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Sugar Glider, Scientific name being: Petaurusbrevicepsis a small nocturnal animal whose lifespan is 12-15 years, belonging to the Marsupial infraclass. Being closely related to Possums, Kangaroos and Koalas, Sugar Gliders have a similarity to an American flying squirrel, however, they are not closely related. A common misconception is that Sugar Gliders can fly, please remember, they can not fly, they do not have wings. They have skin flaps between their front and back legs that allow them to glide as far as 325ft,they also use their tails to help steer while in the air. Splitting their name in two “Sugar” comes from their love for sweet, sugary foods, and “Glider” comes from their ability to glide through the air.
Being arboreal animals, meaning they spend most of their lives in trees, Sugar Gliders are mainly found living in the wild in the Eastern part of Australia. Indonesia and the Tasmanian Isle have also been known for having Sugar Glider in the wild.
Sugar Gliders have become very popular in the last few decades in North America. It is said that they first made their way to North America from Hunters who traveled to Australia for hunting expeditions, they brought them back, most of them on ship and most likely smuggling them, without permission.
It is legal to own a Sugar Glider in some States* Shown in map. States like New Mexico and Maine, it is legal to own a Sugar Glider, but required by the owner to have a license. There are five states in which these marsupials are illegal under all circumstances to own a Sugar Glider, Illegal: Alaska, California, Pennsylvania, Hawaii and Massachusetts.
To decision to start breeding Sugar Gliders should be taken very seriously. Breeding sugar gliders requires a lot of work and true dedication. If an individual plans to have four or more breeding females, one must get the USDA Class A Breeding license, by contacting the USDA office.
Make sure that it is legal to own a sugar glider in your state, and if it is, verify that you do not need a license, if you do need a license, contact the USDA office, for license or breeding license. Living in Florida, it is legal to own a pet sugar glider, and from personal experience, I have always liked to purchase my sugar gliders from breeders. Have their home ready, a large bird cage with gaps no bigger than quarter of an inch (they can slide out) plenty of pouches for comfortable sleeping, the correct diet, including plenty of protein, (HPW Diet) fruits, and treats. Sugar Gliders love sugar, feed them plenty of fruits that carry a high value of sugar to replace the sap the eat from their trees.
In the wild, Sugar Gliders have their prime essentials, however, once in captivity, and far away from home, owners need to be aware of exactly what it is that Sugars Gliders need to be at home, away from home. Large Cage for enough room to jump high enough to be able to exercise their gliding. Plenty of pouches in their cage because they do alternate pouches until they choose the one the like the best. Cleaning supplies and news papers or a chemical free liter. Adequate diet with plenty of fruits and plenty of water.
Whenever I speak to anybody about Sugar Gliders, their main concern seems to be what it is that I feed my Sugar Gliders. In the wild, they have plenty of small insects, water, fruit from the trees, and sap. In captivity, we need to imitate that and provide clean water everyday, in a bowl or a bottle. The HPW diet is a great meal plan for sugar gliders, the mixture of the HPW is: Wambaroo powder, ( similar to baby formula) scrambled eggs, honey, pee pollen and water. Other food alternatives are Apples, bananas, grapes, corn and carrots. Chicken strips, meal worms, and crickets for protein and treats can be, condensed milk ( their favorite) honey and yogurt.
The bigger your family of sugar gliders, the bigger the cage should be! * Never have just one sugar glider, they get very lonely.
Sugar Gliders will sleep all together in their sleeping pouch, safely hanging from their cage.. or in the other case.. Watch this cute video.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqSGJzSiz5s
These exotic animals become very popular in the last decade. Sugar Gliders are very sweet and caring animals, not to mention, they are adorable. They do have a serious diet to obey, but the foods that they consume are not hard to attain. Cleaning of their cage is simple, but should be done daily. Sugar Gliders have been known as “Pocket Pets” because owners can travel conveniently with them in their travel pouch. When held daily and hand fed daily the learn to recognize their owner by their smell and will always acknowledge their owner when near.
