Ever since April the girls and I have been going through some life changes. Eventually with the advice of Kazko and Ed the decision became finalized, the ladies would have to be split into two groups. The split was appreciated by one but it obviously broke the happy trio's heart, but in the end they will be better off. Up until yesterday one of the pairs had been living in the tent which was not the most ideal, hard to clean, play, and see them often. So we finally got them their own cage:


Luna and Ky loved it and their new Secret Controversy Canopy!

The Sugar Glider Rescue Map
This map was put together to make it easier to find rescues near you that may have sugar gliders. A resource that will help give good gliders forever homes. On that note I would like to address the fallacy that older gliders do not make good pets because they are past bonding years. Older gliders do make great pets just as joeys can except you skip the "terrible two's" stage when you adopt a glider past it's joey years. You will also miss out on getting them use to humans, being away from their parents, and probably having to do introductions! Even though these guys are advanced in age they have their own personalities, go check them out at your local rescue and see if they are a good fit.

You might also try:
Craigslist in both the Community and For Sale Section
Petfinder
Rescue Me Forum on GC or
My Pet Needs a New Home on here.

Sugar Glider food is a hot topic in glider husbandry and for sugar glider enthusiasts. It becomes a mind-boggling question to ask: "What do you feed sugar gliders?". Fortunately, self-proclaimed glider experts and vets trained in exotic nutrition seem to agree that gliders need a diet that mimics that of a wild sugar gliders and they need variety. To make these requirements possible there are a few popular artificial nectar replacements that offer sugar gliders all the nutrients they need by mimicking the natural diet while incorporating variety. My personal favorite is Lucky Glider Suggie Soup.

Lucky Glider Suggie Soup didn't seem all that appealing to me at first. It required insects, to feed different side items regularly, it sounded messy to make, and I had to buy some odd ingredients. I felt like my pets were supposed to be fun for me and not a drag so I went for products that were easy to use and said things like "vet approved", "nutritionally complete", "tested and approved", etc. Eventually I found out these little phrases are what we would call marketing strategies and carry no merit no matter who is pushing these products. Shortly after I noticed that my gliders really didn't seem to eat as much food as they use to and they were beginning to get a cinnamon color to them instead of being silvery grey. I went online looked up the crazy concoctions forum people raved about, bumped around with a few mixtures, then came back to Lucky Glider Suggie Soup. Right away it was obvious that my girls could stand to eat Suggie Soup for more than 1-2 weeks. After a few months of feeding it my vet, DVM Contos, told me: "Your gliders are the healthiest I have ever seen, it is remarkable". That really put a smile on my face especially since I knew she had worked with gliders before. It is recommended to show a nutritional analysis of a nectar replacement to your exotic vet before feeding it but I didn't know so I shared that with her later which also impressed her.

The creators of Suggie Soup run the non-profit Lucky Glider Rescue and Sanctuary in Van Alstyne, Texas. Their vet worked with the organization to create a suitable diet for all sugar gliders in 2007 and they have been using it ever since to recover the hundreds of sick, injured, and neglected gliders that come through their doors and to maintain healthy gliders. The LGRS Suggie Soup is surely one if the only nectar replacements that was originally published with a nutrition analysis: LGRS Suggie Soup Nutrition Analysis
On top of that they are one of the rare few of diet creators that has stuck around the glider forums to answer any questions:
LGRS Suggie Soup Background Information
Incredibly, it doesn't stop there. They are also among the handful of rescues geared towards sugar gliders:
Map of Sugar Glider Rescues and as a non-profit they depend on donations, visit their webpage to learn more: luckyglider.org . The organization helps out tremendously by hosting an Open House regularly that shows prospective owners what sugar gliders are all about, old timers what LGRS is like, and overall glider fun the whole night. In addition they have a series of youtube videos that are very informative such as "Mill Breeder Lies", "Free Range Glider Rules", or "Sugar Glider Nail Trimming" just to name a few.

It was easy for me to fall in love with Lucky Glider Rescue and Sanctuary but I had to learn a few tricks before I felt the same about the soup. Making it can be messy especially if you choose to do fresh puree. A trick I have picked up is to set up shop to puree the papaya and mangoes one day and freeze the fruit in 2 cup increments. Then use the premade puree when making the soup. Another trick, if you are able to find 100% papaya/mango juice is to only use juice. How easy is it to measure 5 liquids, 1 egg, and a few powders ? Not hard at all and it is summer fast and it doesn't smell at all like other diets do, some even say they have a little before putting the fly pupae in! For more instruction on how to prepare the soup see: Making LGRS Suggie Soup

One of the favorite things about the soup for me is that it is extremely versatile. It is possible to make the soup with High Protein Wombaroo instead of Trader Darwins Soy, with double mango no papaya or vice versa, with dehydrated crickets rather than fly pupae, or incorporating green machine juice the list goes on which is great because this diet calls for variety on the side and allows for it in the staple. The more options are possible the happier you and your gliders are!

