Sugar Glider info?

Well, my son has wanted a sugar glider for a long time, and I finally got him one today..his birthday is approaching, and I got it REALLY cheap at an exotic sale....I did meet and spoke with the breeder before making the buy however.

I've done plenty of research on these guys, and have the basics pretty well down pat, I think....but as always, there are a few things that I tend to find conflicting info on in caresheets. Anyone with hands-on experience with these guys have any good tips, or a recommended site with correct care info?

She's an adorable little thing, just out of the pouch in July. She's somewhat tame, but will need some work. Am shopping for a carrying pouch tonight, lol.

And OMG, I never realized just how much voice can come out of that little body, lmao....my daughter freaked out and said it sounds like something out of a Stephen King movie.

Hey Cat my BF bought me one of these little guys a few months back and this is what I do for food.
The breeder called this Ledbetter Mix: 1 egg, 1 2oz baby juice w/ yogurt, 1/4 cp apple juice, 2 2oz jars chicken/turkey puree baby food, 1/4 cp wheat germ, 2 teaspoon Reptical Calcium w/ D3, 1 teaspoon Reptivite, 1/2 cp honey, and then you add enough rice baby food with apples or bananas to make it the thickness of runny mashed potatoes. Freeze it in an ice tray and once it is frozen cut the cubes in half and put them in a Ziploc.
Brutis gets 1/2 of a cube every evening with a peas and carrot mix and halved grapes. I also give him chunks of banana and apple.
You have to spend a lot of time with them for them to get and stay friendly.
Hope this helps.

I kept Sugars for a few years and also bred them a couple of times. I gave them all away after my son was killed because I just couldn't give them enough attention. They require a lot of it, in addition to a pretty specialized diet. I did not go the "BML Diet" route and instead fed a complete but varied diet of superworms, crickets, pinkies, big variety of fresh fruits and veggies, boiled egg. My Gliders were extremely healthy and I never had problems with females eating the babies as some have had.

Unless your family is prepared to interact with your Glider on a daily basis for a 2+ hours then I would highly recommend you purchase another female Glider soon to keep your girl company. They are very social animals and need companionship and can quickly become depressed and stop eating when they lack companionship.

I kept my Gliders in the biggest cages I could get online. I cannot remember the exact dimensions but I know they were 6 feet tall. If I would have had room for even larger cages I would have done so (as far as width and depth). I think they need much larger caging than what is recommended on some websites.

A couple of must have items: two pouches for each cage: one high up in the cage and one more towards the ground, a "Wodent Wheel", lots of toys that you move around and switch out with other toys on a regular basis.

Good luck with your Suggie, they are awesome, awesome animals that can make fabulous pets in the right home. Dang, this post is kind of making me want to get some! ;-)

Thanks for all of the info!!

I think we are going to go with using a combination of small portions of the BML diet and a lot of fresh foods. I do like the idea of the supplementation in the prepared diet, but I like to give them all of the fresh foods as well. I've read that they can be finicky and get bored with having the same type of foods too often? So far, we've been giving her boiled egg, dark greens, diced apple, and superworms....the top part of my blender has mysteriously vanished, so we haven't gotten the diet mixed up yet, but she seems to be feeding very well so far. She will take the apple out of Josh's fingers, so she's not too freaked out.

We're definitely going to put her in a larger cage, I've seen some sites that say you must have the horizontal bars, but some say it isn't neccessary as long as you have plenty of climbing/landing places in there for them? It's seeming tough to find a really tall cage, with the right spacing between the bars, with horizontal bars. And I will admit, I was kind of dismayed with the small caging I did see on some breeders' websites...it just doesn't seem right.

He's got two pouches in there for her, a wheel, and a couple of toys, but don't want to over crowd her until we get her in a bigger cage.

read up on there diets because they are important. miealworms are great for them and also u would want to feed then some baked or boiled chicken or turkey pieces. they need good protien. fruits are more of a treat for them so i basically feed mine veggies and a little meat 3 to 4 times a week and fruits 3 times a week. also u want to purchase some small wooden chew blocks to keep there teeth filed down because sugar gliders teeth never stop growing and you want to check on purchasing a weel that has like a soft type of sandpaper like on it to file there nails down on while they run in it. as far as pouches and bedding pouches i buy all of mine from one lady on ebay. she makes them very affordale and like 9x9's. if you keep them happyyou will enjoy them when they are out at night. mine bark like a puppy and make some wierd noises playing but they love to do back flips from one corner of the cage to the other. they are very active animals at night.

Thanks for the input, Bo.

Do you have to change out their pouches often?

the males more then the females because the male sprays alot lol but i usually change his out about 3 times a week and the females once to twice a week for washing. id suggest if you use dryer sheets then use the arm and hammer essentials because they work great and smell awesome and they keep a nice smell for a few days.and one thing i did find to add to there diet that helps balance it out and keep the odor down somewhat is to feed them live crickets. seems liek since i started giving them about 10 crickets each once a week really calmed his spraying down. also you will need some body spray from the male because when he sprays he rends to get his undercoat a dingy yellow. i can give you the names of the cleaning products i use n mine if you need them and i can also give u the ebay sellers id if you would liek to see what her pouches are like. i love them because they are 9x9 inch poucheslol my gliders are very comfy in them and have alot of room.

I think I've already seen those pouches on Ebay.

I've read a couple of different places that if their diet is kept correct, it makes a big difference in the odor as well....any truth to that?

I think so. When I got Brutis he was very stinky. After I changed his diet from cat food (which is what the guy who sold him to me was feeding him) to his current diet his odor has decreased tremendously.

We tried out fresh green beans last night and he really likes those as well.

yes his diet will reduce the odor alot but if you have more then one and a female is around he will spray more often regardless of diet lol. its also said when owning a sugar glider you should have atleast one other because sugar gliders can get very lonely so i have 2 and there cages are set side by side so they can see each but cant put them in the same cage because they are brother and sister and he will try to breed with her.