Anyone have pet Sugar Glider?

[Supergirl]

I've been considering getting 2 of them for a long time.. Have read up about their care and they sound perfect for me. But I've also read a lot of mixed reviews from owners. Some say they are wonderful, others say they are a nightmare! I'm sure a lot of it has to do with how they are raised and cared for, just like any other animal. Most people don't have 8 hours a day to spend with a sugar glider in their pouch/pocket "bonding"...which then will make them nervous and upset or aggressive. I know they are nocturnal and can stay up playing or chattering, but thats ok for me since I am a night owl too They actually had some gliders at Repticon, and I got to hold and play with one.. it was soooo cute! Kept climbing all over me and trying to hide in my shirt

 

[Echoezra]

Zuzu, the novel. My sugar glider experience.

I had one. I agree, they did sound great, and had she turned out handleable, I'm sure she would have been a great pet. It ended up just being a case of terrible timing & circumstances for us, and things didn't go as planned at the beginning. I'll just say, that no matter what, DO that handling & bonding at the beginning. No matter what. Stay up that extra hour, whatever it takes. I take my pet ownership seriously, I do my research, I plan everything out, I plan ahead. I did everything right, had a great breeder... When I was planning everything, I had my own house, had a job where I was home most of the day, and even when I was at work I could have worn the glider pouch all day. It was going to be awesome. Between that time and the time the Joey was ready to come home to me, job situation changed and house situation was tied to job. Had to move in with mother in law. Not happy about additional new pet, therefore roaming the house freely not an option, so out of cage time limited. Upstairs bathroom has open holes for piping, therefore not an appropriate enclosed play area either. Again, out of cage time limited.
In the meantime, new job. Office job, in city half hour away. Gone from house over ten hours a day. plus two young children. So all that plus the depression of the situation had me just in such a state that the bonding just didn't happen. I tried to do the best I could about taking out the pouch while I was at home, and feeding her worms and stuff, but it just didn't seem to be enough cause that's when she would just be sleeping, so there wasn't really any interaction time.
Then, on top of that, I had built her a mansion of a cage. Wanted the biggest and best for her of course. Well the cage was huge for this tiny critter, and catching her out of it was impossible, as I had made it too far to reach!! Lol!! Also, I had fussed about the sharp edges of the metal mesh on her delicate feet, so I had gone with a plastic mesh. Well, after about a week of living here, goofball had found an escape route. She was sneaking out and taking up residence in the coat pockets in our nearby closet. Sometimes it would take me over a day to find her!! I couldn't find the escape route for weeks, so it kept happening, the hole was so small and so close to the wood edge you could barely see it. But the damage was done. That first month of bonding was trashed and we never really got it turned around. She had a constant thirst for escape, and a taste for blood when handled. I kept wearing the
pouch and carefully reaching a finger in to try and pet her while she was sleeping, but there was hardly any out of pouch interaction. If we did let her out she'd just take off and then we'd have to fuss and stress about catching her before we could leave the house (we also have 2 cats & a dog) so if there was limited time it just wasn't worth it.
I eventually bought an actual metal birdcage that seemed to improve things as far as being able to round her up in the cage easier, so I could take her out whenever I wanted, so that helped a little. She seems more comfortable in it too, cause she actually used all the space, whereas I thjnk in the big one she was afraid of the bottom cause she could see the dog & cats down by the floor.
Anyways, we ended up moving and she took up residence in my daughter's room. She seems more comfortable there, less traffic maybe. Anyways, she seemed more active in her cage, came out and interacted more. Not to the point where you could touch her without getting bit, mind you, but taking treats while in the cage and pouch a little better than before. And she wasn't constantly trying to escape from the cage.
Put it this way, she wasnt the kind of pet she was originally supposed to be, and wasn't living the life I had wanted for her, but we'd both become
comfortable with our present arrangements and seemed to be cool with things.
This whole time I was preparing the bml diet for her as I thought that was supposed to be the best. I wasn't doing live insects (mother in law) but I was giving freeze dried. Mostly mealworms. That was our bonding.
Anyways, one day my daughter says to me " Zuzu's acting funny" and she was, climbing weird on her cage. Something was definitely up, maybe a sprained leg I thought at first but it seemed to be more than that. I had to rush off to work but once I got the urgent stuff out of the way I spent the day googling and phoning vets, one seemed to think it sounded like a nutritional deficiency of some kind, which crushed me cause I thought I had been doing everything right in that department. Anyways, by the time I got home, well, that was it. My daughter was devastated, as she'd grown so much more attached since the cage was in her room. Couldnt sleep without the sound of the wheel at night, and she felt responsible because she was the one putting the food in the cage (I was making the food, so any fault would be mine, and I explained that, but you could tell she still felt responsible.) It was so so sad. She still has the pouch hanging on her wall as a memorial.
We werent inthe kind of financial situation to pay for autopsy or anything, so I still don't know for sure what happened. So I can't say specifically what not to do, just a general make sure you bond well, so that you can handle the glider, and do handle the glider. Maybe then we would have noticed the decline in health. As it is, they always look kind of weird & awkward when climbing up the side of a cage, so it was hard to notice there was a problem until it was too late. But if I were you I would research diet as much as you can, and give as much variety as you can, just to be safe.There was a wonderful glider forum much like this chameleon one, that was so helpful to me when doing my research. I forget the name but I hope it's still kicking around.
And just take that inital bonding period as an urgent non-negotiable priority. It
will make your future life with that sugar glider infinitely more enjoyable if
you're able to handle and interact with her. And they can (are supposed to)
live for a VERY long time, so you want that time to be fun for both of you.
I wish you the best of luck, and I'm very jealous. I'd love to get a second
chance on a glider someday. They really are adorable. For now I'm pretty happy with my chameleons.

