Sugar Gliders

by Aimee Amodio | More from this Blogger

25 May 2006 02:30 PM

When we started discussing sugar gliders in the Pets Forum, my first thought was, "What the heck is a sugar glider?" As it turns out, a sugar glider is a mammal in the marsupial family. Like a kangaroo, it carries its young in a pouch.

Sugar gliders have soft grey fur with a black stripe running down the length of their backs. Most of their length is tail -- about half their 10-12 inch body length is tail. They have big eyes and big ears and after looking at my first few pictures of a sugar glider, I kind of want one!

One really neat thing about sugar gliders is that they have five fingers on their hands and four toes with an opposable thumb-toe on their feet. Two of their toes are fused together and used specifically for grooming. And they get their name -- sugar gliders -- from the gliding membrane that lets them sail from one tree to another.

Sugar gliders in the wild primarily eat the sap from eucalyptus and gum trees, and supplement their diet with insects. Domesticated sugar gliders should be fed mostly fruits and vegetables (about three-quarters of their diet) and some protein (about one quarter of their diet). They tend to favor sweet tasting treats like fruit and fruit juices, sweet corn, sweet potatoes, peas, sweet peppers, and carrots. Feed your sugar gliders fresh fruit, please; save the canned fruit for emergencies only. On the protein side, you can feed your sugar gliders dry cat food, cooked red meat, cooked poultry, or tofu. The advantage of using cat food or tofu is the higher calcium content. Dairy products make a good treat, but sugar gliders tend to have difficulties digesting lactose -- so don't overdo it! Another good treat is live insects, if you aren't too squeamish about trapping them and feeding them to your gliders. Nuts are all right occasionally -- as long as they are unroasted and unsalted. Sugar gliders can be picky eaters.

As house pets, sugar gliders tend to be healthy and long lived -- an average life span of fifteen years in captivity! Babies are easily tamed; adults take a little more patience. They are clever, vocal pets who can bond very strongly with their people, and even ride on their shoulders in the house!

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Chantalle Altland (3159) 25 May 2006 06:56 PM

HI! I was the one that started that discussion. We have a male. He is very cute. He only allows my boyfriend to hold him. He does bite. We got a hampster ball for him. He seems to like it. He runs around the house in it. He is a daytime sleeper. I hear him in his cage most of the night eating and playing. He also barks for attention. Thats real fun at 2am. But it's kind of cute. I usually sit next to his cage and talk to him till he stops.

My cats seem to be afraid of him. This is kind of funny since he is as small if not smaller than a hampster. If he senses them near the cage, he lets out a very loud screech and they walk away.

He is a picky eater. He has his pellet food and I give him veggies and fruit. He loves apples and a seed mixture that as dry fruit in it. He usually leaves the other stuff sit.

We took him to Florida with us. We brought his cage and kept him in his pouch when we traveled. In hotels, I put a towel over the cage with a big sign that said do not disturb. I didn't want the maids to get too curious and decide to open the cage. It worked out well.

Does anyone else have one? Is your loving? How does he react to your kids?

egriffey (5) 10 Sep 2008 04:25 PM

Hey I have two twin sugar gliders. They are truly the two loves of my life. It takes up to 3 months for sugar glider to fully bond so be patient. Pellet food is bad for sugar gliders. Google BML. Dont use a hamster wheel get your baby a wodent wheel.

LethalAddiction (5) 01 Jul 2009 12:55 PM

I am purchasing a sugar glider & know very little about them aside from what my freind (which has two sugar gliders) has told me. Are there any important tips or anything I need to know about before I get one?