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sippycup Starting Member 7 Posts
Sugar gliders need a lot of room and a lot of height.
Their enclosure should be a minimum of 3 metres of height, and 5 square meters of floorspace for a couple, an extra square metre of floorspace for each extra glider.
Sadly, you don't hear this often, as people want to market them as miniature pets like mice. This is probably why you hear such tiny cage dimensions quoted as acceptable. They're not really compact pets in that regard. It's sad to see the little guys being kept in cages you can't even stand up in, let alone glide in. You wouldn't keep a kitten in a pet carry cage for most of its waking hours.
So, if you are keeping your little guys in a little cage a few feet big, why not build them a proper enclosure? You'll make their day. :)
sippycup Starting Member 7 Posts I guess I just want more people to know that these little guys need their space. :) lovenightmare Glider  69 Posts this sounds like a message for people who got their gliders from PPP. (those are the people that try to sell them as if they are small mice) most people here know gliders need big mostly tall cages. =] its good to see people speak out for the sugar gliders well being though =] but search ppp here and you will see we dont have alot of nice things to say about them... check out the pvc cage people are making themselves for their gliders. its pretty neat. sippycup Starting Member 7 Posts "Measurements in feet and inches would also be helpful if you want to post info on an American board" Here are the dimensions in feet and inches: 9' - 10" tall 54sq feet floor-space for a couple. extra 10.8sq feet for each extra glider (American board, Australian animal :P) "check out the pvc cage people are making themselves for their gliders. its pretty neat. ... www.sugarglider.com/glidergossip/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=23904
" I had a look at that link; the cage is way too tiny, but I suppose if they spend the night out-of-cage they'd be fine. "most people here know gliders need big mostly tall cages. =] " That's good to know, but people can have different ideas as to what 'big' means. "Many of us have glider rooms. Mine might sleep in their cages during the day, but they have free roam of their entire room all night. I close their cage doors in the morning after they've all gone back in on their own and they are all accounted for." That sounds great! I understand people who don't live in a climate that allows for an outdoor aviary have to keep them inside all the time; letting them roam the room at night seems like a sensible alternative. :) sippycup Starting Member 7 Posts something like this is still on the small side, but starting to approach an acceptable enclosure size. www.buyashed.com.au/bmz_cache/a/ac522289dbedc326569c89f9f202702c.image.512x384.jpg
apparently that is: Width: 3m Depth: 2.26m Wall Height: 1.80m Gable Height: 2.06m You can do the conversions to feet and inches if you want. You'd want to fit it out with some vertical branches, or whatever your glider likes. :) That is an okay size floor-space wise, but is too short. You definitely wouldn't want anything smaller than that. filly47 Goofy Gorillatoes   USA 2330 Posts Thank you for your advice sippycup, but this is a subject I have seen often on this board, especially with people building their own cage. The great thing about this website is that people from all over come to express ideas, stories, and of course pictures, so that we can all learn about these little guys. A lot of the threads I have seen are about people building their own cages, and if you had seen these, you would have seen that they are massive! Personally I can not have a ten foot cage in my room, I have a five foot tall cage, but my glider is out all the time so she has my whole room to run around in. Ideally large dogs should have (literally) a farm to run around on. But I wouldn't go into a german shepard forum and start initially writing posts about this. We are not PPP, we want the best for our little suggies, and we are well aware that larger is always better!
Some photos from our members tisha Goofy Gorillatoes   OK, USA 2081 Posts quote:
Originally posted by suggieluvr
Sure, that garden shed would be awesome to have, however, most of us keep them as pets in our house, so a garden shed would be kind of impossible. But, thanks for your opinion. If I ever buy a mansion I will look into getting one of these!
