Glidermom Exotics

Sugar gliders or Petaurus Breviceps may look like flying squirrels, but they are not. Nor are sugar gliders rodents. Sugar gliders are marsupials like kangaroos and opossoms,. They are native to Australia and Indonesia. Most sugar gliders legally imported to U.S. today are from Indonesia.

Sugar gliders are noctural and are sensitive to light. These exotic animals are intelligent and loving .

These are "high maintence" exotic pets and are not suitable pets for small children.

A sugar glider's life expectancy is between 10-12 years; however they have been known to live up to 16 years.

A sugar glider is not like most animals. Consequently, sugar gliders cannot be left with a little dry food for a weekend or left forgotton in a corner like a hamster.

Sugar gliders require HUGE amounts of attention, love and play time. You should be prepared to spend a minimum of 2 hours a day with your sugar glider.

• Cage/ I recommend 30 x 18 x 35
• Pouches/ These can be bought through me or other sugar glider breeders or yourself.
• Food/ Zookeepers or BML,fruit, veggies, yogurt
• toys
• water bottle
• food dish
• wheel with nail trimmer/ these can be purchased through me or by Suncoast sugar gliders
• Treats/ yogurt drops, mealworms, crickets
• vitamins and calcium

People ask me how big a cage for a sugar glider should be. The cage should be as big as you can practically manage while being no small than 20x20x30 inches high. A tall cage is better than a long square one because sugar gliders like to climb. Commercial bird cages often meet these specifications. The wire of the cage

should be no bigger than 1 inch by 1/2 inch. If the cage is to have straight bars with no crosshatching, then the bars should be no more than a 1/4 inch apart.

ebay has a great choice of cages and at good prices.

I realy like this size it is 35 x 18 x 30 realy good size.

Location of the cage

Most keep their pet gliders in the house year-round but depending on the seasonal temperature and the kind of facilities you have, gliders can also be kept in a screened-in porch. Keep your gliders where they can be part of your family and will get the attention they need. I would not place them in your bedroom where you will be sleeping. They make alot of noise when they are running and playing and running on the wheel. They also bark, squeak, chirp, kinda like a squirrel.

Temperature

Sugar gliders should be kept at between 65F and 75F. This is very convenient because it is the room temperature range commonly found in most homes.

Inside the Cage

Sugar gliders are nocturnal and need a place to curl up and sleep during the day. I use pouches. I will be happy to make some for you. I used to have a website with these but I just don't have time to maintain it. I do still make them if asked.You can always make them yourself. Also add some  Bird toys and ropes they work very well. I also recommend a exercise wheel. (Not like the ones for hampsters.) . The ones for hamsters will hurt your glider. Their feet or hands get caught and flip them around or worse. You will also need a water bottle, food dish. 

 Safe Plants

PROTEIN

It is an important part of any glider's diet, but is especially important to breeding-age females. Mealworms, and crickets for my glider; both are also readily available at just about any pet store, for those with smaller numbers of gliders to feed. I also have them.

Boiled eggs are a good source of protein, because the protein they contain is almost completely usable by the body. This is not the case with many protein-containing foods. I also feed my gliders, monkey biscuits .

WATER

An ample supply of fresh water is very important. Gliders dehydrate and die quickly when they don't have enough water.

CALCIUM

I can't emphasize enough the importance of calcium. Glider bones quickly loose mass when their diet doesn't contain enough calcium, and become fragile and easily broken.