The adorable sugar glider

Temperature

Tropical habitats, such as those in New Guinea or Indonesia, will rarely experience significant temperature fluctuations, while sugar gliders in Australia will be subject to cooler temperatures during the winter months. The glider’s responses to this are manifold. They will cease looking for bugs and will, instead, settle in areas where eucalyptus trees can be chewed to release sap from under the bark. The colony will huddle together to preserve heat, often with the dominant male fulfilling a patriarchal role by ensuring his progeny are positioned favourably within the huddle.

However, the most interesting behaviour during cold spells is for Australian gliders to enter a sort of torpor. These periods of low heart rate and inactivity aren’t the same as the extended hibernations exhibited by other animals, but more like short periods during any given cold day where activity is suspended in order to preserve energy.

In captivity it is recommended that sugar gliders are not subjected to the cooler temperatures which might induce torpor, essentially due to the fact that most pet gliders do not live in colonies in numbers which would enable them to huddle.

Ambient European room temperatures are sufficient to achieve this equilibrium. “Basically, if you’re comfortable in a tee-shirt, the gliders are happy.” Assures Jim.

Hot Hot Hot

In hot weather sugar gliders can be seen licking patches of their fur until it is wet enough to achieve cooling by evaporation. Given the temperatures these animals experience in the wild it is unlikely pet gliders will be subject to heat which would be detrimental, but be careful of direct sunlight and poorly ventilated spaces –common sense measures really.

Breeding

“It’s not difficult,” says Jim. If you have a happy pair of established sugar gliders they’ll likely breed”. Females come into season multiple times each year and, as pairs and groups are housed together, nature will take its course. Although sugar gliders in the wild will routinely breed before they are a year old, this is largely frowned upon in captivity, as this can reduce the animal’s lifespan.

Gestation is just over two weeks’ long and babies are born as tiny, almost pin-prick-sized joeys, remaining entirely in the mother’s pouch for at least the first two months. After that they’ll leave the pouch for incrementally longer periods, but won’t usually venture anywhere outside the safety of the nest box for another two months. In that time the joey will continue to suckle their mother’s milk to some extent, and will increasingly also sample other food items.

Hard Boiled Eggs

The female’s need for additional protein during pregnancy can be satisfied by providing items such as hard-boiled eggs more regularly in their diet.

Eventually the joey will leave the nest, observing its parents’ behaviour and learning to socialise and feed independently. “Adult gliders are gorgeous, but baby gliders are even more beautiful!” coos Jim. “They’re a lovely silvery colour and their fur is much softer and more velvety. It’s a shame they don’t stay like that.”

That might be true, but I think we can all agree, sugar gliders are a delightful pet at any age.

MALE OR FEMALE?

Sexing sugar gliders is easy. Adults can be sexed visually by looking for the obvious scent glands on the male’s head and chest. Youngsters can be sexed by observing the male’s split-organ penis, or the slightly less obvious pouch of the female.

Gliders Everywhere

I once collected a colony of sugar gliders from a European zoo and brought them home in my car via a ferry crossing from Calais. All was well until I reached the M25 motorway, upon which point the glider noises I could hear from the back seat changed, becoming louder and more excited. I looked in the rear view mirror to see a glider bounding across the back parcel shelf, before being startled by another bouncing off the steering wheel in front of me across my field of vision.

Soon the inside of the car was chaos, filled with a dozen bouncing, screaming sugar gliders. Luckily I was near enough to a service station to pull in and deal with the situation. I found that the wooden case in which the animals were being transported had been no match for the gliders’ chewing ability, and they had created a hole barely big enough for a glider head to fit through.

Regardless, this was more than enough space for all 12 to exit.

I wonder if any of the passing motorists noticed my situation and whether they thought I was living in some sort of Jumanji-like adventure.