Ok, one week ago, we purchased 2 sugar gliders from Pocket Pets and read all their literature and watched all their videos. They warned us of reading forums, of which I did today here on this website and now we are so confused. After reading some of the posts on this forum, we are questioning if we have the correct cage, proper foods, wheel, etc. You never know when you are receiving accurate information. I am asking for those of you that have purchased from Pocket Pets, what are the good experiences people have encountered, how do you know if the cage is safe or not and how can you get accurate information regarding their diets when one website contradicts another. After looking at this forum today, we did a quick look up at the BBB for Pocket Pets and they have an A+ rating. Does anyone have positive feedback about Pocket Pets?

Appa and MoMo are PP buys. They're healthy happy and sweet. And not on any diet or treatment from PP. There is truth mixed in with their information, but only enough to make it sound accurate.

In fact. Gliders bite. They can nibble, or they can bite hard.
They're messy eaters. They make awful annoying sounds some nights. They are not cheap to feed, and they need vet visits, which can be costly.

Also, they are very loving, very playful, very tame pets, after the bonging process is complete. It could take months and you may never get them to go into a pocket.

The noises they make are comforting to me now, means they're playing and moving. They have an odor. It's not bad, and you can keep it minimal by cleaning.

Read the food stuff here. Fruits and veggies have all the nutrition they need, if fed along with a proper diet. They don't need heat lamps.

What PP tells you is a sales pitch. I never trust anybody that pushes their own agenda as much as PP does.
Lots of folks here are veterans of many glider issues, and happy to help, if you'll not argue.

Mine are ok, because I researched them before I bought, and I actually rescued them (sorta) from someone who was on the PP way of doing it. They're much healthier looking and friendlier now.

I have 2 girls, one from PP and one from a breeder. I got Daisy from PP about 7 weeks ago. I too believed all the stuff they tell everyone. I wont lie, I bought her not knowing anything about gliders and because the ones they show off at the mall were so tame and sweet. I brought her home and started diving into research. You will see that most of the stuff they tell you is not true. Stick around here and you will learn everything you need to know.
Their cages have been known to be toxic in the past. Not sure if they are now or not, but I was not willing to take that chance. Also the cage they sell you is way too small for gliders to be in. Another thing, they tell you not to give them any toys until they are bonded with you. You can buy them toys and give them things to play with at night when they are sleeping.
As for diets, I threw out everything they sold me. I am now feeding my girls LGRS. If you look under the Gliderpedia section there are different diet choices for you.

Daisy is doing great now. She is bonded to me and I have heard her crab in a couple days. Just be patient, go at their pace. Bribe them with treats to get them to trust you. Peach and blueberry yogurt are my girls favorites.

Good luck and welcome!

I have 3 PP babies. The best advise I can offer is to read about how they are in the wild...then use common sense.

When you find out they are "sap suckers"...they mush their food up, suck the juices out then discard the remnants...referred to as "spittings." They are little cresent shaped pieces of food. When I learned this then added in my own common sense, I asked, how can a glider get any liquid from a dry, hard pellet? Answer: They can't! I fed the 2 yr. supply I was conned into buying to the wild birds. If they sold you "Glider Gravy" you can feed that WITHOUT the pellets until you decide on a diet. Glider Gravy is actually HPW COMPLETE which is a diet some people use. It has a 2:1 Ca:P Ratio which is the high end of ideal. That with some fresh fruits and veggies will be just fine until you decide on a diet and get more familiar. You may even decide to stay on it, at which time you can purchase HPW COMPLETE from various internet sources.

You will also learn, even on their own website, which they don't offer to tell you while you are standing there...is the cage they sold you is a "starter cage," you will need to purchase a larger one before long. Personally, I would get rid of the center shelf and let them have the whole thing to run in.... GET RID OF THE HEAT ROCK! They don't need it and it can pose a danger.

Most of the stuff they feed you is BULL....don't let your gliders interact with your other animals if you have them. There have been numorous threads on here about gliders being killed or very badly injured from other household pets.

In their Family Circle section of their website they do have a very good video on learning how to keep your glider from jumping off of you....THAT is actually good information & I have used it with all of my gliders and I have no issues of even my youngest, unbonded joeys jumping off of me using the technique.

Other than that I wouldn't really follow much of what they attempt to teach.

I've had countless PP gliders come through my house as rescues. Countless.

Most of them are stained from the VERY poor diet they recommend, but they are healthy enough. All of them have been tame-able, scared, but willing to trust.

Pocket Pets DID have a round of cages which were causing neurological-like symptoms and deaths in gliders. They were VERY pro-active about fixing that problem, and if you have the cage from them, and it is new, it is likely that it is safe for your gliders. I have older PP cages that came in with various rescues. I use them ALL the time for travel cages or quarantine cages.

