Saturday, January 23, 2010

Please tell me the pros and cons on owning sugar gliders also known as flying squirrels. thanks?

i see them advertised now and then and this is one rodent i havent had. lolol i love animals.Please tell me the pros and cons on owning sugar gliders also known as flying squirrels. thanks?
Gliders are not rodents, they are marsupials. They are also not flying squirrels, that is a different pet, with very different care requirements.





Sugar gliders are very high maintenance pets. They are expensive to purchase and even more money to keep. They range from $150 and up, depending on colors. Overall start up cost(including gliders, toys, cage, etc) is at least $1000, and sometimes more.





Temperament:


Sugar gliders are extremely active and very social animals and do not like to live alone. If you would like to own a sugar glider, plan on having more than one. A lonely sugar glider who is deprived of social interaction, will not thrive. They will become depressed and lonely, which can cause them to die. They need interaction with their owners to be happy.





Remember that they are nocturnal and are up all night and sleep all day. My gliders used to wake up at about 11pm and were up until about 7am. During the day they didn't like being bothered, imagine someone wanting you to get up and play at 3 in the morning. I am an insomniac and was up all night anyway, so I didn't mind. When I did want to sleep it was difficult, they are very noisy at night, jumping around and barking and chirping. I used to get woken up several times.





Gliders should be purchased when they are young. Older gliders are hard to tame and may never enjoy being with you.





Bonding


Gliders must be able to be carried by you during the day in order to bond. I was lucky enough to have a job that didn't mind that I had them with me. You cannot sneak them around with you, as occasionally they will crab, or bark. They are loud barkers.





It you are not able to carry them for at least a few your a day in a bonding pouch then they may not take to you.





Even as a bonded pet, they are still not cuddly. A friendly glider is pretty much one that will not bite you and will jump from the cage to you. You're pretty much a bridge for them to get to where they really want :) They do not like being pet or held, I used to just have them jump from the cage to me and back.





Feeding


The feeding requirements of a sugar glider are somewhat controversial. It is only recently they have been kept as pets, and needs are somewhat of a mystery. As time goes on people will learn more about the needs of these little creatures. Sugar gliders are omnivorous, meaning they will eat plant material and meat. In the wild they feed from nectar, fruit, insects and even small birds, eggs or rodents. This diet is pretty hard to replicate in captivity. People feed them a variety of foods trying to mimic their natural diet as best they can. Some people feed insects such as crickets, mealworms, waxworms, moths and spiders. The insects should be fed high quality food such as commercial cricket food, and dusted with a complete vitamin/mineral supplement. Hence their name, the sugar glider loves the taste of sugar. They like fruit cocktail. The fruit should be fed in small amounts, chopped together so the gliders can not just pick out their favorites. There are many different diets that can be fed. These diets cannot be mixed and match and must be fed according to directions. Incorrect diet can cause serious health issues. Some diets you may want to research


BML, Taronga Zoo Diet, Chicago Zoological Park Alternative Diet , Darcy's Sugar Glider Diet , Elwin's Fresh Food Diet, Priscilla Price's Sugar Glider Diet, Suncoast Glider Diet Plan, etc(there are a few more to this list)





Cage:


A large cage, the bigger the better, should be provided with plenty of things to jump and leap off of (a minimum of 24 x 24 inches, by 36 inches high). For a sugar glider, height is more valuable than floor space. A wire cage, wire should be no more than 陆 inch wide, is best to allow the cage to breathe. A plastic tub can be placed under the cage to catch any debris that may fall out of the cage. Lots of toys should be provided as well as an exercise wheel, nest box and/or glider pouch. Branches, ropes and ladders will provide lots of opportunity for climbing and exercise. Large cage is a must, if you do not have the space or $$$ to buy an appropriate cage then do not get a glider.





Vet care


Since gliders are exotic their veterinary care will cost more. You will need to find a sugar glider knowledgeable vet before you purchase a glider. With gliders becoming more popular as pets, it is at least not as difficult to find a glider knowledgeable vet.





Other info


Male sugar gliders have a unique smell that some people find unbearable. I used to have to clean mine daily(scrubbing cage, washing bedding, cleaning toys) to keep the smell down. The males have scent glands and they mark their territory. Females do not have as bad a smell as males. The cage will need to be cleaned frequently, weather keeping males of females as urine has a strong odor. They usually urinate on the side of the cage, so you need to wash the entire cage, not just the bottom tray.





