I did a quick search on the forums about shampoos and what not for gliders, and I didnt find anything recent.

Does anyone have any tips on washing/bathing sugar gliders? Which shampoos are safe? Any kind of information that can help eliminate the odors of gliders without having to neuter them?

Gliders should NOT be bathed unless medically necessary- they take care of themselves. Gliders like most marsupials are naturally musky. Diet, cage size, and neutering can all keep the smell down but never eliminate it fully.

I've also heard of this too, but just because they can take care of it naturally doesnt mean they shouldnt be bathed. I mean dogs and cats can take care of themselves naturally, but we still bathe them.

I've looked online, and I saw one brand of shampoo/condition from sugarglidersrus. I'm not sure if its any good.

Is there actually anything wrong with giving them a bath? Just because they can take care of themselves doesnt sound like a good reason to not bathe them.

Since they are so small it would be so easy for them to get sick. I also can't imagine the damage it could do to bonding if you soaked them. The musk won't go away unless he's neutered because his scent glands. I also think
It's a possibility if you were bathing them then the smell could potentially get worse because they may mark more. I know some have used unscented baby wipes if they had a glider that was incapable of cleaning themselves though.

Both my boys are neutered so I don't know what you mean by smell lol. How bad is it?

It's mostly my gf that is complaining about the smell. I was thinking of using a dry shampoo rather than soak, or wipes possibly too. My biggest concern though is the health of the gliders.

To wash a glider. Open cage. Close cage. Leave be.

Optional force wash- take finger, put a tiny bead of honey on finger, dab honey on glider, wait 10 minutes.


Washing gliders is a no no. I'm sorry if you have been told otherwise, but they are self cleaning and do not stink unless they're ill, their cage is unclean, or if they have a very unusual diet. So please save a suggie some stress- do not try to wash it.

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Ng51386</i>
<br />I've also heard of this too, but just because they can take care of it naturally doesnt mean they shouldnt be bathed. I mean dogs and cats can take care of themselves naturally, but we still bathe them.

I've looked online, and I saw one brand of shampoo/condition from sugarglidersrus. I'm not sure if its any good.

Is there actually anything wrong with giving them a bath? Just because they can take care of themselves doesnt sound like a good reason to not bathe them.
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Sugargliderrus is another mill company that wants to show you that gliders are easy and that they have all the answers. So since gliders groom themselves no it is not a good product.

Gliders sleep around 12-16 hours per day the rest of the 8 hours is not split up evenly. One of the things they do mostly in that 8 hours is groom, and they groom a lot.

They are serious repercussions for bathing a glider.

They are prone to respiratory infection from the introduction of moisture.

They have a hibernation like state known as torpor that they go into when they are too cold [since making them wet is unnatural it is unlikely their body will know when it is appropriate to wake up again and therefore they might never wake up or starve and many glider owners have mistaken torpor for death.]

Lastly they are instinctively afraid of water, unlike cats or dogs their instincts actually tell them they could die from this stuff because their gliding membrane does not allow them to swim. So whoever is forcing this potentially life threatening liquid on the glider will more than likely traumatize the glider and destroy and bonding established and any possibilities to bond with that individual further.

I have a glider who is 4. She has never had a bath. I can stick my nose right on her fur and take a big wiff and think "boy, you sure smell pretty". Your glider shouldn't smell and if they do they are probably from reasons that you can control. Like neutering, cage cleaning, cage size, diet, excess protein, clean pouches, health issues, etc.

Using a dry shampoo is very dangerous as this will cause respiratory issues and can even make them suffocate. Gliders are forest animals unlike chinchillas who come from deserts where their lungs are built for the inhalation of tiny particles.

http://www.sugar-gliders.com/glider-shampoo.htm

I have not tried it, nor know anything about it. So maybe another member can share some experience with it if they have used it. I agree with not bathing them, but this is listed on my breeders site and I feel like they wouldn't sell something that is harmful to gliders. Sorry if I'm not much help!!

Great thread, *bumping* for any other new members/owners.

No washy!

Gliders are naturally musky as angelmom said. All my boys are neutered, but when you clean their cage...they go around marking it which gives the room that musky smell. Also, my female has a different type of musky smell. It is very faint, but they still have a musk to them even if the boys are neutered. I always think of the Gremlins movie...they don't like bright light, and never get them wet. Yes it is true that dogs and cats groom themselves to a certain extent...but with gliders, they groom themselves and when you have a cagemate for your glider, they also groom each other as well. So, no bathing, no washing, no immersing them in water, no using shampoos, or even using dry shampoo.

