SIPPYCUP, IT DOESN'T SOUND LIKE YOU KNOW ANYMORE THAN THE REST OF US!!

I TOTALLY AGREE WITH YOU LEABURK!!

I told someone yesterday from this forum that I would leave this post alone, but I just have to agree with you on this.
I also agree with everyone else's thoughts as well.

Edited to ad: It really had nothing to do with your cage gray fox, it start over ALL cage sizes.

I have not been on here for sometime, but I must say the way a lot of you are carrying on your as bad as each other. Sippycup is from Australia as am I, and where they live they have standards in wich wildlife like gliders are to be housed.
I am sure she didnt mean to offend maybe she could have worded it better, but the way some have responded is just as bad if not worse.
There is no reason that some of you cant house your gliders outside in Aviaries like they do here. I do understand that is not feasable for some.
If you want to see some examples of cage sizes that are used in Australia look in my album and you will see my back yard with my aviaries.

I think it is cruel to keep animals in a cage ( a prison is a prison even when you call it a cage)JMO.
I can't watch fish in fish tanks without getting short of breath.
We do have a bunch of pets and I feel bad that I cant just let them run free like they want. We also haven't paid a penny for any of the animals we have, we just offered a home.

I think the laws should be more strict (or just enforced)on who can breed,who can have "pets" and how the pets are housed. Same with children .

Amen, Scott. LOL (about children)

I think this thread has run it's course. Sippycup explained themselves, everyone has made their feelings about it known. The bottom line is, we ARE in the U.S., most of us can't have aviaries. On the other hand, lots of us either have very large cages, glider rooms or allow them lots of time outside of their cages. Those that don't, we try to point it out and explain why their cages are too small. Most of them didn't know and I was the same way at first. As soon as I was told though, I made changes. I don't know what else there really is to be said about it.

I totaly agree...i just think the way it was origionally stated that it could have been said a little bit better as the origional way sippy said it sounded kind of rude..... But yea, i do personally agree with what you are saying as gliders should have a ton more room, but us in the US are unable to do so and provide what we can. Once my new house is all situation and the closing is done, ill be telling the girlfriend before she moves in that my gliders get second choise of bedrooms before she does LOL!!!!!

Kylah we couldn't have outdoor aviaries in Colorado with the bears and all, they would destroy it quickly.

Lions, Tigers, and Bears OH MY!

Oh, I know! There are coyotes, foxes, bears and mountain lions all in my area alone too.

I myself would love a huge outdoor aviary....but it's 51 degrees out right now at 11:30 am and only getting colder by the minute. Low 40's tonight...from my understanding, a glider could not be out in this weather. I don't even like taking them outside of the house to go to work with me in this weather! I mean shoot....I have to force myself to get my butt out the door and freeze!

"force my butt out the door and freeze" well said lol! I actually had to drive my car for the first time today because of how cold it was. It was freaking 37 degrees! Sorry but i dont have my winter motorcycle gear yet lol!

I've rethought things and renamed the thread, because "Almost all your cage sizes are too small" does sound mean. Because, as I said, if they're just sleeping in there, they're not too small for that! :) I do maintain though, that for the night time, they shouldn't be in anything less than those enclosure dimensions, be it of an outdoor aviary or a room in a house. But as you people posting in this thread are letting your guys out at night, then none of it is directed at you. :) Lets all redirect our rage at mill-breeders instead ;)

Indeed, I think we all just got off on the wrong foot.

Man when i first got my sugar gliders i bought them a three foot cage which i thought was HUGE but i really wanted to make the animals happy. Then i got on this form and i read about all the 6ft cages and how anything smaller is cruel. So, being dedicated to my gliders i bought a 6ft cage for two gliders and thought of myself as a great owner. I will be completely honest , i dont get out my gliders every night but i do try to play with them often and they seem to be very happy. I also give them good food and lots of toys to stimulate them. I will probably do my best to forget that i ever read this post except maybe take them out at night a little more often. Dont get me wrong, im not offended, but i cant provide any more space and since i dont think giving them up would get them a better home i dont want to think im torturing my pets. Thats why i think everyone else probably got mad. We dont want to think we are cruel people who keep animals in small cages for fun. Cause were not. So im just going to wipe this post from my memory. *wipe*

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Originally posted by Rach
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There is no reason that some of you cant house your gliders outside in Aviaries like they do here. I do understand that is not feasable for some.
If you want to see some examples of cage sizes that are used in Australia look in my album and you will see my back yard with my aviaries.