Also check for legalityPlease tell me the pros and cons on owning sugar gliders also known as flying squirrels. thanks?
Well, first off, sugar gliders aren't rodents. They're possums. Secondly, they're not known as flying squirrels - the two are completely different animals with completely different needs. I don't know about flying squirrel care, but I do know a pretty good deal about sugar glider care.





If you want a sugar glider at all, it's important to get at least two. They're very social animals, and in the wild, they live in large colonies. Lone gliders may self mutilate themselves, dehydrate themselves, or starve themselves to death due to depression from being alone. There are people who have had single gliders successfully, but there are too many horror stories for me to even recommend owning ONE glider. A lot of people say that they spend a ton of time with their single glider, but think about it this way - you can't groom your glider like they can groom each other. You can't snuggle with them in the pouch. You can't run on the wheel with them. Spending every minute of every day with a glider can't compare to having another glider.





They're definitely not cheap pets. A good sized, glider suitable cage can be anywhere from $100 - $500. If you buy from vendors (people who make the items), a bonding pouch typically runs at about $15, sleeping pouches are about $10, and vines, hammocks, bridges, toys, etc. could cost over $80, for a large, high quality cage set. A good wheel, such as a stealth wheel, costs about $60 (with shipping). Some use wodent wheels, but they are NOT SAFE. Many gliders have been killed or seriously injured in these wheels, mostly due to the center bar. Even with the guard, glider tails can get wrapped around it and seriously injure them. As for food - the cost depends on the diet you feed. I fed BML (Bourbon's Modified Leadbeaters) for over 2 years, and I recently switched to HPW (High Protein Wombaroo). Overall, the HPW is cheaper. 250 grams of wombaroo powder is about $20 with shipping and I'm expecting it to last for about a year for my three gliders. The ingredients are minimal - the wombaroo powder, honey, bee pollen, and water. Plus, the diet calls for 1.5 teaspoons per glider, whereas the BML called for 1 tablespoon per glider - so I don't use as much of the HPW as I did BML. However, with the HPW, you have to do some math with the calcium:phosphorous ratios. Sugar gliders need a 2:1 Ca:P ratio, and HPW has a 1.29:1 ratio, so you have to get fruits and veggies high in calcium, such as papaya and bok choy. BML is very simple - everything is laid out right in front of you. BML was fairly expensive - I spent over $40 for the first batch. One batch lasts two gliders about a month. I doubled it so it would last longer. Every month, I had to buy the baby food and juice, so that part was inexpensive. It's just expensive initially. Just do some research with that part. As for mealworms, I get mine from Wal-Mart, and it's $2 for a 40 count. There's normally 2-5 dead ones. I go through approximately 2 of those every week. Each of my gliders get 3 every night. Sometimes I offer them as treats and they get more. Vets are quite expensive. First you have to find one that specializes in exotics, sugar gliders in particular, and that alone raises the cost. Then, for a standard check up, they need to do a general checkup, then a urinalysis, and a fecal float/smear. At my vet, that's about $60 per glider. Some vets pay more, some pay less. It depends on the vet. KEEP A VET FUND. It's not unheard of for people to spend several thousand dollars in less than a week on their sugar gliders' emergency.


The cost of the gliders themselves vary upon where you get them, the color, etc. Standards can cost anywhere from $50 - $200, whereas the rare colors, such as albino, can cost up to $10,000. Creaminos (t+ albino) and platinums average around $5,000, mosaics (a glider with unusual patches of white) can be anywhere from $1,000 - $4,000 depending on the amount of white they have, white faces (bar missing from under the ear) can be anywhere from $250 - $500 depending on the generation, and leucistics (pure white with black eyes) average at $1,200. If you're getting a sugar glider from out of state, shipping is normally around $200.


Shipping sugar gliders is safe IF done correctly. Many breeders are picky when they ship, and will only ship in moderate temperatures. Most will NOT ship if it's too cold or too hot. Sugar gliders arrive at their destination the same day they are sent out. I got one of my sugar gliders shipped to me (in Arizona) from Tennessee.





The minimum cage size for two sugar gliders is 24x24x36 inches. Bar spacing shouldn't be larger than 1/2 inch. As a general rule for cage size, bigger is almost ALWAYS better!





Sugar gliders are nocturnal, meaning they're active at night. They're also very vocal and most of their vocalizations are pretty loud. Put 2 and 2 together - get an animal that's really loud throughout the night. Some people who are light sleepers can't handle their noise, and g

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