Right?! Honestly, NONE of our animals are in "environments" that are big enough if you want to get technical. It will NEVER be big enough until we set them all free outside right?? What I'm saying is, cats weren't meant to be shut inside and neither were dogs! Birds are meant to fly outside all over the world yet we clip their wings. Fish are meant to swim free in oceans, lakes, rivers, yet we keep them in bowls. Horses are meant to roam the plains but we keep them stalled and corralled. I have, what I feel, are two decent size cages for my gliders. And, like some others on this board, mine get their own bedroom. I think as long as our pets are happy, healthy, fed, excersized, and get attention then we should not worry so much about this... Welcome to the boards. Gizmo-n-Roos Mommy Fuzzy Wuzzy OH, USA 1624 Posts quote:
Originally posted by sippycup
You'd want to fit it out with some vertical branches, or whatever your glider likes. :)
I think that you will find that although most of us would agree that this would be ideal to have such a large enclosure for our beloved little friends, it is not feasible to have this size of an enclosure within our homes and as you indicated yourself, we don't all live in climates that are conducive to an outdoor aviary. That being said, if you read through some posts, you will see that we always tell people to make them as big as they possibly can......the bigger, the better. We are all advocates of this practice! I have to question your statement above about "whatever your glider likes". I am hoping it was just a typo because if you know as much about them as your first post indicates, you would know that gliders should be kept in pairs, at a minimum, but ideally in colonies. This is another point that we are huge advocates of here. I do agree though that this was not the best way to introduce yourself to this forum and one would wonder if your intentions are to "stir the pot", so to speak. If your intentions are pure, then I commend your passion to educate others on the care of these precious animals. [edited to correct a grammatical error] suggieluv Super Glider SC, USA 361 Posts It seems like someone had posted about this last year maybe,I don't remember seeing any other posts from the same person for that matter either. The people on this forum care VERY much for their gliders and they(we)do the very best by them we can. SO what if our cages don't meet your standards, we don't all have the room for a massive cage. I wish I did!! I am sorry, I don't mean to sound rude but to me, this is very irritating. I don't know about the rest of you, but I don't enjoy having someone come on here and inform me that my cages are not the appropriate size for my gliders. I have read a few posts that just aggravate the fool out of me and I've kept my mouth shut. I suppose I need to continue doing that and I guess I will. AFTER I get this out of my system!! I know I shouldn't take this personnaly and I'm trying not to and I also know people have the right to their own opinions. Seriously, some things just don't need to be said. Take this post for instance, we know bigger is better but WHY inform us of something that we already know and can do really nothing about. The climate plays a huge roll in outdoor areas, I've even considered it. But there is more than climate to think about, you also have to consider the environment. We have a big problem with fire ants and other pests, stray cats,possums and I am in walking distance of the Columbia Airport. My problem with the airport is jet fuel and the low flying planes, the military practices touch and go landings here and they fly so low they leave shadows on the ground and make the windows vibrate.I've seen the damage the fuel can do to the paint on vehicles over time so that for me is not an option to have them outside. OK,OK!! I am sorry everyone I just needed to get this out, I just find posts like this annoying.I know I shouldn't let them bother me and I usually don't, but I am just aggravated right now. And if I am wrong than I am sorry for that as well, but this is just how I feel and of course MY opinion. Christy ssalcedo Joey 35 Posts Strange question, but what is PPP? Also, I just got my 2 gliders a couple days ago, and the cage gray_Fox_forever posted is the same exact cage I got with them. Their previous owners made this same cage for them. Its an awesome cage! www.sugarglider.com/glidergossip/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=23904
I am not one to jump in and argue, and may not be a sugar glider expert (yet), but I have something to say. This cage seems plenty big enough for them. I sure dont have the space in my home to have a gigantic cage. They are very happy in their cage. I can tell by how they act. They have plenty of room to jump, glide, and play in this cage. They dont stay in there all day, and night anyways. I agree with the others, these are pets! They no longer live in the wild. PPP is Perfect Pocket Pets, they are millbreeders based in I believe Texas. quote:
Originally posted by Anonymous
PPP is Perfect Pocket Pets, they are millbreeders based in I believe Texas.
