Sugar Gliders

Alicia, I saw your post about your sugar glider and I'm very interested to hear about it.

I almost bought one about a year ago before I had the cats. I desperately wanted a pet, but when I realized that they weren't low maintenance I had to pass.

I held one in the store and it was the sweetest little thing. I fell in love.

Well, it is very cute, I just didn't want another pet myself. I didn't choose her, hubby just brought her home one night with no prior notice, and frankly I don't do surprises very well, a character fault, I'm sure.

Her name is Riki, for Riki Tiki Tavi.

Let's see. She's pretty unusual so it's kind of hard to describe her. She's a little like a flying squirrel, with the flaps of skin along the sides of her body for gliding from tree to tree. She's about the size of a hamster, but she has long furry tail not as furry a squirrel but longet than a chipmunk's. She uses it for balance and coils it around her body like a boa. I did see her holding a grape in it the other day, so as she gets older it might be almost as useful as a monkey's tail. She is grey with a light belly and a black stripe down her head and back, kind of like a badger. Her nose is very pink and kind of long and the end is shaped like an upside down heart. When I look at her head-on, which isn't often, she is very bat-like only much much cuter. Her ears are big for her head but rounded, and her eyes are very large solid black with a ring of black fur around them. The edges of her flying flaps are white and they look like a little ruffle all around her body. I think she might be a flirt if we can tame her a little better.

She likes the dark, so her cage is in my daughter's walk-in closet. It's just a wire mesh deal that she can climb around on with a pan and a newspaper under it like a bird cage. Her den is an inverted clay flower pot with a hole drilled in it and a cloth napkin for bedding. She's nocturnal, so she sleeps most of the day in there unless we get her out. The breeder said she should be handled about 2 hours a day to keep her tame, so she rides around in our pockets or sits on someone's chest while watching tv. She makes little clicking chirping noises when she's happy but boy! If she's upset, she makes the loudest noise! and she's only about the size of a gerbil, though her tail is longer, so it's quite startling! She has a hamster ball for exercise which she seems to enjoy.

She eats mostly produce - she likes grapes a lot, carrots and apples not as much - but in the wild she would eat meal worms and grubs so we have to be sure to give her nuts and chicken sometimes. She also gets rabbit pellets but she doesn't seem to enjoy them as much.

So far, she hasn't met the cats face to face. I don't get her out very often so I wait until the boys are dozing on my bed and close the door. Riki is still a baby so I'm in favor of waiting until she's bigger or not introducing them at all. Blackie doesn't seem to care one way or the other, but I've caught Sparky in the closet a few times and I just know he's trying to figure out how to get at that snack in the wire box . . .

Right now I'm just overwhelmed with all the things I have to do so adding this little animal didn't excite me, but I know that in a month I'll be cooing and gushing over her. She is very cute and curious and friendly and she might even become affectionate in her way.

I just took Riki out for some exercise and socialization. She snuggled up in my hand against my chest and made little chirping noises. Too cute!

Now she's roaming the living room in a hamster ball. She keeps bumping it up against the sofa where I'm sitting and sits quietly until I talk to her. Then she looks up at me and tries to roll her ball up the front of the couch.

I'm starting to think, "She likes me, she's interested in me" and it's only a short jump from there to "she's so cute, she loves me". Just like I think my cats love me, even tho' I'm sure it's more like I provide food and let them sleep on me.

Alicia,

I had the opportunity to see one at a Pet Expo recently. They are so cute. Don't let PETA hear you say you've got one, though. You'll get ripped up one side and down the other.

I think they are the most precious little things. I held one at a pet store and it snuggled against my finger and chirped. I still wouldn't mind having one, but I'm spread thin as it is.


Riki sounds like a doll!

I just love Sugar Gliders!! I've wanted one for the longest time..but my son has allergies to any kind of wood chip bedding, so we can't have any small animals that use them. I was devastated to have had to find new homes for my guinea pigs when we discovered his allergy. I've done a lot of research into getting an aquarium but I'm not sure if it would be a good idea. I'm leaning towards getting a little Gecko or something, but we'll see :rainbow: Heres a pic of a sugar glider for anyone who's curious as to what they look like:

I called the breeder yesterday. You know, I didn't have any input about getting Riki, though I have most of the care! So I wanted to get some information. And she told me a most surprising thing: Riki is a boy! I'm just so used to thinking of him as a her!

Still very cute and what a little flirt he's gonna be, too!

She also gave me the name of the vet who treats her gliders, so that was very good. She said they don't need shots because they don't have anything that's contagious to humans. And they are pretty much non-allergenic, so even folks who can't have hamsters or guinea pigs can have sugar gliders.

We need to get him a bigger cage, though, like a parrot cage only with the bars closer together. They like to climb and jump so I need something tall and with room for climbing toys.

Oh, and they are a marsupial, not a rodent like most of the animals I was comparing Riki to. Marsupial means the females have pouches, like a kangaroo or a possum. I thought that was kind of interesting. If it wasn't such an investment in time (they live as long as cats and dogs), I'd like to get a female and have a litter just to see that. Maybe we can visit the breeder one day instead . . .

Melissa,

I guess we were posting at the same time!

Riki doesn't use shavings, he uses cloth napkins!

There is newspaper under the cage, but since gliders are pouch animals, they aren't much interested in nesting materials. Carol, the breeder, suggested making a few pockets to hang in the cage for sleeping and using an inverted flower pot or even pvc tubing for privacy. Plus, with a cloth napkin, if it gets a little musty all you do is wash it with the rest of the towels etc. and it comes out clean and fresh. She has no odor or allergy problems with hers.

But he did cost $150 plus the set up, so that's a lot more than a guinea pig or even a lizard. Fish tanks, well, that depends on how big, how elaborate, and what kind of fish.

I too have been wanting a sugar glider...they are so cute!!!
I have pygmy hedgehogs, and I just love them! I think a sugar glider would be a great addition to my pet family!

I think the hedgies are really cute, and they'd be better protected against the cats!

I just live in an apartment and don't want to become a menagerie until we own again. But I am getting attached to Riki.

go to www.sugarglider.net
They have a forum and everything! Good luck with your new baby!

Sunlion - You mentioned that sugar gliders eat meal worms in the wild. If you need to get some of these for her, I know the PetCo on Cooper next to Toys R Us sells them live. I used to feed them to my Oscars when they were small.

Riki sure sounds cute! My husband would kill me if I brought home another pet, even though I do all the care.

bubbles,

I went and checked it out, but every time I clicked a link to another site, I got this message:


Error including libraries: Can't locate /home/sglider/www/cgi-bin/links/admin/db_utils.pl at e:\\cuswebs\
ew.sugarglider.net\\cgi-bin\\links\\jump.cgi line 35.

Make sure they exist, permissions are set properly, and paths are set correctly.


I don't know what that means, but perhaps the links are bad? I know sometimes that happens. Did any of them work for you?


Dawn,

Thanks for the tip! We'll probably be checking that out later tonight.

Except the breeders link (which can also be found on the "links" link), the vets link, and the store link. Try again and see ifit works. Sometimes the site has trouble.

Hee hee hee

I has a glider in my shirt pocket and he's napping, but his all curled in a little ball with his head on the bottom.

Am I really goofy if I make up little songs to sing to him?

I think I'm in love