AKA, Pocket Pet with Attitude

 by: Ruth Bird

Many people are searching for different means to have pets. Dogs and cats are not always the best choice of pets for everyone. Here is an amazingly different type of pet. A Pocket Pet! A Sugar Glider.

The Sugar Glider is a popular pet because of its sweet, lively, inquisitive nature, but is illegal in certain jurisdictions, such as California.

Do gliders make sounds? Sugar gliders are very social creatures and make many sounds, including barking, crabbing, clicking, and chattering.

Are gliders rodents? No. Sugar gliders are marsupials (mammals that carry their young in a pouch); they are in the same family as the koala bear and the kangaroo.

I have gathered some information, and done some research. Perhaps this will be the answer for many wishing to own a different kind of a pet.

Sugar Gliders make excellent pets. They adapt very readily to captivity and can develop very strong relationships with their human keepers. This is why they would be great for people who cannot have big pets. They are small in size, are very intelligent and love to play. They are much smarter than a hamster or rat and have a much longer life-span, most living to be 10 or older if taken care of properly. Although nocturnal, this can be of benefit.

Sugar Gliders love human attention. And they really are so cute. They also develop very strong bonds with their owners.

An adult sugar glider is approximately 11 inches long from his nose to the tip of his tail, but most of that (6 or 7 inches) is tail. They have similarities with our flying squirrel. The fur is very soft. Here is more information I have researched.

It is around 16 to 20 cm (6.3 to 7.5 in) in length, with a slightly longer tail, and weighs between 90 and 150 grams (3 to 5.3 oz). The fur is generally pearl grey, with black and cream patches at the base of the pink ears. The tail tapers only moderately and the last quarter of it is black, often with a white tip. The muzzle is short and rounded. Northern forms tend to be brown colored rather than grey and, as predicted by Bergmann's Rule, smaller.

The most noticeable features of its anatomy, however, are the twin skin membranes called "patagium"s which extend from the fifth finger of the forelimb back to the first toe of the hind foot. These are inconspicuous when the Sugar Glider is at rest it merely looks a little flabby, as though it had lost a lot of weight recently but immediately obvious when it takes flight. The membranes are used to glide between trees: when fully extended they form an aerodynamic surface the size of a large handkerchief.

Sugar Gliders can occupy any area where there are tree hollows for shelter and sufficient food. Their diet varies considerably with both geography and the changing seasons, but the main items are the sap of acacias and certain eucalupts, nectar, pollen, and arthropods. They are difficult to see in the wild, being small, wary, and nocturnal, but a sure sign of their presence is the stripping of bark and tooth marks left in the soft, green shoots of acacia trees.

Sugar gliders love human attention and they love to play. This is what makes them special. Make sure you bond with the little ones when you bring them home. Since they sleep in the daytime, you can bond with them by letting them sleep in your pocket, but don’t sit on your glider! Sugar gliders will form very strong bonds with their owners. One article says that they love to play hide and go seek.

They love it when you come home at night; they are so excited to see you!

Please buy them from a reputable breeder. You can expect to pay from $200 to $400 for them. I recommend starting with a baby since they do form much stronger bonds with you. And as always, study and gather the right information to have a safe and healthy pet.