Are sugar gliders easy to take care of?

Answer 1

Bonding with sugar gliders can be done in a few ways. I, myself, use all of these methods.

• Carry the sugar gliders in a fleece bonding pouch with a window and zipper throughout the day while the gliders are sleeping. This gets them used to your scent.
• Offer them "licky" treats, such as yogurt and applesauce on the tip of your finger. Be sure to get more of the treat before it is gone, because gliders might bite down trying to get to more of the yummy treat.
• Set up a pop up tent in your living room. Go in there with the gliders. Let them crawl around on you. This, in my opinion, is the best method of bonding.
• You could also sleep with a tiny fleece square on you so that it gets your smell, and then put it in your gliders sleeping spot.

Answer 2

Sugar gliders are easy to take care of, depending on your definition of EASY. They do urinate and defecate a lot and intact males will mark. This can be a drawback to these little guys, but the males can be neutered. However, a regular vet cannot do it you will need to take your glider(s) to an exotic vet, one that is experienced with sugar gliders.

Sugar gliders are nocturnal. That means they sleep in the daytime and are mostly up at night.

Reproduction

The age of sexual maturity in sugar gliders varies slightly between the males and females. The males reach maturity at 4 to 12 months of age, while females require from 8 to 12 months. In the wild, sugar gliders breed once or twice a year depending on the climate and habitat conditions, while they can breed multiple times a year in captivity as a result of consistent living conditions and proper diet. A sugar glider female gives birth to one (19%) or two (81%) babies (joeys) per litter. The gestation period is 15 to 17 days, after which the tiny joey (0.2 g) will crawl into a mother's pouch for further development. They are born with a continuous arc of cartilage in their shoulder girdle to provide support for climbing into the pouch. This structure breaks down immediately after birth. It is virtually unnoticeable that the female is pregnant until after the joey has climbed into her pouch and begins to grow, forming bumps in her pouch. Once in the pouch, the joey will attach itself to its mother's nipple, where it will stay for about 60 to 70 days. The mother can get pregnant while her joeys are still ip (in pouch) and hold the pregnancy until the pouch is available. The joey gradually spills out of the pouch until it falls out completely. It emerges virtually without fur, and the eyes will remain closed for another 12-14 days. During this time, the joey will begin to mature by growing fur and increasing gradually in size. It takes about two months for the offspring to be completely weaned, and at four months, the young glider is self-sufficient, however it will continue to live in the nest for ten months.

Socialization

Sugar gliders are highly social animals. They live in family groups or colonies consisting of up to seven adults, plus the current season's young which leave as soon as they are able to, all sharing a nest and defending their territory, an example of helping at the nest. They engage in social grooming, which in addition to improving hygiene and health, helps bond the colony and establish group identity. A dominant adult male will mark his territory and members of the group with saliva and a scent produced by separate glands on the forehead and chest. Intruders who lack the appropriate scent marking are expelled violently. Each colony defends a territory of about 2.5 acres where eucalyptus trees provide a staple food source. Within the colony, typically no fighting takes place beyond threatening behavior.

One thing I can't stress enough, so you will probably see it repeated often in these pages, is that gliders should NEVER be kept singly. They just don't handle it well, because they are community dwellers and need the companionship of others of their kind to the point that they will actually die without it. If you are planning to get only one to save money, don't. You'll end up buying three because the first one will die and you'll know you have to buy two the next time. So it's better to just wait until you can get two, and save yourself the grief and expense of losing the first one! It is generally a rule of thumb, To make sure you have some money set back.. You never know when you might have to make a late night emergency room vet visit $100.00 is the minimum you need to put back in the bank. I think more is always better so drop some in the bank to save back when you can. As mentioned above, sugar gliders are highly social animals and live in family groups or colonies. Lone gliders do not do well by themselves and can get depressed and mutilate themselves. There are some rare instances where some gliders do prefer to be alone, but as said, it is rare as they are social animals.

In case you are still thinking you would like to own a pair of sugar gliders, they cannot eat dog food, cat food or pellets. Also, artificial sugars are definitely not good for them. Gliders have a special diet designed specifically for them. You cannot find everything they need nutritionally in a store some things you will have to buy online. The more gliders you have the more expensive their food will be.

