Sugar gliders are one of the most common pet trade pets on the planet. Because you can go to Vegas and buy a sugar glider, Animal Tracks has been given many over the years. They are illegal in the state of California, they are loud and smelly and nocturnal – and once people experience this, they realize this may not be an ideal family pet. Oh, and did we mention they bite really hard?!? We currently have six sugar gliders. They run the gamut from being grouchy to really angry! None of our sugar gliders prefer the daylight, so how can you blame them? These guys are the original nocturnal party animals. They are not flying squirrels, but in fact opossums. The females have the pouch to prove it. They have a specialized diet and really need room to glide. A hamster cage or a ferret cage is just not big enough. They have skin from their pinky to their baby toe that flairs out like a cape, this gives them the ability to glide from tree to tree in the upper canopies in the Australian outback. Ours live in several groups and each group has their own smell. The males have a scent gland on the top of their head and will mark each family member with his smell. If an intruding sugar glider comes into this space the family will chase out the different smelling sugar glider. These guys prefer the “members only” club.
ORDER: Diprotodontia
FAMILY: Petauridae
GENUS: Petaurus
SPECIES: Breviceps
Sugar gliders share similar habits and appearances with flying squirrels, but they are not close relatives. Sugar gliders are called this because they love sweet food, especially honey, and the word glider refers to their gliding ability when moving from tree to tree. They are nocturnal and spend their daytime hours sleeping in hollows lined with leaves. They carry materials for their nest with their tails. Their tails are prehensile and work like an extra hand. They are highly social and live in groups typically of seven or more adults and their offspring. Each group has a dominant male, and he scent marks everyone in his family. This united family will fiercely defend their territory against intruders. They especially love the sweet sap of eucalyptus. They also indulge in pollen, nectar, insects, arachnids, and small vertebrates. They mate year-round and have a pregnancy gestation of 16 days. Mama normally has 1-2 joeys and these joeys will be independent by 8 months old.
Threats
Fire, habitat destruction and pet trade
Conservation Status
LC - Least Concern