Hi...I am a small animal care teacher in Virginia. This weekend at a home and garden show a sugar glider breeder set up an exhibit and apparently sold quite a few sugar gliders in this area. In fact, two of my high school students came to me to tell me that they were getting (yikes) breeding pairs. Neither of these students have had experience raising these animals and now they they think they can breed them!!!!!!!! I let them both know about the USDA licensing regulations but I also have concerns about where they are purchasing these pets from. Does anyone know about the online company perfect pocket pals???? If so, you may email me privately as I don't want anyone getting in a fuss over this. My email is hmartin@scs.k12.va.us. I was leery when I realized that there were no pictures of the facilities or actual pictures of the animals available on the site. I am also concerned because I know that one of the students that purchased a pair was quite frankly shocked when I discussed the animal's longevity, behavior and standards of care. Any help is appreciated as well as information for beginning breeders as I don't want these animals to flood the area shelters or pet stores anytime soon as there is not even a vet in the area that treats sugargliders.

Hi

I can understand your concerns. It seems this breeder has no regard for his/her animals and is only in it for the money! I often wish people had to sit tests and get a licence before they can own any pet.

Thankfully you will be able to offer advice to your students which is probably a lot more than other purchasers from that breeder will get so at least these gliders may have a chance to be okay.

I cannot offer any information re this breeder as I do not live in America. However, as to suggestions. Maybe you could do up a leaflet on basic care/sugar glider facts for your students with links to various sugar glider help sites. That would be a start. Also perhaps contact your local paper and see if they will do a follow story using your facts as a warning to people buying impulsively.

You could also follow up and see if this breeder has a USDA licence. Maybe someone else here could help you out with that. If it's possible to report him, I would definitely do so.

Best of luck and hope someone else can assist you.

Cheers Ko

"perfect pocket pals" doesn't ring a bell.

Here are lists of current USDA licensed people and organizations
www.aphis.usda.gov/ac/publications/reports/A_cert_holders.txt
www.aphis.usda.gov/ac/publications/reports/B_cert_holders.txt
www.aphis.usda.gov/ac/publications/reports/C_cert_holders.txt
www.aphis.usda.gov/ac/publications/reports/E_cert_holders.txt
www.aphis.usda.gov/ac/publications/reports/T_cert_holders.txt
www.aphis.usda.gov/ac/publications/reports/H_cert_holders.txt
www.aphis.usda.gov/ac/publications/reports/R_cert_holders.txt

None of those lists mention "perfect pocket pals". The person that sold the gliders may be registered using their real name instead of a business name.

However, even with a USDA license you're not guaranteed quality since the laws are not very strict in terms of animal care.

People that sell at flea markets are almost always mill breeders. By mill breeder I mean someone that indiscriminately breeds hundreds or thousands of sugar gliders solely for profit. Quite a lot of them have no regard for the welfare of the animal, especially since they travel from place to place and people can't track them down if their sugar gliders die soon after purchase, which does happen.

I don't consider this person a breeder but, rather a producer of gliders. They are just a commodity rather than raised as loving, tame, resilient pets.

There are lots of reasons not to breed.
One is the rather common phenomenon of cannibalism in gliders. It is unfortunately less than rare to come upon a parent eating a baby.
Other reasons not to breed or blithely acquire these very smart, sensitive animals:
- the specific dietary needs of gliders - they cannot live on apples and catfood or bird food as many of these producers claim. They need specialized nectar mixes, fresh fruit, fresh veggies every day w/a specifically positive overall Ca:p ratio.
- a nocturnal nature - Gliders get up about the time students should be going to bed.
- a wild temperament - These are wild animals kept in captivity. They must learn not to bite (some never do and their teeth are like little razor triangles) and they need the exercise appropriate for an animal that can glide 50 yds.
- a large cage and other equipment - A large cage is a necessity. Keeping 2 gliders in a cage smaller than 36x36x18 is substandard and cruel. They must have a wheel to run on. A stealth wheel is best and it costs more than $40. It is the safest and easiest to clean.
- speaking of cleaning - Gliders have their own specific scent and breeding gliders smell much more than neutered males. Intact males scent and mark everything. The tray under the cage needs attention each day and for intact males, only part of the cage and equipment can be cleaned at once or he will mark like crazy making even more glider perfume. They mark w/their scent gland, anal scent glands, and urine.
- speaking of urine - They especially like to show their love by urinating on their people.
- joeys, joeys, and more joeys - A female glider can have 2 in utero, 2 in pouch, and 2 out of pouch. She can also retain fertilized ova until she is ready to be pregnant again so what will they do w/the 6 or more (probably more) babies they will have each year?
- males fight - The parents will inbreed w/the offspring and the dominant male will also try to run off the male offspring when these boys begin to mature. How many cages can they accomodate? How will they treat the injuries that might occur?

If these great kids want gliders, tell them that we can help them find good breeders that will sell them loving, sweet, tame joeys that will never be pit bull biters as some gliders become.

Send them to the boards to research first. And they need to figure out who will keep their gliders when they go to college.

Thanks for the information from concerned owners and breeders. The company is actually perfect pocket pets out of SC so if any one has specific info I am still interested. I will admit to being exceptionally concerned about the area supply of gliders over the next few months. I am actually considering getting a booth at the next home and garden expo or at our local PetSmart and setting it up as a responsible pet ownership information booth. Maybe, as this would be a community service, the cost of the booth would be reduced. If anyone has any additional information please let me know.

There are quite a few glider owners in SC and that company is known as a mill producer of gliders.

South Carolina has only a small number of USDA licensed breeders. It is quite possible that this person is operating illegally.

Oh my goodness! First, I was told to check out this topic, though I don't know if I was supposed to post...(sorry if I misunderstood) Now, I feel the need to defend myself, but first, I have to say that I'm shocked at the possibility of PocketPets being a completely illegal establishment! It never even occurred to me. There were also a few things mentioned here that they seem to have forgotten, such as the smell while mating, the cannibalism (their book says it's only common in larger colonies), etc. I've already purchased them and it's a done deal, and though it may be slightly more work than originally anticipated, I'll do a good job of caring for them if it kills me.

Other than that, I already found these facts in my research, so there's no need to worry.

I think a booth at Pet Smart is a really good idea. I don't know much about pocket pets, but I've herd all bad things about them. That I do know.