The girls and I couldn't be happier with our Suggie Soup and we are thankful that Lucky Glider Rescue and Sanctuary shared the recipe with the community.

For a long time now I have been using human nail clippers to cut my girls nails. I never thought much of the tool I used to do it until recently.

When I cut my girls nails with the standard nail clippers it started to really bother me that they would pull back as if it was uncomfortable after I cut a nail, they don't crab just retract.
After talking to Omis n Kais g-ma about it she got me a pair of the trimmers she uses. These are designed for cylindrical nails and are called claw scissors.

Right away I noticed that the retraction was absent while I cut nails with the scissors. It obviously was not uncomfortable for any of my four like the clippers were. On top of that I was not afraid of snipping off a toe or cutting off to much nail because I could easily see the white tip needing trimmed on the other side. So I decided to see how precise the cut would be on a larger object for both types of trimmers. I tried both trimmers out on an uncooked noodle and an eraser, for both cylindrical objects the claw scissors had cleaner cuts. This leaves me to believe that the tool needs to be used for it's intended shape, it actually matters, and the nails have less fabric catch when the correct tool is used.

The Claw Scissors made a difference. Since there is not so much discomfort when I cut the nails they don't retract so it takes less time, easy to see the nail tip that needs to be cut, and the cleaner cut doesn't catch fabrics as much as the rough cut does.

Cutting glider nails can be difficult, when starting out it can be hard to know what to do. Here are a few tips:

Use nail clippers that can easily fit in your hand, they should not be hard to control or slip, you should be able to clearly see the clear tips between the blades, and be sure they are sized appropriately since gliders hands are so tiny.
Example:

Photo credit to bholland7

I keep my gliders in a pouch gently in my left hand, while holding one paw tightly between my thumb and pointer finger. I then clip the end of each nail carefully. It helps to keep their bottom against you so they do not back out of the hold.

When cutting nails be sure to only cut the clear tip, the rest is the quick and if cut they will experience pain and there will be blood, so be careful. There are 14 nails to be cut; 5 on each front paw and 2 on each back paw.


Be sure to look at the Nail Maintenance page in the gliderpedia for more information.

My four adult female average weights.
Out of pouch dates:
Luna November 17, 2008
Ky May 24, 2009
Rory February 26, 2008
Maya January 1, 2010

January 1, 2013
Luna: 100g
Ky: 135g
Rory: --
Maya: 95g

August 30, 2012

Luna: 105g
Ky: 120g
Rory: 85g
Maya: 85g

May 2012

Luna: 98g
Ky: 124g
Rory: 78g
Maya: 91g

December 2010

Luna: 88g
Ky: 102g
Rory: 72g
Maya: 76g

PS. Rory running:

For a while now I have heard rumors that glider kitchens effect eating habits. I know glider kitchens bring down the mess and protect the food from flying defecation bombs but I hadn't considered that it would effect eating habits. I have also heard the same about moon phases. On full moons or the night before or after many owners find plates completely full, as if they never touched it all night. I wonder if the nights they seem to have not been hungry correlate to the lunar phases.

Recently I got to lazy to clean my kitchens so they have been eating straight from the bowls. I have noticed two things, one they almost always eat all their food and two the drop pan is full littered with food. So my theory is that glider kitchen's hinder eating because the closed quarters create anxiety. Shortly, I will be designing an experiment that will test my hypothesis to check for it's validity but I want it to be as scientific as possible. Measurements, amounts, moon phases, temp, food items, and anything else I can think of should all be kept track of.

UPDATE 3/31/12:

So I have been keeping track of how much my girls have been eating by weight for the past 3 days now. I decided to go simple and only record the weight of the food before and after they eat it and whether or not it was served open or in a kitchen. I will be doing this for a month and I hope to see results to whether or not Glider Kitchens effect eating behavior. I hypothesize that the use of a glider kitchen hinders eating activities thus decreasing possible food intake.

viciousencounters
Occupation:Full Time Student/Seamstress
Member since: Jul 16, 2010
Posts: 2907 View my pictures!
I'm on the map!
Links
My Hobbies
Photography, sewing, reading, hiking, running, etc.