Hey everyone,

Before I get started, please no hate. I take animal care and ownership responsibilities VERY seriously. I have a ranch full of well loved and well cared for animals that include

A herd of alpaca
A flock of spoiled laying hens
4 dogs
3 angora rabbits
2 cats
2 guinea pigs
2 rats and a flock of finches

And now I have a sugar glider. I have never made an impulsive purchase of this magnitude before but please hear me out and know that I did it for what I truly thought were the right reasons.

I have been looking for a small companion animal that could go places with me and easy my anxiety. 2 of dogs serve as emotional support dogs but sometimes just the joy of having something little to love.

So, Darwin... I was at a home and garden show with my husband when I ran into these people. They had a nice looking set up, several fuzzy heads poking out of pockets, and I stopped to watch. The guy doing the talking just handed me one. I was pretty doomed from that point. He handed me a treat to feed the little guy and he just sat on my hand and nibbled on it before climbing up my arm and settling on my shoulder. I listened to the spiel, and it was quite a spiel, my husband asked me to walk the rest of the show and think about it. I looked up their website before going back, everything looked really legitimate.

But I still feel a little bit like I've been had.

They sold me 1. Told me I didn't need 2 as long as I was willing to put in the time. I am totally willing to put in the time. Once he's bonded to me he'll rarely leave my pouch, neck, shirt, wherever he wants to sleep, unless he wants to.

Yes, I hurried the decision because there are no breeders in my area and shipping any little critter can be hard on them. I had a dog shipped to me to train as a service dog and she was a wreck when she got here. I hurried the decision because they were leaving the next day.

Please understand that I don't regret my purchase. It's only been 2 days. He crabs at me. I knew this would happen. But he's active and eating and drinking and slept very happily in our bonding pouch today settled right on my chest over my heart. The more research I do the more I feel like these people misrepresented these animals and that breaks my heart. I want to do my best by him. I want to learn proper care and feeding. I don't care if it takes months for him to bond with me. He may be a single glider but he will be well loved and cared for and get the chance to bond with my whole family.

So what's my point here? I just want to connect with other owners. I want to know what has worked for you and what hasn't. Any tips for a single glider owner? I can't be the only one on the planet.

I appreciate any help or friendship of other glider parents that I can get.

Sincerely,
Darwin's Mama

So many people here with so much info to give! Diet is very important. They do however do much better with a cagemate. What kind of cage do you have? Do you have toys for him/her to play with? Sleeping pouches, a wheel?

I have the starter cage that I purchased with Darwin It's about 4 feet high by a little more than 2 feet wide. The metal is coated, not galvanized steel. I'm working on toy acquisition, but I was afraid to overstimulate or freak him out too much by putting too much in too soon. I have a vented bonding pouch and today I pulled out the sewing machine and made him sleeping pouches and blankets. I made him a different blanket yesterday that I slept with last night and put that in his cage this morning after I put him in the bonding pouch and rescued the dirty t-shirt I had put in there for him to sleep in. Toy recommendations would be great! I'm fairly crafty and handy so I don't mind making stuff.

Welcome to the forum!

Angora rabbits?! So cool! I wish I had one or two.....lol! And alpacas?! Awesome! I will have to see some pictures

Anyways, yes, it's unfortunate that you purchased your glider from the nasty pocket pets, but hey, it's okay, it's over now and he is safe in your care

Did you also buy the whole setup cage that they always sell with their furbabies? If so, remove the heat rock immediately. It can cause dehydration. Also, do not feed the food they sell either. Gliders in the wild do not eat anything hard other than bugs, so they cannot digest it very well and pellets can cause a numerous amount of health problems down the road. As well as the heat rock remove the "wodent wheel" as the bar in the middle can trap their gliding membrane and tails.

For a gliders diet, us glider owners will make a nectar like substance monthly (or until it runs out), pour each serving size into an icecube tray then pop them out once they have completely frozen, into a bag (in the freezer for easy storing.) Some diets are LGRS Suggie soup, BML, OHPW, GOHPW, Gliderkids (which I am feeding) and Pricilla price. (which I have fed in the past)

Gliders staple diets need to properly balance a 2:1 calcium to phosphorus ratio nightly. Luckily, each one of the diets I listed above (if made properly) will have a 2:1 ratio already so you can offer whichever combination of fruits and veggies nightly without having to do all the math

In the wild, gliders eat 25% fruit 25%veggies and 50% protein daily. Each night, next to a cube of the thawed nectar, you feed 1 tablespoon of fruit and 1 tablespoon of veggies off to the side. Since each one of the diets I listed above (other than suggie soup) already calls for a protein source in the recipe, you don't need to add any more additional protein:)

About a night or two a month I do a "junk food night" and I make a glider omelette. I use one egg, spinach, a pinch of cheese, and chopped mango on top to make it. It gives my gliders a break from their usual and they love it!

Gliders are incredibly smart so it's important to enrich their cages with foraging toys and a safe wheel. Some wheels include the stealth wheel, raptor wheel, custom choice crusier, and the fast track wheel.

If you need ideas for toys, just click on my profile and go to my photo album. There will be some toys I made there! I bought all my supplies here and here : www.noahsarkandnovelty.com www.thesugargliderstore.com

Any other questions? I know it's a lot to take in at first, but you will get the hang of it!

