Home  Recipes  Rural Properties  Farmer of the Month  Free Content

 Buy Lye Soap Pictures  Latest eZine Issue  eZine Archive  Articles

Sugar Gliders: Care and Housing

by Victoria Ries 

Sugar gliders are fascinating marsupials to watch jumping and flying with the greatest of ease and agility. As pets sugar gliders are easy to contain requiring a tall wide aviary-type cage with plenty of room to project themselves from limb to limb. Aviaries made from wire are highly recommended to encourage climbing and to achieve a more natural environment for your sugar gliders. Tree limbs, branches, platforms and high perches should be provided to enable your sugar gliders to perform their unique aerobatics enthralling and entertaining anyone who happens to be watching.

Socializing your sugar gliders requires devoting time and love on a consistent basis. Most owners prefer to raise more than one sugar glider at a time simply because one single sugar glider may become depressed and lonely being raised as an ‘only bird.’ Whether you are raising one or several sugar gliders, socialization should take place daily in the form of handling for several hours. Make certain you have the necessary time to devote to these creatures before purchasing them as they enjoy bonding with humans as much as they do each other.

Joeys (baby sugar gliders) should begin their socialization training in a bonding pouch. These are special portable pouches with comfortable linings and a viewing window at the front of the pouch to observe the baby’s progress. Baby sugar gliders get used to your movements and handling while sitting safe in their bonding pouch as it mimics the way their mother would carry them in the wild. Placing your hand inside the bonding pouch gets the joey used to your touch and scent. Persevere with this bonding exercise and do not withdraw your hand even if the joey bites you. Rub a small swatch of material on your skin and place it inside the bonding pouch with your joey to familiarize him with your scent and thus reduce his fears. In the wild sugar gliders naturally flock together therefore many sugar gliders may be kept together in the same aviary without fear of reprisal.

Feeding your sugar gliders isn’t difficult however it is important that your sugar gliders receive the proper nutrition they need to stay active and healthy. Sugar gliders need adequate proportions of fruit, sugar and protein in their daily diet. Apples, pears, peaches and melons are sugar glider favorites. Honey can replace the need for honeydew, a sweet sap the birds eat in the wild, and can be mixed with other fruits, high protein cereals or even yogurt. Mealworms, crickets, and grasshoppers are a good source of protein for your sugar gliders. Vegetables rich in Vitamin A are necessary elements to include in your sugar glider’s balanced diet; carrots, cantaloupe and sweet potatoes are all excellent nutritional choices for optimum health.