Hello! My name is Alyson, and this is my very first post on here I created this account because of this one specific question, so please if anyone knows anything please respond!

I have a male sugar glider named Peter, and he's just over 4 months old. This little guy is gorgeous. He's a white platinum colored mosaic, and has recently shown a dark spot on his back so I'm hoping he has pied genes in him! ANYWAY, I know the average breeding age for male suggies is anywhere between 4 and 12 months old. I have noticed about last week that his sac has dropped. When relaxed, as normal, it hangs very far from the body. When active during the evening it hangs about a centimeter from his belly. Concerned that his testes dropped but no bald spot came, I was nervous about sterility. I have done my research for mosaic sugar gliders and their sterility that if a male is sterile, they will still produce a bald spot as well as the gland on their chest. However, the testes will not descend into their sac and it will remain empty (all of this was learned from the internet, so please correct me if I am wrong.) I felt around his sac to make sure his testes were in there, and sure enough they were! Now my question is, when will his bald spot come? If his testes have dropped, then technically is he sexually mature? Does the bald spot come in considerably later than the testes dropping? Or has anybody noticed this in their male? He is in a cage with a sexually mature 11 month old female. Any input would be great! Thanks!

If he is just over 4 month he is probably just beginning to mature. Maturity happens later with some than with others. It could still be a month or two before you see his bald spot and chest gland become very noticeable and it may be a little longer than that before he becomes interested in mating with his companion. He is still very young.

I know which is why I'm not concerned about it, but what about the dropped testes? When the testes are dropped the male is usually sexually mature, in most mammals. The bald spot is used to attract females, but could he be mature by having his testes dropped, but not have the bald spot to attract females yet? Do you think it is possible for him to reproduce now even without the bald spot?
I know we are very different, but for humans, a male is sexually mature when the testes drop, even if no hair is grown in the pubic area, or the voice hasn't dropped yet. Could this be a similar situation?

Also, something completely off topic. His ears are spotted. I've yet to see another with ears like his except for his twin sister. His father had one full black and one full white ear. Is the spotted ears a pied characteristic?

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a male is sexually mature when the testes drop

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There is much more to being sexually mature than the presences of the testes in the scrotum. The testes can be present in the scrotum even in infancy and they usually drop long before a male begins to sexually mature.

A glider's testicles are actually dropped when they come OOP, they will just become more pronounced as he ages. A bald spot is no indication of sexual maturity or vitality. Some develop them sooner than others, some barely develop one at all, and it has no bearing on their ability to reproduce. Are you concerned about sterility, and does he come from a sterile line? If he comes from clean lines and has no incidence of sterility in his genetic history, then there really shouldn't be much cause for concern.

Like I said before, he is young and that's precisely why I am not concerned about any of this. This is just merely a curiosity question. He is not from sterile lines, but I wanted to make sure- ergo the research. When I was doing my research, it said that before being mature, the testes will stick very close to the body as with any joey. And when maturity comes, they will hang about a centimeter out from the belly and when relaxed hang as far out as about three centimeters as most of my mature males do who already have their bald spot- I'm sure all of you being experienced owners have seen their males scrotum hang very far when their sleeping during the day. I was told this was a sign of maturity. However, not ever having a male joey oop, only females (very weird I know, just a girl thing I guess ) so far, I do not know if this is a characteristic of all males from oop or just mature ones?

I guess I'm just a bit confused by your use of the word "maturity." Is he ABLE to breed her at 4 months? Yes. Will he? That just depends. We say that they are mature, as in able to reproduce, at around 4 months, but in reality, MOST gliders do not start mating until they are a little bit older. If he is already with an older female, there is no need to worry about having a pregnancy occur too early, so just let nature take it's course. When she comes into heat and he is receptive to her, it will happen.

As a side note, the preferred term for a light colored (as in "powdered-out") mosaic like this is "Silver mosaic." This helps eliminate the confusion between these mosaics who are variations of standard gray coloring, and a mosaic who is actually a platinum variety and thus called a "Platinum mosaic."

Yes, that answered my question of "is it a possibility" that he could breed at this age. Thank you! I know he probably won't because of his age, but I was just curious. Also, I know that would cause some controversy on the whole "platinum mosaic". I tried to stay away from "platinum mosaic" and say "white platinum colored mosaic" which is still fine, but confuses most people. That's why in my other post about the spotted ears I said he was a dusted mosaic. Sorry for the confusion! I should have said dusted mosaic in this first one.

I know this is off topic, but your glider is stunningly beautiful.

Why thank you very much! I hope his joeys will be just as pretty as he is...