 

[Miss Lily]

I have kept gliders for about 10 years - had my las t remaining girl put to sleep just before Christmas. She was 8 years old, bless her! They are lovely (but messy with their food!) but need to be kept in pairs or small groups. They can suffer from mbd like chameleons and thus their diet needs to be calcium rich (approx Calcium 2: 1 Phosphorous). They are lovely little things, but can be bitey if they aren't bonded to you. My first male slept in a pouch around my neck and I took him everywhere with me! But, he was not that handleable - he would sit on the back of my hand and bite in between my fingers! I would say to make sure you do plenty of research into the little sweeties before buying. They cannot be house trained - my last female would run up the curtains and sit on the pole and take a poop and pee down the curtains! They aren't the pet for you if you are really house proud I'm afraid! Males are also quite smelly as they scent mark everything to mark out their territory. Trouble is, the more you wash the cage and furnishings, the more they scent because they think they didn't scent strongly enough the first time! Having had them for the best part of 10 years, I wouldn't ever have an more. It's a 'been there, done that' kind of thing for me!

When my female (Bubble) was poorly, she just wanted cuddles all the time and would quite happily snuggle down inside my shirt while hanging onto my bra! It was the sweetest thing ever, but sad too as she was so sick. Here's a couple of my fave pics of her:

 

[Supergirl]

Thank you so much for sharing your experiences... I am definitely going to continue to do research on their care before getting one. I think it would be best to get 2 of them so that they can play with each other, I've read that having 1 makes them a little sad and depressed, and also makes them chatter loudly (calling out for attention.) I definitely will make sure that I spend enough time bonding. I do need to find out more about their diet/nutrition. Good to know about the size of enclosures (bigger is not always better). Its kind of that way with pups n dogs... I crate trained my yorkie from the time we brought her home... and sectioned off the crate so that she was not able to poop in one corner and sleep in the other. Within a few weeks she was not only completely housebroken...... but she really became a very calm, secure dog. I do NOT lock her in her crate... I keep the door open. And many times she just goes in there to relax, brings a toy and lays in it while we watch tv. She is usually on my lap, but when she wants to relax and get away, she's got her own little place (especially when we give her a treat, loves to go hide in her crate with it) Small animals are usually overwhelmed by large surroundings, so its really good for them to have a little safe place of their own. Most people think little dogs are aggressive or yippers, its just because they are nervous and scared, feeling insecure and overwhelmed (my mom's dog has this problem).

