Sugar gliders

[DeniseJP]

Andy is visiting from college this evening and asked me what I knew about sugar gliders... and I know absolutely nothing other than a lady who purchased bunnies from me years ago had them but other than seeing a joey in her pocket, that was about it.

What is their life expectancy? Medical and care needs? Housing needs?

I don't think it will be happening any time soon but figured I'd ask. Andy always loved hedgehogs and sugar gliders and the exotic stuff I know nothing about.

Thanks,



Denise

 

[Yurusumaji]

Life expectancy: 15-20 years.

Medical & Care: Suggie-savvy vets are hard to find, so you need to be aware of the one closest to you. This is especially true for an emergency vet who sees suggies as they are nocturnal so you will not know anything is wrong until the middle of the night.

They need a very strict diet. There are several to choose from, but feeding packaged food is not enough.

They need a very big cage since it is recommended that they be kept in pairs and they like to run/hop around everywhere so ample room is a huge deal to give them space and keep them comfortable.

Any other questions you have you can feel free to ask here or PM me and I'll answer them for you. I have 2 boys.

 

[DeniseJP]

Yurusumaji wrote:

Life expectancy: 15-20 years.

Medical & Care: Suggie-savvy vets are hard to find, so you need to be aware of the one closest to you. This is especially true for an emergency vet who sees suggies as they are nocturnal so you will not know anything is wrong until the middle of the night.

They need a very strict diet. There are several to choose from, but feeding packaged food is not enough.

They need a very big cage since it is recommended that they be kept in pairs and they like to run/hop around everywhere so ample room is a huge deal to give them space and keep them comfortable.

Any other questions you have you can feel free to ask here or PM me and I'll answer them for you. I have 2 boys.

Thank you, Kelli., for the info.

I did not realize that they had that long a life - which is good! The research is going to be fun...I trying to encourage Andy to wait until after college so they are HIS babies and to make sure he is committed to their care and ownership along with work and snowboarding... Tim will just die if I bring home another critter (and I am busy enough with bunnies and horses)... maybe it can be a father-son project.

Denise

 

[Luvmyzoocrew]

make sure that they arent illegal to own,i know that they are illegal to own in PA good luck in your research of them, they are very cute animals

 

[Yurusumaji]

I encourage you and Andy to visit Glider Central

They have information there on everything suggies and all of the members are incredibly kind and committed to educating owners new and old on these special babies.

Sugar gliders are marsupials [like a koala or kangaroo] and are from Australia, versus being a native rodent. Native rodents [rats, mice, gerbils and hamsters] have very short lives, but marsupials live quite a long time. And yes, sugar glider females have pouches just like kangaroos do.

They are a very neat pet to have, though I would actually suggest it be something to get after college since they wake up around 9 p.m. and will be noisy little buggers until nearly 7 a.m. If he has morning classes, this will become a quick annoyance to him and he also won't have a lot of time to bond and play with them. Of course he can manage all afternoon/evening classes then he's golden. :thumbup

 

[DeniseJP]

He's nocturnal himself now so maybe that is why he thought gliders? He'd sleep all day if I let him! LOL

Thanks for the link to Glider Central - I will forward it to Andy to read. One can never be too educated before welcoming a new critter home.

If you have pics of your boys, we'd love to see them...What are their names?

Denise

 

[Yurusumaji]

Their names are Kami and Yasuo.

This picture was taken during 'tent time'. We have a mesh tent called a Genji Tent that pops up [no joke, it just bursts into existence when you take it out of its carrier] and tent time is a great time for gliders to play and bond with their owners. And of course it's tons of fun.

 

[DeniseJP]

Thanks for sharing their pics!

I am looking forward to our research on sugar gliders...I appreciate all the info you have given to me...

Denise

 

[Yurusumaji]

No problem at all, they are really neat animals. Have fun studying and looking at photos!

 

[DeniseJP]

Andy also said thanks for the links... hope he is studying his coursework as well as he is studying the glider links!

Denise