Thanks for the comments so far. What type of cage should we be looking for? PP mentioned there are types out there to stay away from because of what they are made of. How do you know you are buying a safe cage? Also, if we need to get rid of the heat rock and lamp, what temperature do they need to stay at or do they? We want to learn as much as possible to keep them healthy and happy and at the same time we want to make sure we are doing the right thing. We don't want anything to happen to them as they are a pricey investment and such neat little animals. I hope we are able to break them of the biting as they bite alot. We take turns carrying them around in their pouch and talking to them while they are in their cage. They do sniff your hand when placing apples in their cage, that's a start. Thanks again as we are very excited to have our new sugar gliders.

Temperature: If you are comfortable, they are comfortable. Do you have fleece sleeping pouches for them? That's really all they need.

Diet - should be MUCH more than pellets and apples! I feed, and recommend, the Original HPW diet - with mixed vegetables and fruit. And plenty of insects each night!

We have the one that PP sold us and I just ordered a second one.

The pouch PP sold you is a bonding pouch, not a sleeping pouch. I personally wouldn't leave it in the cage.

As far as cages, I prefer Powder Coated cages. They look good and are fairly easy to clean. Taller the better.

Where would you purchase something like in the picture and how many do you have in each cage? Thanks!

You can look on Ebay under bird cages. Of course there are various shopshttp://www.sugar-gliders.com/glider-cages-list.htm that sell them as well. I got mine at Suncoast sugar gliders

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Originally posted by afwife4

Where would you purchase something like in the picture and how many do you have in each cage? Thanks!

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I just checked where I got my last cages....believe me, they are awesome and have been sold out for months... THEY ARE BACK IN STOCK!!!!! If you can swing it I would snatch one or two up NOW! When people see they are back, they will get snatched up.

The first 2 cages in the pic I got off of EBAY... I paid as much for one of them as I did for 2 of the ones I've linked for you. (last one in the photo~I still have one boxed)

If you spend over $150 they offer free s&h... I bought 2, used coupon code "FOR10" for an additional 10% off then with free s&h I paid a TOTAL of $233.00 ~~~~ I paid $260 something for just one of my others....

And I have 7 in these cages...they are all linked with tunnels.

http://www.thelashop.com/30x18x69-in-cockatiel-parrot-bird-cage-stand-black.html

I also purchased my cage from Suncoast Sugar Gliders. This is the link to where they have cages on their site: www.sugar-gliders.com/glider-cages-list.htm

I have the Sturdy Sugar Glider Cage, and I have two female gliders in it. It's enough room for them to play in and have a good time (they also spend a lot of time outside the cage both cuddling with me and playing in a glider-proofed bedroom or bathroom). I really have my eye on the Large Sturdy Sugar Glider Cage. And I don't think I'd want to house more than two gliders in the cage I currently have.

I have two females I got from PP last year. After a couple of months of researching online I made a lot of changes.
They are now on the LGRS diet. Their coats have gotten fuller and the yellow fur is now creamy white. There are several wonderful diets listed on this site to choose from.
They are a bit spoiled with two cages that are connected by a plastic tube. I have the "sturdy cage" from Suncoast Gliders and also the large cage from thelashop. I am very pleased with both. (the lashop one has multiple mini doors so make sure you zip tie them shut or your suggies could pull a Houdini on you
I diiscarded the heat rock and t-shirt on the bottom of the cage. I keep the room between 70-80 year round and have at least two hanging pouches in their cages at all time. (sometimes they like the option of sleeping separately)
I also discarded the exercise wheel I bought from them and replaced it with a Stealth and a Fast Track. There are several great wheels available that are talked about on this site. The main thing you want to avoid is anything with a axel bar. Tails can get caught and injured.
Wow.....I could go on and on but I will leave you with one more word of advice. Get a vet checkup. Having the piece of mind that your suggies are healthy is a good feeling to have.
Oh yeah......and you can never have enough toys. They don't have to be expensive, Barrel of Monkeys, Wiffle Balls stuffed with feathers. There are several members on here that make and sell great toys and pouches.
This site literally saved my suggies. So grab a pot of coffee and start reading".............the information you will find here is priceless

All this information is very encouraging. We will be looking into the cages and the diets. Thank you for all the input. I'm always eager to learn as much as possible.

Welcome & congratulations on your new additions, we hope to see you on here, and if you can post photos, we love photos.

My 2 girls were not from PP, but I did have them on the PP diet when I first got them because a friend of mine has 2 from PP and swore by them. I was also very confused about who to believe, but when she said hers were doing so well, I figured I'd get 2, mine were re-homes from CL, both about 1 yr old and were gotten from a MD breeder by original owners.