Do sugar gliders need UVB lights like the chameleons do? Would that help with their bones/calcium absorption? I know they are mammals and not the same by any means.... but even humans get vitamin D deficient and weak bones if we don't get enough sunlight.

I will continue to research and learn as much as I can before getting one.. I love animals and my pets are part of the family. I would never bring one home unless I was able to give it 100%. I really appreciate the input!!

 

[Supergirl]

[/QUOTE]

awwwwwwwe!! she was beautiful!!!

 

[VeiledChams]

Check out on youtube all videos by sugarglidervet..They seem very informative.

I've actually wanted to get a sugar glider.. but my gf wants a marmoset .. I kind of want a marmoset too

 

[moviemanmania]

I had raised and bred sugar gliders for four years and they are really neat marsupials. The biggest issue I had with them was their smell. Even with the correct diet they still have an odor. Eventually their cuteness wore off on me and their smell got old. They are also nocturnal so playtime started around 10pm and bedtime for me wasn't soon after. They don't have readable body language like a chameleon does and sometimes they can and will randomly bite and with 44 sharp teeth they can easily stick through your skin. I still run a non-profit glider rescue website and service in my area. Google your area and see if there aren't any available to adopt.

 

[Supergirl]

Check out on youtube all videos by sugarglidervet..They seem very informative.

I've actually wanted to get a sugar glider.. but my gf wants a marmoset .. I kind of want a marmoset too

You know its funny you mention marmosets... I always wanted one, but my hubby keeps saying NO He says something about monkeys and ebola He buys into all the negative media propaganda So then I thought a Sugar Glider is furry and little.. and hubby approvable

 

[VeiledChams]

You know its funny you mention marmosets... I always wanted one, but my hubby keeps saying NO He says something about monkeys and ebola He buys into all the negative media propaganda So then I thought a Sugar Glider is furry and little.. and hubby approvable

There is also the price difference.. the cheapest marmoset I've seen is $2000 and that wasn't from a reputable breeder. There is a breeder here in Fort Lauderdale that sells them for $2600.. If only I had the money, I'd love a pygmy marmoset. They are just so cute. In my ranch in Colombia I get squirrel monkeys to come up to the house and they eat fruits from my hands. I can't imagine my own little pet monkey..except its smaller than my palm oh marmosets.. one day..onee day.

 

[Supergirl]

I had raised and bred sugar gliders for four years and they are really neat marsupials. The biggest issue I had with them was their smell. Even with the correct diet they still have an odor. Eventually their cuteness wore off on me and their smell got old. They are also nocturnal so playtime started around 10pm and bedtime for me wasn't soon after. They don't have readable body language like a chameleon does and sometimes they can and will randomly bite and with 44 sharp teeth they can easily stick through your skin. I still run a non-profit glider rescue website and service in my area. Google your area and see if there aren't any available to adopt.

Thanks for the info! Can you describe what the smell is like? Is it similar to Ferrets at all? If I do end up getting then, it'd be 2 females... I read that they don't have as strong of a scent to them as the males do. but then again I have no idea, its just something I read online. When I held one at the reptile expo, it crawled around on me and did nip at my finger.. but it was not an angry vicious bite, more like a gentle nibble. I will check to see if theres any rescue organizations in my area.. would be great to adopt one

 

[moviemanmania]

The females do smell much less than non-neutered males and a neutered male isn't as bad as he could be if he were intact. They have a Mussy smell that can be described as weak puppy urine.

 

[ataraxia]

They do smell. you will clean the cage and furnishing daily if not every other day.
extremely fast.
Its best if you buy in pairs.
IMO M/F doesnt smell any different than the other. They both piss all over everything and it smells the exact same.
nocturnal, so they will make ruckus all through the night.
feeding is easy.
pvc rodent wheel.
very large cage 1/4 inch bar spacing.

you think im talking you out of one right? nope they are really neat. i am looking for a leucistic female actually