In Reply to: Research question, literally... posted by Ms. Shell on July 08, 2000 at 02:47:06:

When I was a kid, I was really into Australian animals! I had two great books about them. I chose possums as reseach project for school... I was dreaming of going to Australia some day, to see the amazing animals! Sugar gliders (which I knew as "phalangers volants", being French speaking) were among my favorite ones.
About two years ago, when trying to find pygmy marmosets for my brother on the net, I came accross an site that was offering sugar gliders as pets. I was thrilled but I tried not to read on, because I thought the little creatures would be happier in the wild than as pets.
A few months ago, I got a call from my brother in Montreal: He had heard that 3 little gliders had been found in a box (abandoned) at the Aquarium in my city, and that the Aquarium was looking for homes for them. He said that he gave my name to the Aquarium because he felt I would supply a great home for them (thanks!). I went on the net nearly all day everyday, bought two books, read them more than once, and about two weeks later I got my first call from the Aquarium. They quizzed me for a while. I kept going on the net reading about sugar gliders, going to pet shops to figure out cage prices, look for toys, I made phone calls and found vets that would see gliders, I also found experienced people that I could talk to if problems were to arise. Another week passed and I got to visit the three gliders. Knowing that a breeder had also offered to take them, I suggested I could take two and the breeder could take one, so none of the gliders would be alone. And that is how I got Lilou and Pipa. I am still researching and I have never spent so muchj time on the net than since I heard about these little abandoned gliders. So I guess that makes it about one month of research about sugar gliders as pets before getting them (but I had known about them in the wild for a lot longer).
I also really like giraffes but they are a bit more difficult to have as pets in a small apartment.

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