In the wild sugar Gliders go into a state of Torpor when food is scarce. This is a form of hibernation. They lower their body temperature and go into a shallow torpor. They use less energy and oxygen. This is a common occurrence in the wild during bad weather conditions or feeding conditions and helps the wild animal to conserve energy.

During winter here in Australia, I have noticed that some nights when it is extremely cold my gliders will not come out to feed. This torpor condition has been produced in experiments by removing food in colder conditions in captive gliders. They only stay in torpor for about 24 hours then arise looking for food again.

I've read a study about sugar glider torpor in winter, but I didn't know it could happen due to low food supply.

As Jett said it's a way of conserving energy, I personally keep my glider room warm enough for them not to go into a state of torpor, mainly because I know they'd make me suffer the next night ... bless them LMAO!!!

You keep your gliders outside don't you Jett? When you say extremely cold what temperatures do you mean? Your extremely cold might be completely different to extremely cold in the UK.

Our winters do not get as cold as some places in the US and the UK. Coldest would be maybe 3 degrees Celsius not shore what that is Fahrenheit. Most Sugar Gliders wouldn't live in mountain areas in the wild so wouldn't tolerate snowy mountains. They might put up with small amounts of snow. I have read that their nests are always a few degrees warmer than the outside temperatures and that being a colony animal they survive better with a few in the nest than when a solitary animal is kicked out. Often when males are weened they are kicked out of the colony and a high percentage of these animals die. This conserves the male female ratio and instills the continuing population.

So yours stay outside in temps of 3 degrees celsius? How many do you have in your colony? Is the building heated or do they tolerate the low temperature?

moorie you can see photo's of my aviary on one of the recent post on cages. Or go to my profile and you can also see the photo's. The aviary is in my backyard and open to the weather. Their bed is under cover at one end. Gliders are found in th wild in my neighborhood so they can cope with the extremes of temperatures that we have in Melbourne. We have had a very hot summer and I have only brought them inside about four times.

I have a male and female and they have good bedding. I have made pouches that are two thickness's of fleecy and in between it I have put wool batting to keep them warm. I also throw in a couple of pieces of fleecy blankets. I line one end of the wire with thick plastic so that they have a cozy corner without to many breezes in winter. They tolerate the cold quite well. It doesn't mean that I don't worry about them but they love th freedom the aviary gives them and I notice how cooped up they look in the cage in the laundry. It's too hard to take away their freedom once you have given it to them.

I'm getting another female from KO as soon as the baby is weened. Three gliders in the nest should keep them all warm.

I was just interested as I see so much info stating they should be at this temp, never below that temp. It's really interesting just how different your suggies seem to be compared to those in the US and ours in the UK. I'd have a guess that certainly ours in the UK aren't Australian, I know alot of wild caught (ish, the importer has a large farm where he breeds practically wild suggies) suggies that were imported into Europe were from Indonesia.

What do your suggies weigh? I know in the studies of wild gliders in Australia the average weight of females seems to be 120g.

I've read about the various glider habitats and it seems that they can tolerate a fairly wide range of temps. My house is in the low 60s F at night during the winter and in the mid to high 60s in the summer (gets cool at night here - we don't use air conditioning). When in the low 60s their little feet are cold to the touch, but they are very active at night.

My gliders like Jett's are also live outdoors (we are in the same city).

My cage has a fully enclosed roof and back wall. The two sides are half enclosed so it's fairly well weather protected.

Our gliders live in varied temps from -1 degree celcius to 42 degrees celcius. That is quite a variation and of course these temperature changes don't usually happen overnight. The gliders acclimatise as the seasons change and there are several things we put in place to ensure as much comfort as possible. In Winter, their nestboxes have gum leaves and fleece bedding. In Summer it's just cool leaves as bedding. The roof of our cage (and the inside enclosed walls of the cage)have a tea-tree cover over them. On very hot days, we run a fine mist spray over the roof and inside which when kept moist, also drop the inside temperature of the cage. A very large fabric market umbrella covers most of the cage on hot sunny days.

The gliders handle the conditions well and I guess it is because they are in the same weather conditions they would experience in the wild. Here in Australia, wild sugar gliders can be in various climates. Dry.hot bushland, tropical rainforest, sub alpine regions and cool rainforests..... no wonder they are so versatile if they have adapted to all these different climates in Australia.

