5 Facts About Sugar Gliders
The 5 Most Important Facts About Sugar Gliders
Too Sweet: The Care and Raising of Sugar Gliders Sugar gliders are tiny, gliding possums native to Australia and now commonly kept as pets, especially in the United States. Here are some sugar glider facts.
Arboreal and Nocturnal
Sugar gliders are arboreal marsupials that eat insects, mice and birds and suck the sap of certain wattle, gum and eucalyptus trees. The sugar glider gets its name because the sap it enjoys is sweet, and of course, it glides through the air. The sugar glider looks like a squirrel and has a tail that’s as long as its body. They have plush fur that’s most commonly a silvery blue color, though some albino sugar gliders are found. The sugar glider has a black stripe all the way down its back and its dorsal side is cream colored. The glider’s little face also has pretty black markings.
Males are larger than the females and the average weight is about four to six ounces. While the sugar glider’s most attractive features are its small size and huge eyes that are good for its nocturnal lifestyle, its most distinct feature is the membrane that stretches from its fifth finger to its big toe. This is called the patagium and lets the animal glide from 164 to 490 feet. The tail and legs are used as rudders and the membrane, depending on its angle, is used like a sail. The sugar glider’s flight is accurate enough for it to snatch insects out of midair.
More Sugar Glider Facts:
Sugar gliders have scent glands. The males have them on their heads and chests and use them to mark their territory. Females have scent glands near their pouches and their genital areas. The scent glands on the male’s head looks like a little bald spot. Like all marsupials, the female also has a pouch in her abdomen to carry her young which, like kangaroo babies, are called joeys. Sugar gliders usually live in colonies of fifteen to thirteen animals, who communicate with a wide variety of calls, from chirps to barks to a weird, rattling sound called crabbing.
Male sugar gliders reach sexual maturity when they’re around nine to ten months old. Females take a little longer. However, some gliders are able to reproduce as early as four months of age. In the wild they only live from four to six years, but in captivity they can live twice that length if they’re well cared for. Sugar gliders have oppose able toes and fingers, two of which are fused together and used as a grooming tool.
Sugar Glider Care
Sugar gliders should only be adopted from reputable breeders who at least have a USDA license to breed them. Potential sugar glider parents should do research and ask other parents for information. Sugar gliders are kept in large bird cages or aviaries that should be large enough for them to glide around in. The bars should be horizontal so the glider can climb and play. Sugar gliders use nesting boxes to sleep or rest during the day. A good diet for them would be 25 per cent protein, including fish and cooked egg, 25 percent fruit, 25 percent vegetables including carrots and greens, and 25 percent blend, including yogurt, cottage cheese and maybe dried bread or cereal.
Sugar gliders are best adopted when they’re just weaned, when it’s easier to acclimatize them to human handling. Because they’re social, they should be kept with other sugar gliders, though they will bond happily with their humans. Optimum sugar glider care dictates that they should never be kept without the companionship of another sugar glider, for they’ll become depressed and may even die, no matter how well cared for.
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