Gliders, like cats are terrified of water.

I've also heard that even the tiniest bit of water in the nose, #1 is a risk of drowning, #2 can cause respitory problems.

I know some places sell glider deoderizers that you spray or sprinkle on but I don't use them because IMO it's an unnessasary "something" for them to ingest when they groom themselves.

If they are smelling bad enough that it's a problem I would really start at step one and look at diet, then the cage,(items in the cage).

Inproper diet, incl. too many insects can cause odor.
Non-Neutered males are more musky.
Cleanliness of cage.

I have 4 in one cage, 2 of those are neutered males & my cage never smells and my babies don't smell. I clean the drop pan (lined with papertowels) at least every other day and wash all fleece in the cage weekly and wipe the cage bars as needed. If you locate the area in the cage where they really hang out you can concentrate your wiping to that area. The rest of mine doesn't get too bad.

The only bugs they get are mealies and the only junk food they get are their treats of Hersheys white morsels, then their regular food of Original HPW.

The most important point is being left out as well. If you wash them to "remove" their scent/odor, they will mark overtime and smell MORE.

My cat is almost 17. She's never had ONE bath in her entire life. Not one. Not necessary. My dog had a bath when he came to me stained and disgusting. Other than that, I've never bathed my dogs either. Granted, we tend to stick to labs and lab mixes. I know people that have their small dogs groomed constantly.

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by kyro298</i>
<br />The most important point is being left out as well. If you wash them to "remove" their scent/odor, they will mark overtime and smell MORE.
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I guess this is what I was trying to say about even cleaning their cages, but I got off on another track. lol

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by kyro298</i>
<br />The most important point is being left out as well. If you wash them to "remove" their scent/odor, they will mark overtime and smell MORE.

My cat is almost 17. She's never had ONE bath in her entire life. Not one. Not necessary. My dog had a bath when he came to me stained and disgusting. Other than that, I've never bathed my dogs either. Granted, we tend to stick to labs and lab mixes. I know people that have their small dogs groomed constantly.
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Yeah, I've had cats my entire life - and the only time I've ever had to bathe them was when they got something sticky in their fur. It was so long ago, I don't remember what it was - but something (I think it was syrup) got on one of my cats' tails. We shaved most of it off with clippers, then wrapped him up in a towel and got the rest off with a moist washcloth. That was the extent of it.

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by kyro298</i>
<br />The most important point is being left out as well. If you wash them to "remove" their scent/odor, they will mark overtime and smell MORE.

My cat is almost 17. She's never had ONE bath in her entire life. Not one. Not necessary. My dog had a bath when he came to me stained and disgusting. Other than that, I've never bathed my dogs either. Granted, we tend to stick to labs and lab mixes. I know people that have their small dogs groomed constantly.
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VERY TRUE! Thank you Kylah cuz yes, we all left that little but very important tidbit out.

I have never bathed a cat but my dogs do get bathed occassionally when they get into things they shouldn't and come in smelling nasty...but in all honesty I don't think dogs are as conscientious groomers as cats/gliders are.

I cant remember who posted the link of the youtube videos of the glider being soaked down, but I believe if anyone were to watch that and see the stress and fear in that glider then they WOULD NOT bathe their own glider.. If I could find it I would post it. It was very sad and very overwhelming for that poor baby...

Washing a glider when it is medically unnecessary is cruel in my opinion and risks their lives for no good reason.

Yes, gliders are naturally musky and some people do not like the scent. Wash cages at least once a week. Change out sleeping pouches often.


If your GF is sensitive to the scent maybe get an air purifier. Find one that says it removes smells from the air. Do not put it close to the cage though, but close to where ever your girlfriend is most often!

My boy is currently alone (waiting for him to recover before finding him a friend) so he has issues with cleaning himself. He tends to get fruit juice or the BML stuck on his head, so it dries and seems to give him a little spiked hair-doo . To fix this, I just take a damp paper towel and rub it a little on the spot until the sticky stuff comes out, then I dry him off.

Saying that they'll go into torpor and potentially get respiratory problems does make sense and is a valid reason for not bathing them. I dont understand why no one else could had said that instead of saying that they can clean themselves.

I doubt its their diet, I'm currently using fruits/veges and HPW complete.

I clean their poop tray about once a week and their cage is the A&E Corner cage. I doubt it's either the cage being dirty or the cage being too small for two gliders.

I'll try wiping down the cage more often and probably try taking out their poop 5 days at a time or something and just go from there.