Cheers Ko

Wow, it's fasinating! I'm not going to do anything drastic like put mine outside, as I said I don't think ours are Australian, so I don't know quite how it would affect them, and to be honest I wouldn't risk finding out. The temperatures in the winter drop to minus figures, and because they're used to a warm house it would affect them in a bad way I would think.

One of the reasons we read on (some) forums about keeping gliders above 20 degrees C (and definately NOT below 18 degrees C, is because of respiratory infections, what are your thoughts on this?

I think gliders kept indoors are more likely to be affected by dust mites and house hold chemicals thus causing respiratory problems. Our gliders must be exposed to winds and droughts yet remain snug in their nests with no problems. Perhaps the outdoors makes them a tougher glider.

They are certainly bigger gliders here in Australia than what I see on these forums.

I have read a few times that when gliders have gone to the vet with respiratory problems it has been linked back to wood shavings or washing powder or some other change in the household. Sugar Gliders were not designed to come in contact with these things in the wild. Outside in Australia they are less likely to come in contact with normal household chemicals and household dust.

The chemicals used in the garden are even more friendly here with many Pyretheran products sold. I work in a hardware sore that sells garden chemicals. So many companies are looking at herbal and natural bug deterrents.
I personally don't use any sprays in the garden.

Poor air circulation and quality could have something to do with it :) I'd imagine low immune system would play a part too. What worries me is that by our must clean culture and environment we're softening our gliders up, a bit like why there are soooooo many more kids suffering with allergies now. It would be interesting to know how often wild gliders clean out their nests and replace the leaves, or am I barking up the wrong tree! (Lol, get it??)

This is an interesting topic. I read on forums so many reasons not keep gliders outside and whilst I agree weather conditions can be a very good reason especially in areas with extreme cold, I often wonder how valid some of the other reasons are though.

For instance airborne chemicals are cited. Unless you leave close to vegetable farmers who are using crop dusters etc, compare with what a glider indoors may put up with... air fresheners, cleaning solutions(everything from toilet,oven, bathroom to window cleaners), deodorants, candles, incense, perfumes, fly sprays,etc. Of course some owners are very diligent about this but with poor air circulation in most homes, i would say indoor gliders probably get more exposure to chemicals than outdoor ones.

Secondly predators scaring the gliders. Well, gliders are nocturnal , so they don't have to worry about daytime predators as they will be asleep! Owls are a common predator in the wild but hang on, the gliders are in a cage! Surely, there are just as many predators in the house...cats, dogs...children plus all the noises in the house from kids to tv and loud music. Enough stress indoors so what would be the stress factor outside.

Thirdly, they might eat insects that the owner has no control over. Well my vet actually encourages that and says they will know instinctively what they can and can't eat! In the bottom of my glider cage, there are lots and lots of free range crickets. We have a special purple light in the aviary which attracts moths and the guys catch their own! There is nothing more amazing than watching gliders catch their own prey!

Gliders might escape from the cage... now this is a fairly valid point and one I am always vigilant about. Our current cage doesn't have a safety lock (ie. two door entry), but I have a hanging strips in front of the door to stop our guys from getting out when we go in and out but of course I am not 100% happy with that. Our new cage getting built on Monday has a safety space so we go in, lock the outside door behind us, before opening the door into the actual cage. It is similar to what Jett has with her cage. Now this is safer than any indoor glider escaping it's cage and possibly getting access to outdoors. There are escape risks in every situation so a glider owner should always be vigilant whether it's outdoors or indoors.

Of course, there will be further arguments on some of the statements I have said and whilst some do have merit, I think the bottomline is there is no guarantees of absolute safety in ANY environment. Owners have to take absolute care at all times whether its indoors or outdoors. I am not even going to advocate people to keep their gliders outside. This is the choice of the individual as only they know if it's viable. There are a lot of genuine reasons why someone doesn't want to keep their gliders outside but there are also reasons why someone might want to even if it's on a seasonal basis or even just as a temporary or occasional thing so their gliders can get some fresh air and exercise in an outdoor cage for a change from being inside.

Cheers Ko