Sugar Gliders (Petauridae Breviceps) are tree dwelling marsupials; this is the order of animals that carry their babies in pouches. They are nocturnal, meaning they are awake throughout the night and sleep throughout the day. Their most active hours are at dusk and dawn. In the wild, gliders are omnivores and eat a vast variety of foods including many types of insects, invertebrates, tree gums, nectars, and saps. The diet varies depending upon the season of the year and the availability of food. These animals received the name “gliders” based on the skin membrane under their arms that allow them to glider through the air. Their name “sugar” is based on the sweet foods they eat in the wild like fruit, nectar and sap.
Gliders began to gain popularity in the United States as pets in the mid 90s when they were imported from Indonesia and New Guinea. The original animals offered for sale in this country were wild caught, standard grey in color and far from being tame. Most sugar gliders offered for sale these days are domestically raised, available in a multitude of colors and are much tamer than their wild-caught counterparts. They reproduce at about 8-12 months of age and mothers have usually one to two babies (joeys) at a time, twice per year. Sugar gliders are very easily bred in captivity, the gestation period is 16 days, at which time the baby glider(s) crawl to the mother's pouch and attach themselves to a nipple. This is where the baby stays for the next 8 weeks until they are ready to be weaned onto a solid diet around 4 months of age.
Created by Ashley Thompson