A male sugar glider is coming into my care. I do not intend on keeping him as much as I do finding him a new home with someone already familiar with sugar gliders, but there is a slight possibly I will keep him. I spent two days with my friend/his current owner and he is pretty chill for a glider. He owns two others but they are already a bonded pair, and are much more active than he is. When I am back home with him I will be taking him to the vet because one of his eyes is cloudy and comparing his level of activity to the other two, I want to make sure he gets checked out. He is also apparently a little over weight.
Cage is good and I got food covered, anything else I should know? I heard him bark a bit, he's not too loud and he's not very messy. IF I keep him, should I get him a buddy? Male or female? Either way, whether it's him or another male, someone would be getting neutered since I don't want babies and I'm reading that unneutered males don't get along. Any tips from glider owners would be appreciated.
>>2055079
The most important thing about gliders that no one really elaborates on, is how fucking nightmarish their talons are. Do not think you'll be able to clip them. Don't think a sandpaper wheel insert will trim them. And don't think you'll want to keep playing with them when they accidentally destroy your skin purely by walking on it. I still have scars on the back of my neck from where they crawled around, and we got rid of them 2 years ago.
That was the dealbreaker for us. We never let them out or played with them because of all the damn scratching.
The smell is another one. Good god, they stick. You really need to stay on top of that if you keep a clean house. If it's pretty dirty in your house, you will only need to clean the cage every 2 weeks. And this isn't like hamsters where you can get away with not cleaning it for 2 months and not notice the smell from 5 feet away. Oh no. You will notice it from 10 feet away after 2 weeks.
Be mindful of toy placement. They, like any rodent (marsupial, I know), are shit demons. They poop and pee constantly. Any perches, toys, or food bowls on the lower parts of the cage will get carpet bombed. Keep all the food bowls high up, and don't decorate the bottom too heavily because you'll just end up cleaning it all.
>>2055079
>>2055091
Keep them on a leash whenever out of the cash. A good, long one. Yes, you're hands will get fucked while putting it on and taking it off (we used collars. We could never get the body harnesses on them because they're squirmy rodents and don't want you to put them on). Anyway, yeah, leash them and keep them close. They will head straight for the inside of any couch, behind bed frames, etc. They want to hide in a dark space. The leash will help you find them initially. BUT, they WILL pull their leash into where ever they are hiding. This is actually super cute, but makes them that much harder to find. As soon as they settle, they will tug their leash in.
Food is a fucking scam. 5 pounds of food is over $100. In the mean time, I pay $35 for 40 pounds of premium dog food. Same fucking ingredients. They rip you off because they can. There is no competition in that market.
Keep them the fuck away from your bedroom. They are nocturnal. And, again, not like a hamster is nocturnal. These fuckers hide in a pouch all day then bang pots on their cage all night. It gets extremely loud, and they have very loud chirps and crows to accompany it.
Let's see, what else ... yes, they're fucking adorable, but that is where their good points stop. The good news is most people don't know that. They are easy to re-home. Which happens constantly. You'll see why.
For what it's worth, we had ours 1.5 years before we gave up.
>>2055091
>>2055096
>>2055091
Really? I've been playing with all three of them for the past two days(at night since I don't really sleep), and I have only a scratch or two on the front of my neck. I guess my skin is just thick for the most part.
The two MUCH more active ones are master jumpers and ive been having a blast with them but the guy I'm getting is no where near as active. Yeah he climbs and maybe will do some jumps, but this is also why I am taking him to the vet to find out if he's sick or just old and/or lazy. Even with the active ones all over the place, they were happy to come right back over to me or I could just easily scoop them back up. My guy also pisses A LOT when he first wakes up and shits, so I've already learned to let him do his business first before I take him out. He hasn't pissed on me like that yet(I got dribbled once or twice) but can they be litter trained?
As for food, money is not an issue - which was a turn off when I was a poor ass teenager. But thank you for the tips. I have a high tolerance for annoying noises, I have time and all but my main reason for possibly not keeping him is because I just don't want a lot of animals. I have two dogs and a cat, and I often am a third party temporary home for other animals(small animals, parrots, occasionally kittens or a dog) so I like to keep my schedule and time more flexible for the ones that desperately need medical attention and homes.
I wanted sugar gliders as a teenager and decided against them when I did more research, so this will be my 'trial'. So far I'm liking them but we will see. And yeah I looked up sugar gliders on craigslist and found quite a few people were selling, so if I don't keep him im hoping to find someone who already knows what they'd be getting into instead of just wanting them because they're cute.
