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I had been looking at Sugars some time ago, made a few inquiries, but lost interest when a breeder tried to force me to buy TWO (saying that they can't be sold singly) when I only wanted one.
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I don't have any experience with only one glider, but I have had a glider self mutilate from being alone. I had one colony already and I found a neutered male that needed to be rehomed. I had him for maybe 3 days before he started to overgroom and pull his fur out (he was unhandable, which may have contributed to how fast he became depressed). He stopped sleeping and hung out on the bottom of his cage, whenever he heard a noise or saw me walk up to his cage he would fling him self around and throw his arms up in the air. In a desperate attempt to make him more comfortable I put one of my girls in with him, and it worked. Eventually all 4 were living together.
I only had him for about a month before he died. The others went to the vet and were all healthy, so I really think the stress of a new home and being away from his colony got to him. He was 6 years old.
With joeys its a different story. My first glider was kept singly in a TINY cage, and he was and still is the happiest little guy I have! He also has the nicest fur, which is a mystery since his first home fed him hamster food. He also had many hours of out of cage time, which probably kept him from becoming depressed.
If you still want a glider, try to find a local breeder. They will make exceptions to their rules if you can meet face to face and they really get to know you. They are AWESOME pets.
As for diet, since it's been talked about, I feed Leadbeater's Mix in combo with Reliable Protein Products Insectivore Diet. I did feed BML, since it seemed a highly recommended diet with easy to obtain ingredients, but my vet said the only diet she can back up is Leadbeater's. She's done extensive research on sugar gliders, has been to Australia a couple times, so I trust her way more than the biddies on any board who say sugar gliders are 'still a mystery'. I am not bashing any diet, I know many people who feed BML, HPW, and even their own versions of Leadbeater's/BML and have had awesome results, I just found a diet that works for me and my gang :).
The glider community is also extremely close knit, which is good and bad. Good in that if you make friends with the top breeders, you're friends with everyone. Bad in that if you make one enemy, you can never redeem yourself. I have made friends with breeders and owners, and every single one of them only uses the boards to advertize their joeys or cage accessories because it's so bad. I stopped going on all together. Even though most people I encountered were comepletly moderate, the ones who were intense were also incredible loud, and oftentimes had many followers who would flock to their side or change their opinions because of them.
