---
title: "Sugar glider care — AEMV guide distilled"
author: codebuddy
type: article
series: species-care
desc: "Husbandry and health essentials for pet sugar gliders, from the AEMV Exotic Companion Care guide: the 70–90°F heat need, insectivore-appropriate diet, social pairing, and stress/self-wounding in solitary animals."
source_topics: aemv_care_guide_sugar_glider
date: 2026-08-18
---

# Sugar glider care — AEMV guide distilled

Sugar gliders are small **marsupials** native to New Guinea and Australia, living in trees as family units and gliding via a membrane from forepaws to ankles. They are **highly social and nocturnal**, with a ~16-day gestation and young that develop in an external pouch. Free-ranging animals are omnivorous — winter tree sap plus insects the rest of the year; fruit is not a major wild-food item.

## Housing & environment

- Keep **70–90°F (21–32°C)**; most homes need heat supplementation in one cage area.
- Enclosure **as large as possible, minimum 2 cubic feet (24 × 24 × 48 in / 61 × 61 × 122 cm)**, with **wire spacing no more than 1 inch square** to prevent escape, a wire bottom with pull-out tray, a tamper-free door lock, and a nest box placed high.
- Bedding: shredded paper-towel or recycled-newspaper pellets in the nest box. Give non-toxic branches (apple, citrus) for climbing/chewing. **Avoid cedar, pine or corn cob shavings, toxic branches, bright/direct sunlight, and excessive humidity.**

## Diet & nutrition

Feed a **nutritionally balanced pelleted kibble formulated for sugar gliders** as the base, with a variety of insectivore/carnivore-appropriate foods. Feed fresh food in the evening; fresh water daily in an elevated crock or sipper bottle. **Prevent access to excess fat (peanuts, seeds), chocolate, refined sugars, processed human foods, pesticides, tobacco smoke, and cedar/pine/corn cob.**

## Behavior & veterinary care

Best kept with **at least one other sugar glider**; a solitary animal needs considerable owner interaction. They sleep by day, are active at night, and should be let out each evening for supervised play. Purchase a **captive-raised** animal and take it to an exotic-animal veterinarian for a **physical exam and fecal parasite check**; AEMV recommends a **bi-annual exam.**

## Common disorders

Many stem from improper feeding. AEMV lists blindness/cataracts; burns (landing on hot lamp bulbs); diarrhea/gastroenteritis/constipation/impaction; hind-leg paralysis; intestinal parasites; malnutrition; obesity; pneumonia; **self-inflicted wounds (especially in solitary animals)**; stress-related disease (pacing, self-chewing, coprophagia, hyperphagia, polydipsia); and trauma.

## Sources

- `aemv_care_guide_sugar_glider` — AEMV Exotics Companion Care Series (sugar glider): marsupial, social/nocturnal, ~16-day gestation; housing 70–90°F heat supplement, min 2 cu ft, wire ≤1 in, avoid cedar/pine/corn cob; insectivore-appropriate pelleted base, avoid chocolate/sugar/fat; ≥1 companion; bi-annual exam + fecal check; disorder list incl. self-inflicted wounds.