In Reply to: Sugar Gliders... posted by Jessie on April 27, 2000 at 12:22:58:

Welcome! It is nice to see that your Mom is interested as well. I will put a link below that maybe able to help you locate a local breeder. It appears Florida has many so you have a great chance of getting one. I would also advise to buy from a breeder instead of a petstore.. You have someone you can call if you have questions or concerns. You can check out the cages and the health of the other gliders. You can find out if the gliders were handled when they were born so they are more human friendly. They are also atleast 40% less expensive.

A few suggestions before you buy one..

1) Find a qualified Vet that is close-by that can handle midnight emergencies incase you run into trouble.

2) Have the cage, toys, pouches, etc that you will need BEFORE your lil one arrives - so you can spend quality time with them instead of shopping.

3) Research their diets and make sure you have all the things you need. Have you heard of the Leadbeaters diet? If you haven't please see this site created by Bourbon and many other fantastic people. You will need to have your diet plan all set up and ready to go when they arrive.

http://www.angelfire.com/nb/sugarglider/

4) Remember that you can't potty train these guys and they do scratch and bite. They are nocturnal and need atleast 2 hours or more of awake time with a Bonded human. Are you going to be able to stay up to be with them? Are you going to have time to play with them? Planning on College, School clubs, time with friends, etc? This will affect your time you need to spend with them. Do you have a room that you can Glider proof so that noone gets lost or hurt? Do you plan on spending 15 years with them? Do you have the monies to sustain them (ie: Vet bills, food, medicine, vitamins, bedding, etc)

Please, please, please read Jane's downsides before buying one.

I don't mean to scare you. This is a wonderful animal. It just isn't the right animal for everyone. It takes a lot of time, effort, and dedication. It is difficult at best for these guys to be relocated with new humans when they are bonded to someone else... So if have doubts that you may not be able to keep them - I wouldn't get one.

Let us know what you think. We are all here to help.
Please check out both links and Good luck!

:o)

Jen

• Ruth's Glider Breeder Data Base

Follow Ups:

• Re: Sugar Gliders... Jessie 13:28:00 04/27/2000 (1)
  • Re: Sugar Gliders... Mary 03:34:37 04/30/2000 (0)