I started to look for more info on the little creatures, and since I had been confused by the mix info on-line, I was a little hesitant in the beginning to go on forums. But I did, and I'm glad I did. I was reading about diets and in doing so I caught on to a term "crackling fur", I didn't know what this meant, so delved deeper and found photos of soft, fluffy furred gliders and notices that my girls had crackling fur. I had to ask myself, was I providing the proper nutrition to my gliders, and farther researched.

What I can tell you from my personal experience.

Glider's don't like to play during the day, if they do wake up it is to only eat, potty, & maybe drink some water. This makes me feel sorry for PP gliders at the demonstrations in malls.

Adult gliders do not need additional heat source, it can contribute to drying out skin & coat. (If your temperature conditions where you live drop below the gliders lowest temp, below 70, you can use a red bulb in a lamp on a thermostat, to only come on when temp drops below 70 and will turn off once reaching 70 again, although there is still some debate). No heat rocks, they're bad even for lizards imo.

The diets are not necessarily that complicated or expensive, some varying degrees based on which diet, where you live (costs of ingredients & shipping where applicable), and how much you want to spend in treats. They may cost more that annual cost of PP pellets & apples, but reasonable still.

Recognized diets in the Gliderpedia will give you great options to choose from, check out the ingredients to determine you can have easy enough access to them. Also check out the mixing, prep, & serving instructions on them. It's important after you select a recognized diet (one used for years with results in healthy gliders) that you choose one you can stick to.
It's not that hard really, and varies in costs, but I feel most will be reasonable in cost. Try doing a search on this forum for "how much do you spend on your glider's diets" or "on feeding your glider" questions. My girls loved their PP pellets, so I use them as foraging treats, I hide them in their toys & hides, usually early morning, sometimes late evening after they've eaten most of their main diet.

I have the minimum size cage 32"w x 21"d x 36"h, bigger is better, my cage came with the girls and they seem happy in it, but if I had more space, I'd get at least a little taller one. The PP starter cage, imo, would make a fair travel cage or for hospital, temp, quarantine situations, I'd keep it.

The wheel you got is not safe, although some have had gliders on there with no mishaps, dangers are present, why chance it? I recommend getting one s/a Fast Track, Raptor, Custom Cruiser, Stealth, or Rapid Runner, check them all out. You do not need to throw out your wheel, when disabled & laying flat on cage floor, they make great play boxes.
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Bonding, takes time, patience, consistency, & treats are key. Glider's personalities vary, some will respond quicker than others, some may bond more deeper as well. It can be a roller coaster ride with ups & downs, you may make progress, then have setbacks. Just know if you have setbacks, you can just go back a few steps in the bonding technique or try some variations.

Please stick around, keep researching, look up photos, ask all questions you have, you will find this a knowledgeable community that is also fun and learn many things glider that will be helpful to you & your gliders.


Wish you the best of luck.

afwife4,

I am so glad you found us here. Everyone seems to be telling you exactly what you need so far. Just like any other subject, The internet is filled with tons and tons incorrect information. We have some of the most expertly experienced people here. Many of us here work in glider rescues or proper glider breeding. Some of our members and some of the input here comes from people who have been working with gliders since they were first domesticated in the US. No other site has a database or compiled knowledge base that can top the one here.

Cages are pretty easy to figure out. Sturdy cages, with bar spacings of 1/2" or less and with a volume of 8cu ft. The metal should be steel, non-galvanized and powder coated or PVC coated. This is the cage for a single glider. for each glider you add, you should consider a cage that is 25% to 50% larger. I find my Brisbane Cage is a wonderful cage for 2 to 3 gliders.

Diets are a different subject. Any diet that uses pellets as a main part is a poor choice compared to the more natural options. HPW is a very good diet, however it's important to note that you need to balance the calcium to phosphourous ratios in the foods you feed. This is a very serious aspect of this diet. BML is much more complicated diet to make, however, the mixture has a calcium booster built in that makes chooseing the foods easier. Either of these are very healthy for your gliders. There are several other diets out there, I personally do not liek many of them, but this is something you have to decide for yourself. Just remember pellets should be used only as an emergecny food (power loss and no food, ran out of food and they need to eat now) or as a dry daytime snack food.

Wheels are another things. An amazingly large amount of breeders suggest and sale the Wodent wheel. This is NOT a glider safe wheel. The ASPCA did a study on wheels some time back and the Wodent wheel was rated the best exercise wheel for rodents. Gliders are not rodents but somehow they got lumped in that catagorey and people went, "Oh this is the best wheel for gliders"! Any "open-front" mesh wheel is a fair option, but the Stealth, Fast Trax and Custom Choice Cruiser re the top 3 I would reccommend. I am a big lover of the Custom Choice Cruiser. My gliders like these better than any other wheels I have gotten them.

I hope all of this helps. If there is anything I, or any of us here, can do to help, please take the time and ask.