A new glider parent sent us some great questions today. These questions are almost a mirror image of the same questions we were asking ourselves years ago as we were newcomers to the glider world. You all will probably recognize some of the questions as being pretty popular.

I have re-packaged the questions to make them anonymous and provided the answers we shared today in an email to the new glider parent: Here is a transcript of the questions and answers...

[New Glider Dad]: Hi, never knew owning a glider could be that complicated. :) Bought a single glider at a mall (yes, I was one of those) [in 2009]. Mostly has been a good experience, but just wanted to know if you could help me answer the following questions:

[Ed's comment]: Yes it is quite common for people to pick up sugar gliders at malls, flea markets and trade shows. Unfortunately, since it is an impulse buy, many of us go home scratching our heads at what we have just done. We start asking ourselves questions like: "Oh my goodness what have I done?" and "What do I feed this critter" and "He looks lonely maybe I should have gotten a second one." Unfortunately most of us do not have the presence of mind to ask ourselves these questions in the heat of the moment and that's why selling exotic sugar gliders in impulse buy venues is nothing short of a crime. For what it's worth, Gail and I got our first gliders in a similar venue. We were lied to about all the things you'd expect to be lied to about. Like the fact you can't housebreak gliders. And like the fact that if you annoy them or frighten them, they can bite real hard. And like the fact that they really can't survive, let alone thrive on pellets.

[New Glider Dad]: Looking to purchase a second glider, to keep the first company. Is there a possibility of incompatibility? meaning what is the chance I will need to keep them separate (as that would defeat the purpose)? The first glider is a boy, what is the best sex for the second one?

[Ed's comment]: We wholeheartedly encourage you to get a cage mate for your single glider. Lone gliders often self-mutilate and over-groom themselves out of the stress associated with being alone. They also bond MUCH BETTER when they have a cage mate. To answer your question, yes in fact there is always a chance of incompatibility. The chance they won't get along if they are both below 4.5 to 5 months is low. When they are young, they have not yet established a sense of territory, nor do they have any fellow gliders to protect, so they are much more "open-minded" about getting to know another glider. If the second glider is older, it is a good idea to wait until the little one has some meat on his bones before introductions. If you can introduce them both after a health check and quarantine to assure they do not pass disease back and forth to each other, that would be good. A certain mill breeder who frequents trade shows and malls is well known for selling gliders with Giardia so it is not a stretch of the imagination to think they might be diseased.

Here at LGRS we actually do introductions for people looking to hook up gliders so they can come in and let us do the intro tries with many gliders. That's much better than buying a glider and it not working out. So consider browsing Craigs list and the classifieds at Sugarglider.com to see who has gliders available in your area. Offer to pay the price of a health check or split the cost before you put them together. That way, if it does not work out at least the person trying to get rid of the glider they have will be able to say it is health checked.

So long as you neuter the males (please do), you can mix the sexes any way you want. At LGRS we have all females together, all males together and mixtures in a variety of configurations. All work fine so long as the males are neutered. The best time for neutering is about 4 to 4 and half months. Earlier than that is not preferred by the best vets. Later than that you run the risk of procreation.

[New Glider Dad]: After reading the boards, I am confused as to how to find a reliable seller - unfortunately, you are on the west coast, and I am [on the east]. Are there similar organizations closer to me that offer adoptions? Or can you recommend a reputable seller?

[Ed's comment]: We know of a active rescuer in NC but not north of there. There is a well-known and reputable rescue in Dallas, TX too. I would recommend checking out best friends animal society, local SPCA chapters and sugarglider.com. We do not advocate the sale of these animals for profit. We also do not advocate breeding them considering how many sugar gliders are languishing in rescue. I am sure that if you put a listing in craigs list and on the glider boards and on twitter, etc. it will be pretty easy to find unwanted gliders. Of course working with a rescue is a great idea because there are so many to choose from. All you need to do in your listing or ad is say "Need Sugar Glider Cage Mate for My Single Male." You will probably get some hits even though you might have to drive to meet someone half way.