Hind Leg Paralysis or HLP is the common name for the presentation of calcium deficiency in sugar gliders. As a result of lack of calcium in the diet, the body begins to leech calcium from deposits in the bones thus making them weaker. The hind legs are the first to show noticeable dysfunction. Legs can bend or bow out making them unusable and this essentially paralyzes the rear end of the creature and it is unable to walk or grip. ( Please make sure you provide them calcium as needed in their diet) if your not sure how much to give or the diet you choose to use does not list it you can visit Glidercentral.net and they will more than happy to help you..This disease is a very serious one and is addressed in most sugar glider diets by balancing and increasing the calcium intake. To prevent death, early detection is key in treating this problem. It can be healed but the animal will have to live its remaining life with malformed legs. The best way to avoid this terrible syndrome is prevention.

They do make noises. They will bark and crab. They run on their wheels at night so yea they do generally make a lot of noise. I have heard some say that you get used to the noises as time goes by it's not as irritating... So I guess It really depends on you and how much you can take. When they get annoyed at each other, they make chattering sounds that are very difficult to describe. They have a lot of "S" sounds in them, and sometimes it really sounds like they're cussing each other out. Other times it almost sounds like sneezing. They also make a variety of quiet chirping / chattering sounds; you'll usually hear those coming out of the nest box as they settle in to sleep or shift around from time to time. You can look up sugar glider noises on you tube ie: Sugar crabbing, Sugar glider barking sugar glider singing to babies ( Yes the mothers do sing to their babies).

Sugar glider diets

There are many diets out there, I suggest doing your research and pick the one you like best. Please make sure it has what your glider needs. Below have listed a few of the most popular diets:

Burbons Modified Ledbeaters ( BML)

The Priscilla Price diet

High Protein Wambaroo diet

Further comments

Do your research and read anything and everything you can find about sugar gliders before you buy. Don't rush in to it, and please, don't be in a hurry. I have been studying for three- four years and I'm finally in a place where I feel confident in my ability to care for a pair of gliders. Remember to ask any and all questions. No question is a stupid question, Other than those that remain unanswered ( And this could very well be a costly mistake for the glider) Please visit glidercentral.net and become a member, There are people there who own and have had gliders for awhile as well as breeders and all of them possess a great wealth of knowledge and are always willing to help out... For the good of the glider!

Answer 3

Sugar gliders are very clean animals and very rarely require any sort of cleaning.

If, however, you have a glider that has gotten into something it shouldn't have, or one that is injured or ill and cannot groom themselves, you can take a warm cloth and gently wipe them down.

Make sure you get the sugar glider dry afterwards though, by keeping them in a nice cozy pouch.

Answer 4

In their natural habitat, the breeding season for wild sugar gliders is Winter and Spring which, in Australia (their native home) is from June through to November.

Sugar gliders are marsupials, which means they give birth to very undeveloped young, often two joeys at a time. The joeys crawl by instinct to the mother's pouch where they latch onto a teat, and stay there for just over two months (70 days) while they continue their development. After this, they are left in the nest, learning to go out and forage for food.

In their natural state, sugar gliders may live in a group of up to seven adults and their young, which form a 'clan', sharing a nest. The young joeys learn to socialise with the other young, playing with them, but also learn to be fiercely defensive of their own territory.

Answer 5

What do you mean by train? If you mean "how can you train them to do tricks?", you really can't. If, on the other hand, you mean how can you "train" them to trust you -- you can. Getting them to trust you is really quite simple -- spend as much time with them as you can.

Answer 6

Sugar gliders are basically a self-cleaning pet, and as such, there is almost never a need to wash them. Now, if you have a situation where a glider needs to be cleaned, be it due to illness, injury, or simply taking a roll through their food and not cleaning it off themselves, you can take a damp, warm (not hot) wash cloth and simply wipe your glider off with that. NO SOAP. After you wipe the glider down, you're going to want to keep him on you until he's dry, to ensure that he doesn't catch a chill.

Answer 7

Check out sugarbears.com . sugar bears and sugar gliders are the same thing btw.