With my Butters he has a lot of trouble grooming himself. The safest thing I could think of to bathe him with was unscented baby wipes. It helped a lot. But Butters is special and has no bottom lip (or much of a tongue) and he would drool in his sleep and it would get all over his tummy. If he had a rough night with eating or he had a little bit harder of a food like apple he would bleed a little on his bottom lip so he would have dirtier drool, so it would make bathing a must. I don't think you should bathe a glider for any non-medical reason.

I am not sure why one would not clean the actual cage and then think the glider needs a bath. The cage needs the bath!

We wash ours weekly, it barely fits in the shower. In our old house we would wash outside even in winter with a power washer. Many glider owners I know power washes cages and they tend to keep cages in area they can move them to clean them more easily.

I would not get a corner cage without being able to bring it outside and wash it down weekly.

I didn't read all of the replies, but dogs and cats are much different than gliders. Cats don't really need baths either, they groom like gliders do. Dogs on the other hand, don't really "groom" that much. They do get smelly, but they also go outside, roll in the dirt, eat disgusting things outside and roll in dead animals from time to time. Dogs like to have weird scents on them, it tells other dogs they found something cool and they are proud of it. Gliders don't go outside and don't roll in dead things. They don't need a bath. Ever. Think of how small they are-they could get hypothermic really really easy. That is detrimental to such a small animal. It is very hard to get their body temperature back up to normal once they've dropped due to how small they are. And staying wet will keep the temp from coming back up to normal.

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Ng51386</i>
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I'll try wiping down the cage more often and probably try taking out their poop 5 days at a time or something and just go from there.
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Be careful with cleaning the cage too often. Many wipe their cages down once a week because gliders will over mark. They like things to smell like them. So if right now you are washing pouches or cleaning too often that may be making the smell worse. In fact when I wash my cage sets I leave a piece in there so it still smells a bit like them.

Also recently I saw on here someone leaves one cage wall dirty when doing cleanings so that they dont over mark. I thought that was a great idea.

AS for the poop at the bottom of the cage I take that out every other day and wipe with Lysol disinfectant wipes. Doesn't seem to bother them and make them mark more.

I know you're normally not supposed to use bedding, but I remember reading somewhere that there was a certain bedding that was ok for gliders and helped with the poop/pee smell.

You can use carefresh bedding (I clean my trays every 3-5 days). That's what I use in the winter months. Normally I have tray liners, but I had to move home for health issues and my parents aren't fond of pooed/peed on liners going into their washer.

You can also not put any bedding in the drop pans, and just wipe it out daily.

I clean off the entire cage every couple of days with a vinegar water solution. Then in the summer months I wipe the cage down once a week and do a full cleaning twice a month. By full cleaning I mean I take it outside and do a power wash.

Every other week I clean pouches, every other opposite week I clean toys. So week 1 is pouches, week 2 is toys, week 3 is pouches, week 4 is toys... so on so forth.

This cleaning schedule has worked out pretty well for me. There is virtually no smell to them or their cage.

I think you said you clean the poop tray once a week? That's something I do every single day - it makes a big difference.

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Ng51386</i>
<br />I know you're normally not supposed to use bedding, but I remember reading somewhere that there was a certain bedding that was ok for gliders and helped with the poop/pee smell.
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Yesterday's News (unscented) is another some use. I tried it for a while, but it was a little too messy for my liking.

I think the fact that they clean themselves is just as legit as the fact that they may get sick..these guys are a commitment... You have to commit to doing everything you can to keep them healthy and happy... Just because they smell a bit doesn't mean you should trust what you "read somewhere" .. To research and be skeptical.. Idk all I'm saying is if it seems ridiculous it probably is...ex. Shampooing a 5inch long marsupial

You should NEVER bathe a glider just trying to make it short simple and to the point...

Honestly, my boys came with a small spray bottle of glider wash. I've never used it. I accepted that they are stinky critters and that cage cleaning and maintenance is necessary to cut the smell and after a diet change they smelled better. I actually pull the two adults out of the pouch and give them kissies and snuggles before feeding them and don't think they smell bad.

If it is too cold in the room they may opt to just potty in their pouch instead of getting out in the cold to do so.

I've done the same with mice and other small pets- you just don't unless they get into something they should not have and can be toxic to ingest.

<font color="green">You guys are crazy I wash mine all the time. I even take them in the pool with me.
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<font color="green">Got yea. Nope Dakota was running on the counter and went to stop and slide right into the sink, hence bath. </font id="green">