Sugar gliders make very interesting and very fine pets. After some initial set up costs for cage, fleece cage sets, toys, and wheel or treadmill, they are not expensive to maintain as long as their home is kept clean, they are fed properly, and they are given ample opportunity for exercise and play.

A sugar glider is an exotic animal. It is a marsupial, very unlike the mammal pets most of us are used to. They have a cloaca like a reptile or bird and no external sex organs. Females have a pouch, males have a pom, and they have no belly buttons!

Sugar gliders are colony animals. They must be kept in pairs at minimum for their own health. Sugar gliders housed as single animals develop serious problems. They can become aggressive or depressed, can overgroom or self-mutilate. Plan on starting with two at least.

Sugar gliders are nocturnal and you will find them almost always asleep all day. This makes it easy to carry them around with you in a bonding pouch, or in a pocket, or down your bra. Unless you show or tell them, most people will not even know you have them on you.

At night they can be noisy with playing with their toys, running on their wheel or calling out with their cute barks. Don’t plan on having their enclosure/cage in your bedroom if you want to sleep at night.

They are very active when they are fully awake and need exercise and stimulating toys to keep them busy. A wheel or treadmill in the cage will help keep them entertained and healthy. Wheels, treadmills, and toys will all need to be sugar glider safe, easily cleaned, and made of plastic or glider safe wood, like cork or coconut.

Sugar gliders have opposable thumbs on their feet. The back “thumb” doesn’t have a nail, and the first two toes on the back feet are fused to form a grooming comb.

Their nails are very sharp to help them grip tree bark in the wild. Since we don’t have trees in their enclosures, you will need to learn how to trim nails.

Nails should be trimmed about every six weeks or whenever they get too sharp. Trim with baby nail clippers or with a cuticle clipper turned upside down. Just trim the tips, never cut into the “pink” portion of the nail.

Trim all nails on the front feet and only the two largest on the back feet. The other nails are used as a grooming comb and should never be trimmed. Just like our native North American Opposum they don’t have a nail on the back foot “thumb.”

Get them used to having their

You can see a very good video of how to safely trim sugar glider nails, even if they are not bonded to you yet, right here: Unbonded Nail Trim.

The video was made by Stephanie Brazil

Because sugar gliders are exotic animals, you will need to have a veterinarian on hand who can see and treat them before you purchase your first pair. Don’t give up if your first few tries are duds. It can take some calling around to find the right vet for you. Please don’t put this off as a vet for your guys can mean the difference between a good outcome and a disastrous one.

Here in SE Virginia we recommend two veterinarians:

Dr. Mueller
Smithfield Animal Hospital
805 S Church Street, Smithfield, VA 23430

757-357-9308

Dr. Cutler
Kiln Creek Animal Care
900 Brick Kiln Blvd, Newport News, VA 23602

(757) 886-1300

Both veterinarians are very good with sugar gliders and both are qualified to do USDA Health Certificates for travel with your sugar gliders.

What to feed (and not feed) your sugar glider

There is a lot of misinformation about what to feed them on the internet. There are several pretty good diets out there used by breeders for years, and many bad ones.

Sugar gliders have specific nutritional requirements, and they need a balanced diet. Below are some issues that can be avoided with a proper diet.

Dental issues - feeding too much sugar

Kidney issues - feeding too much protein

Liver failure - feeding nuts, leaving kibble or other food to spoil

Iron storage disease - too much mineral supplement

Hind limb paralysis and bone demineralization - too many fruits/vegetables, not enough calcium (or too much calcium!)

Death from cardiac arrest - no taurine in diet

Prone to illnesses - not enough (or no) Vitamin E, zinc, selenium

Never feed spices or herbs of any kind to sugar gliders! Things that may be good or healthy for another animal or for you can be detrimental to their health.

Catnip and catnip oil is rapidly fatal to sugar gliders! Don’t use cat toys that may have been exposed to catnip or give them catnip to eat or play with. Even a small amount can be fatal.

Never feed them eucalyptus leaf powder! Only a very few animals can digest and detoxify the leaves of a eucalyptus plant, and sugar gliders are not on that list.

Fresh eucalyptus leaves are fine! They won’t eat them, but they do like to line their pouches with them, and they appreciate the smell of the leaves. You can also give them eucalyptus branches to chew on for enrichment.

They should have no more than 18% protein in the diet. The majority of their calories should come from complex carbohydrates. They should not be fed an abundance of sugary foods or treats. And they should not be over supplemented with vitamins and minerals.

Be sure to check out the page on the Highland Sugar Glider Diet. On that page you can also find a recipe for an awesome sugar glider treat - chicken feet!

I will be adding to this section in time. Please check back!