Actually the one I know of is based in Florida. (I don't know if this was just another lie they feed out or not!) And yes they are four letters- E V I L. I agree that we all love our gliders (and if you don't get the hell out of here!) and want to do the best we can by them. If a leadng (unbiased) scientist had made this post, it would strike me as less odd then someone we know nothing about. sippycup Starting Member 7 Posts Hey people, sorry to offend anyone, I never meant to imply that any of you didn't love your gliders, quite the opposite, everyone here clearly loves their gliders :) . I just tend to leap into a forum without much introduction. Yes, I am Australian, yes, I'm aware gliders should be kept in groups, yes I'm a scientist, (biochemistry, so not that relevant :P ) but the idea ... "these are pets! They no longer live in the wild." ... is a little misled. Sugar gliders are not domesticated. They do live in the wild. Never forget that. and "Birds are meant to fly outside all over the world yet we clip their wings. Fish are meant to swim free in oceans, lakes, rivers, yet we keep them in bowls. Horses are meant to roam the plains but we keep them stalled and corralled." I don't understand what you're saying here. Yes, some people mistreat animals. But I don't think anyone here wants to? Personally, I don't agree with keeping birds in small cages either. Fish kept in bowls die prematurely. Fishbowls are even banned in some places because of this. Undersized aquaria is not a good thing for anyone. Keeping a horse in a stall most of its life would undoubtedly be cruel. I think everyone here likewise doesn't want to mistreat animals. It's no excuse to say 'I don't have the room'; I couldn't keep a horse in my backyard and get away with it by saying the same. HOWEVER, as a lot of you have said, if you can't build an enclosure outside, you're not keeping them in the cage at night. That's great! :) There are people who come here for information. They need a lot more room than what I keep hearing as good cage sizes. I guess that I want to reinforce that simply calling them pets does not change their requirements. These are tree-dwelling marsupials; naming them 'pets' doesn't change that. It can't be a bad thing to spread more good information about the animals you love. :)
tisha Goofy Gorillatoes OK, USA 2081 Posts quote:
Originally posted by sippycup
"Birds are meant to fly outside all over the world yet we clip their wings. Fish are meant to swim free in oceans, lakes, rivers, yet we keep them in bowls. Horses are meant to roam the plains but we keep them stalled and corralled."
I don't understand what you're saying here. Yes, some people mistreat animals. But I don't think anyone here wants to?
Personally, I don't agree with keeping birds in small cages either.
Fish kept in bowls die prematurely. Fishbowls are even banned in some places because of this. Undersized aquaria is not a good thing for anyone. Keeping a horse in a stall most of its life would undoubtedly be cruel.
I think everyone here likewise doesn't want to mistreat animals.
I wasn't saying that any of these animals are mistreated. What I meant is, Every animal we keep as a 'pet' is of course going to be in a "smaller" environment than it's wild ancestors/relatives are in. Whether I let my sugar gliders roam around in a 2000 sq foot house OR keep them in a 5ft cage, the enclosure is smaller than what they would have in the wild. This is what I am saying. MOST of us agree strongly with you that the "cage requirements" set by the mill breeders are TOO SMALL!! They say that gliders can live in a 3ft cage! That's entirely too small, obviously! Gliders need room to glide. And if you DON'T let your gliders out all night while they are awake, and they are confined to a 3 ft cage, then this is entirely too small. BUT, if you have a 3ft cage and they are only in there to sleep, then who cares?? They are just sleeping! (My cages are between 5-6 feet btw which is room to jump and glide) My point being, anytime we bring an animal as a PET into our lives, no matter what kind of animal it is (be it a glider, a horse, a fish, a bird, an elephant) your PET will never be in an enclosure that is equal to the size of it's wild ancestors. Doesn't mean this is WRONG.....whats wrong is when you have them in a small enclosure and you don't properly excersize/play with them.....That's when it's wrong (In my opinion). Sippycup, I think you didn't mean to come and sound attacking. I think you really do care for these guys like we do and that's great! Just please be a little more careful with your words. And again, welcome to the boards. I agree with people on this post. It is weird that someone would post this subject for their first post. When I first read it I to thought it was from PPP. I agree with TISHA about the explination about the animals. I liked how you pointed that out, giving all of us a out look of other animals living.
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I would love to have the chance to properly meet you, and understand your background, experience w/ suggies, and where you come from (Australia maybe??). 