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In the US no one can have aviaries outside it gets to cold at night even in the warmest places and snows everywhere in the winter in the US its never the same temp anywhere in the US. When Sippycup stated that she/he made everyone feel like they were bad suggie owners thats why everyone that posted was snapping back, In my opinion if you live in Australia you shouldn't be able to tell us what we need to do b/c you don't know what we can and cannot do. There are different bugs, plants and predators that could harm our suggies. Australia is a totally different environment than the US so in that case it wuld be safer to keep our beloved pets inside our hoes were they can be taken care of, like in previous posts most of us have glider rooms that our gliders can rome free at night in and always be safe where they can interact with us. Those of us that don't have the space for a glider room have plenty of time to spend with them out and about our homes closely watched so they do have freedom to glide and get out of a cage. Sippycup called all of us irresponsible suggie parents when they stated what they did with out even knowing anything about any of us.

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Australia you shouldn't be able to tell us what we need to do b/c you don't know what we can and cannot do.

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WHY NOT?

They know what their native animals need!

There are plenty of places here in the US where you can have outdoor aviaries(ever been to the Zoo?). The US isn't the only place with snow,insects,snakes.....

I totally understand what sippycup is saying. Most people (in the US) keep their gliders in a BIRD cage . I cant imagine how many miles a glider would travel on a normal night in the wild.

Can you guess the minimum cage requirement for a lion or tiger in the US(per the USDA)? Any guess? When I worked at the cat rescue center, it was 12x12. That's 12 foot by 12 foot for a 600 lb animal!!!

The US is behind when it comes to taking care of animals, way behind.

At Lucky Glider Rescue & Sanctuary we have over thirty cages between pets and rescues. At any given time, depending on the level of adoptions, there are between 75 and 95 gliders here. Three of the cages are giant "monkey-proof" cages 6ft tall that can fit three people. Two of these are occupied by larger pet colonies and one is a "hotel" for the rescues. Three or four cages are "Frankencages" that we created by chopping-up and re-assembling smaller ones. There are also a few home-made stainless steel ones that have been donated that people can literally fit into.

We have observed; however, that during the day anyway, cage size does not matter much. They are just louging or sleeping all huddled in their teeny weeny nesting box or pouch. However; at night when they come out to eat, they are scampering all over the cages and beg to get the heck OUT! At that point, I would argue that give or take a few feet, most cages are too small anyway and we are all fooling ourselves by arguing over the size.

Regardless of cage size, what seems to keep them happy is the following:

1. Variety. Gliders seem to like a change in venue every once and a while. Because most of the animals we care for are in smaller cages, we rotate them in and out of the giant cages at least once a week so everyone gets a chance to spread out and run and jump a little.

Clearly, not everyone can afford a giant monkey cage, and clealy, not everyone has the ROOM to install one. So if you do not have a giant cage, you can let them have the run of a glider-proof bathroom all night long like once or twice a week. Even swithing them between different shaped cages back and forth is a good idea. (You should consider a spare cage anyway in case you need to separate your gliders for health or aggression reasons).

2. Out-Of-Cage interaction. Even if you have a small cage, getting them out of the cage to spend an hour or two with you every day works wonders for their attitude. In fact if you carry them around a lot and play with them plenty outside of the cage, you should not worry too much about the size of the cage.

Clearly, these animals hate being locked-up. But we have observed that it's the out-of-cage interaction that really counts more than cage size. In other words, we believe it's more humane to spend time with them out of the (small) cage and truly treat them like one of the family than it is to ignore them even if they have a big cage.