The other way to do this is via suggie railroad. There are often volunteers who will drive gliders. Some of these folks are long-haul truckers. The problem is you would have to make a commitment - sight unseen - and roll the dice as to whether or not the gliders would get along.

[New Glider Dad]: Was reading about HLP. Currently, we have our glider on pellets (doesn't seem like a good idea anymore), variety of fruits, and vitamins. Will the vitamins suffice for calcium? or does the diet need to be more closely monitored?

[Ed's comment]: Yeah metabolic bone disease is a killer. We call the "Apples and Pellets" diet foisted on buyers by these mill breeders and impulse buy sellers the "Sugar Glider Death Diet."

We have had many HLP rescues that took months to nurse back to health because of the LIARS out there that want you to think that pellets and vitamins and fruit are a good enough diet. Protein is way too scarce in pellets which usually muster only about 18% crude protein. They need more like 50%.

To answer your question about Calcium, a well-balanced diet that includes good calcium sources is the way to go. We add Calcium/D-fortified orange juice to our suggie soup recipe. You can also use RepCal with D3 to bump up the calcium. You can also powder egg shells and mix that in with their food.

Here is a link to the LGRS suggie soup diet. We feed about 100 gliders a day here on this diet. We've done a lot of research over the years and have found this formula to be well-balanced:

http://files.meetup.com/768852/LGRS_SuggieSoup.pdf

[New Glider Dad]: Measured the cage, it is 18x18x24 - is this an adequate size for 2 gliders? I think this is more subjective.

[Ed's comment]: Well, it's subjective if you let them out of the cage to play all night in a bathroom or other glider-safe room. If they do not have out-of-cage freedom for hours at a time, it is just not fair to keep them in a small cage. The dimensions you quote here are… small. OK if you let them run around a lot. Not OK if they are in the cage 24/7 with only 45 minutes to an hour out of the cage. So a small cage is OK if all they do is sleep in it. Don't expect them to love life and be playful if they are cooped up in a small cage during their waking hours. We use a master bedroom that we have converted into a glider play room for our pets. In addition to the rescues, we have three colonies of pets. They take turns each night using the play room. We open the cage at 4 PM and gather them up and close the cage at 7 AM. They love it. But they take turns between the cages. For the rescues, we rotate them into a large monkey cage that two or three people can fit in. They take turns so it's not every night. Clearly the pets get preferential treatment. Hope this helps.

I'm talking to someone who wants to be a new glider parent, I just sent her the link to his post. I'm sure this will help her a lot! Thanks for the information.

sure thing. I thought the list of questions the newbie asked were a good list so we decided to post them here for the very reason you have suggested. I am sure there are other people here who can add to this. Maybe we need an FAQ?

I agree that this is a good list of questions to be asked. I'm sure that all of the new parents will appreciate you posting this. =)
I agree with the FAQ or a "commonly asked questions type post".
I have seen a lot of Ca:Ph posts lately, as well as what types of foods can sugar gliders eat as treats or within their main diet.

As a newbie myself, I think this is a great post and I think the FAQ is a brilliant idea!

For the person who asked the questions...Granite State Gliders in New Hampshire if you are in New England. They sold me my second glider and I had a good experience with them.

There is a FAQ in the Gliderpedia. I think I'll add a link to this page on it...

Here's the link to the Gliderpedia article (also written by Ed). I added the link at the bottom:

http://www.sugarglider.com/gliderpedia/index.asp?MostCommonQuestionsAskedByNewSuggieOwners

Kylah I forgot all about that gpedia article! Thanks for linking it here. I will link to it from our blog too to maximize exposure. The blog also posts to twitter. Maybe we can keep adding to it over time...

Kylah - thanks for adding the link to Ed's post. I think the gliderpedia article is a very good one and probably doesnt get as much attention as it should because it's not titled FAQ.

I agree! I'll see if it lets me edit that as well, or at least add to the title.

*I couldn't edit the title so I just made a new page titled "FAQ" and linked to this thread and Ed's original article. Maybe that will help!