Oh, I can't believe I left out bonding but for now, sleep with some pieces of fleece and tuck them into his sleeping pouch. Wear him in the bonding pouch for hours and hours each day while he sleeps Try bra training him! As I am writing this one of my gliders Kona is busy at grooming my chest area/lower neck while she rests in my shirt. ( scrapping her lower teeth against my skin) Talk to him quietly. Drop some dried fruit into his pouch while doing so. While he is sleeping in his pouch, stick your hand in and stroke him. When he comfortable enough to let you stick your hand in while he sleeps without crabbing, then you are ready for the next step. Try a bathroom bonding session.

Just remember, be patient and move at his pace! Don't rush anything

Thank you so much for all the tips. I won't rush him, I've got all the time in the world to do this right. He slept in the bonding pouch most of the day today. I put him back under his blankie once the kids started coming home from school and the house got noisy again.

I'm so glad I've been met by supportive people. I was horribly afraid I'd just get berated from buying from less than reputable people.

quote:

---

Originally posted by Mama2Darwin


I'm so glad I've been met by supportive people. I was horribly afraid I'd just get berated from buying from less than reputable people.

---

I know I cannot speak for everyone here, but I would hope this site would be a community where all sugar glider owners can come together, not only to meet other glider owners, but to help one another take the best care of our pets as we can. This should include all new owners, all levels of breeders, all levels of rescuers, and more experienced or advanced glider owners or caregivers.

I was like you when I first acquired a glider. The baby gliders they hand you will melt your heart. I'm not sure how anyone can blame you for falling for little Darwin that day.

I will share with you, in case you were not shared this bit of information, that he may develop quite a large bald spot as he matures. His smell will also get stronger depending on his urge to mark or assert dominance. You can neuter him to try to deter these urges, and to lower his testosterone levels. This should help prevent the baldness, or oil, from his scent glands from spreading too large.

Also, if he goes through a crabbing, or sort of relapse, phase, don't fret.
It may be because I had a girl, but as she sexually matured and went through puberty, I thought she went through a complete personality change! She had been so friendly as a baby but as she got older and more used to being able to have her way in her pouch, she became more outspoken.
Not to mention, I was unprepared for her nails to grow so sharp as she went through her less than eager to be out of pouch age-- Her special dietary needs, companionship, and cage sizes... oh, and
the barking at night or early mornings, too, I had to find out the hard way, was completely normal..

I know I am making gliders sound a little like gremlins, but I will admit, in many ways, I thought I too had been had, and it took a long time before I got used to the new routine. For such a small animal, they are so much more work than any of the domesticated pets I have cared for previously.

That being said, they can also be some of the most rewarding.
I hope you and Darwin will grow a great relationship, and that he will help you with your anxiety and other struggles in a positive way.
best of luck to you.
hope to see you around!

Don't beat yourself up about buying from Pocket Pets, my first two gliders came from them too. They are very good at making it seem easy to care for gliders. Lucky for you , you found this forum! I had my girls a couple of years before I found this forum and realized I was doing everything wrong!

You are going to want a bigger cage before too long. You will also want to decide on a staple diet. In the meantime, you can feed him scrambled eggs or chicken baby food + fruits and vegetables.

You have come to the right place for information and support. Welcome!

what food rich in protiens ?
i gave them cooked flesh of hen

Mina, you can feed them a bit of unsalted hen, yogurt (no artificial sweetener,) egg cooked with no salt or oil or chicken baby food until you decide on a staple diet. Also a variety of fruits and vegetables.

Welcome and congrats on your new family member.

I'm glad you sought out the forums and found us here to learn more about appropriate care. There are many views on various factors in glider care, but for the most part you can simplify what you learn.

Research diets, look through the most widely used diets:
Formerly HPW diets are now branded as Critter Love (original creator of the HPW diet). These would be Critter Love Original, Critter Love Plus, Critter Love Complete, plus a couple of others I believe

BML is another widely used diet.

There are a few others out there that several use, but the above are the most common.

If the company you purchased from is Pocket Pets, they may have sold you "Glider Gravy" This is Critter Love Complete (CLC) rebranded, and is a healthy food, although you may get it cheaper through Critter Love website. You could also replace with another version after you finish off what you have.

The pellets, some are completely against, but others (including myself) offer some on the side, this is not meant to be part of "staple" diet.

Fruit and Vegetables depend on the diet choice you make, please after choosing one, stick to the exact recipe and instructions for that specific diet.

Ditch the sprinkle vitamins, with appropriate nectar portion along with f/v you will not need those. There is no way to determine how much your glider is getting and could be overdosing vitamins.

Heat rock? Toss. Wheel, with axle? If you have a wheel with a center axle, please replace with a glider safe wheel, look up vendors for glider wheels.

Bonding, is building trust between you and your glider. There is time to spend during the day with them in pouch, as long as they are getting proper sleep. Some carry their gliders all day, others for shorter periods. My gliders spend most of their day in their cage, but I have spent "pouch time" with them, especially in the beginning so they got used to me. Out of cage play is where the trust really begins to build and show. You need a safe, enclosed environment they can explore without risk of harm and that you can have easy access to get them back to the cage. A small room, a bathroom, or a tent are commonly used.

You may find a lot of accessories from vendors, also you may wish to make a lot too. I suggest doing some searches on glider accessories and toys to get ideas and find out what is safe.

Read, read, and read some more. Ask questions as you need to.