Sugar Glider Care: A Practical Guide
Sugar gliders are small, nocturnal, tree-dwelling marsupials from Australia and New Guinea. In the wild they live in social colonies and glide between trees — and that social, arboreal nature drives almost everything about keeping them well.
They Need Company
Sugar gliders are highly social and do best in pairs or small groups. A glider kept alone, or in an inappropriate or barren cage, is at real risk of self-mutilation — chewing at its own fur and skin — along with stereotypic behavior and aggression. If a single glider is unavoidable, it needs substantial daily attention and enrichment. Provide a nest box or pouch for security.
Diet
This is where owners most often go wrong. A pet glider on a mainly fruit diet with few gut-loaded insects or other protein sources is prone to nutritional osteodystrophy (nutritional secondary hyperparathyroidism) — calcium/phosphorus/vitamin D imbalance producing hindlimb weakness, muscle tremors, and eventually pathologic fractures. Balance calcium and phosphorus, and include insect protein.
Health Watch
- Dental disease — gliders have 4 upper and 2 lower incisors plus 40–60 small molars; gum disease and abscesses are common, so periodic dental care helps.
- Parasites — including toxoplasmosis from cat feces; keep glider enclosures away from litter boxes.
- Tail and self-trauma — addressed largely through the social and environmental measures above.
A paired, enriched, calcium-balanced glider is a world away from a lonely, fruit-fed one.