Obesity
Captive sugar gliders are prone to obesity or getting fat. In the wild, sugar gliders may go a day or days without feeding, they must always work for food, they must find ways to stay warm and safe, they work a very large area for finding food and they simply burn a whole lot more calories than when caged.
The name Sugar Glider can be deceiving. One would think this means sugar gliders eat mostly sugary things when in fact they should not eat processed sugars at all and have a balanced diet. Many owners can easily go overboard with treats and junk foods, feeding more fruits than vegetables, honey, candies, and mealworms in excess along with a regular nectar replacement diet plan which already contains the needed amount of sugars and fats.
In conjunction with lower activity and higher concentrations of fats and sugars gliders can easily become obese in captivity. There is no real way to imitate the overall experience they have when free in the wild, so the owner is left with maintaining correct health through diet and exercise.
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