Sugar Gliders can be purchased directly from a breeder, there are many local breeders who will allow their customers to pick and choose their sugar glider before they are weaned off from their mother. Sugar Gliders may also be purchased from exotic pet stores, I have found two local stores that sell sugar gliders( Amazing Pets in Naples, Pet Kingdom in Fort Myers. These pet stores are popular for their exotic animals, but when it comes to Sugar Gliders, I found that they sometimes come to a shortage. If you’re interested in a baby sugar glider, you may have to be put on a wait list. This website, has very valuable information about sugar gliders, as well as different blogs for them, including listings of breeders in your area.
Sugar Glider prices vary, depending on their age, gender and type. A baby sugar glider, 6 months old can be sold from anywhere between $200.00-300.00 from a breeder or local pet store. An adult sugar glider, may vary from $100.00-200.00. Leucistic Sugar Gliders vary from $900.00-1,500.00.
Female sugar gliders have their pouch opening, that opening is called the Marsupium. That being your biggest indicator that the sugar glider you have is a female. Female Sugar Gliders are usually smaller in size than males without a bald spot on their head and no scent gland, females have a lighter scent to their urine than males. *Look closely at the picture above. What do you think it is? That is not her foot coming out of her marsupium.
Same Skeleton as a Female, however, female Sugar Gliders have their Scrotum, or as I like to call it, their “pompom’s”.They have their “ Chest Gland” and a “ bald” spot on their head which is their scent glands, only male sugar gliders develop this throughout puberty. Males have a stronger scent when getting rid of their waste, and will usually be bigger in size, by eating more and weighing more than a female.
Sugar Glider “pregnancy” is quite an interesting term. Sugar Gliders are only pregnant for 16 days. 16 days after conception, a small Sugar Glider baby, almost a fetus, the size of a tic-tac, finds his way out of the mothers Cloaca, and inside the mothers marsupium. The only help that mom may do is lick the path so the baby makes it inside the pouch. Once inside the pouch, it is all up to the baby to grab a hold with their under developed jaws of one of four nipples. It is very important to be very gentle with the mother while she had babies in her pouch because if the baby detaches from the nipple, they may not be able to reattach due to how underdeveloped they are at this stage. They will stay in moms pouch for about 63 days and start coming in and out of moms pouch, until they can’t fit anymore. Sugar Gliders can be carrying up to four babies inside their pouch, and can get pregnant while a baby is already in pouch.
When handling out of the pouch babies, you do not want to exceed 10 minutes the first week. As time goes by, the time can stretch by a few extra minutes every day. The baby needs moms milk, and mom needs to know where her baby is, otherwise, she will start running all around the cage. While holding your fresh out of pouch baby, stay near mom so she can smell her baby. Be gentle, and warm up to the baby, with time you will have the baby recognize your scent, as well as mom will be accustomed to her baby being held from the scent when the baby goes back in the cage.
Cannibalism and rejection, unfortunately does happen with Sugar Gliders. If the baby sugar glider was born with a defect, the mom will usually not want it, and will reject it or eat it. If they mother feels overwhelmed, specially if she is alone, without the daddy to help her raising the baby, she will most likely reject her baby. When rejection occurs, if detected soon enough, a sugar glider baby can be hand raising with the proper rejection kit. Illnesses can be found in sugar gliders, they do not carry and disease or rabies as society thinks, however, they are delicate once in captivity. There are local veterinarians who focus on exotic animals, the picture on this slide shows my male sugar glider with his foot covered up due to an injury.
The font used as my title on all slides in my presentation is downloaded from a website: dafont.com name of font: always in my heart. Slide 1: Cartoon Picture Slide 3: Earth Picture; Map of Australia Slide 4: Image of ship is Clipart from PowerPoint Slide 5: Map of United States Slide 7: Image of fruit is Clipart from PowerPoint Slide 10: Cage on the right; Cage on the left Slide 11: Picture Slide 14: Image on the right Slide 15 & 16: Anatomy and Skeleton All images that are not listed above are my own pictures that I have taken of my own sugar gliders. All typed information is by me, from my gained knowledge from owning sugar gliders. I have used this website for questions and blogs.
