If you live in California it is illegal to own one. Sugar Gliders are exotic animals and procedures must be followed to breed them. They make great pets if you are willing to invest time and effort to care for them.
Article submitted Thursday, September 24, 2009 & read 187 times.
Leave Your Comments:
» left by Marijo Phelps from mountain meadow CO (349 days 5 hours ago.)
How fascinating - will write to my friend in Australia to see what she knows of these tiny creatures. Thanks for writing this - informative and intriguing!Respond to this comment
» left by Lorrie Davids(428)
Thanks, Marijo for reading and commenting. I seriously considered getting one, but knowing the care and time they take, I will stick with my two dogs for now. Someday, maybe.
Respond to this comment
» left by Lucky Glider Rescue from Henderson, NV (348 days 21 hours ago.)
Sugar Glider Q & A for Newbies by Lucky Glider Rescue & SanctuaryThis submission inspired by a post from Lorrie Davids on MyPetTales. It is donated by the directors of Lucky Glider Rescue & Sanctuary (LGRS) - a 501(c) 3 public charity with a focus on the rescue and rehabilitation of sugar gliders. LGRS has 95 gliders at its rescue in various stages of rehabilitation and adoption readiness. LGRS serves the western U.S. and provides free animal husbandry courses on sugar gliders and a dietary workshop for sugar gliders. Monthly meetups are also part of LGRS's community outreach program. A foster care and full adoption program is also practiced at the rescue.What is a Sugar Glider?Sugar Gliders are technically possums and their scientific name is Petaurus breviceps which means "short headed rope dancer." Their common name derives from their sweet tooth (saps from eucalyptus and acacia trees, flower nectar) and the fact their patagium (furred skin stretching from wrist to ankle) allows them to fly through the air. In like a bat's patagium, a glider's flight is always downward. They glide from tree to tree to forage for food and to escape predators.They are also marsupials, giving birth to imperfect young after a short, 16-day gestation period. Babies are called joeys, and they crawl from the cloaca upon birth into the mother's pouch and stay inside to nurse for two months before emerging. The day they emerge is called OOP or out-of-pouch and is considered their true birth day. That is the day they are "perfect."The natural Geographical distribution of sugar gliders is along the equator of Indonesian rain forest areas such as the Aru Islands, Marshall Islands and the Bismarck Archipelago. The can also be found on the eastern seaboard of Australia and as far south as Hobart, Tasmania.Do Sugar Gliders make good Pets?You should only consider a sugar glider as a pet if you understand they can live as long as 15 years in captivity and they are exotic, not domestic animals. They cannot be housebroken, and they like to scent mark their territory. Some like to bite, and many like to chew on furniture. They are not compatible with domestics such as cats and dogs and fall prey to them easily. They bond to humans pretty easily, but are needy and affectionate animals that need a lot of attention.In the wild, sugar gliders live in colonies of up to eight members, but parents drive most young away from the nest to go out on their own at sub-adulthood. In captivity, gliders do not enjoy being alone and in fact will over-groom themselves and often self-mutilate if they are not joined with one of their own species. It is considered cruel in most cases to have a single sugar glider for this reason.Sugar gliders do not need a large cage, but they need to be let out of their cage each night to play. A room sufficiently large and safe to allow them to run about for a few hours is optimal. You can carry them in a mesh-windowed fleece pouch during the day as they sleep. They are nocturnal which means they are mostly active at nightCan you feed Gliders a ready-made diet?No, you must prepare a diet for them to keep them healthy. You cannot just pour hamster food in their cage. Sugar gliders require a diet of about 50% low-fat, low-phosphorus protein, and the rest a 2:1 Calcium to Phosphorus balanced fruit and vegetable mixture and glucose-heavy natural carbs (no refiined sugars). There are no good "off the shelf" diets for sugar gliders as there are for domestic animals. There are in fact off-the-shelf pellets, but they are deficient in protein and the sole offering of pellets often leads to metabolic bone disease, hind leg paralysis and death. A good starting point for glider diet is the LGRS diet. You can tweet luckyglider for the recipe or call 702.301.2445.Baby food is not recommended across-the-board because so many are iron fortified and iron is hard for gliders' livers to process. A careful review of nutritional content of off-the-shelf prepared foods is crucial for your exotic vet to review before offering them to gliders.What Kind of Cage do Gliders Need?A stainless steel, powder coat, or plastic coated wire cage is good. A 3'x3'x4' parakeet cage is sufficient so long as the bar spacing is no more than a half inch. Doors and windows of the cage should be fastened shut with dog clips or other spring-loaded fasteners. The size of the cage is not quite as important as the need for them to be out of the cage altogether for an hour or more each night. This requires dedication on behalf of the owner, so this is a consideration before acquiring a sugar glider. If you cannot spend time with your sugar gliders each day for at least an hour out of the cage, don't get them in the first place.Where do I find Sugar Gliders?Believe it or not, there is an EPIDEMIC of abandoned sugar gliders in the united states. There are a handful of non-profit rescues, such as LGRS that are stuffed to the gills with abandoned and unwanted gliders. So before you buy one from a pet store or breeder, consider adoption. The classifieds section of glider gossip is a good place to look for gliders. So is Craig's list. Local SPCA chapters often search for glider specialists and turn gliders over to them if they come in.Do Gliders Require Immunizations Like a Dog?No. Gliders do not require immunizations; however, it is a good idea to ask your exotic vet to do a health check, blood work and a stool float when you first get your gliders. If you do obtain your pets from a pet store, many are sourced from mill breeders in TX or FL where gliders routinely contract and spread Giardia, which can be treated. It is also possible for them to carry other parasites such as fleas. They are also susceptible to aflatoxin, pesticides and fish-borne bacteria.If your veterinarian does not specialize in exotics or marsupials, ask him or her to network with colleagues to find a specialist in the area to confer with or to refer you to.Can I breed Sugar Gliders?Yes you can, but do them and the overflowing rescues a favor and don't. They are in fact prolific breeders. But most people who try breeding them freak out once they get to a dozen or so and no one buys. There is no money in it unless you are a mill breeder and that is a sad existence for gliders to be bred to death in breadox-sized cages with no toys or out of cage play. Most home-breeding enterprises eventually fail with the animals ending up in rescue. So the practice of home or hobby breeding is highly discouraged. It is more humane, as with cats and dogs, to neuter the males. The males scent glands produce a funky odor and that goes away upon neutering. Some aggressiveness abates after neutering as well.Respond to this comment
» left by Lorrie Davids(428)
Thanks for your input, Lucky Glider! I hope those considering adding a sugar glider to their family will contact you for the animal and information to keep it healthy and happy. I'm glad you found MPT and hope you'll come around often. Should you decide to submit articles to this site, you can place a link to your rescue at the end of each article. Thanks, again.
Respond to this comment
