Message:

Subject: Re: Branches
Posted by Dela on September 18, 1998 at 21:39:32:

In Reply to: Branches posted by Onyx on September 18, 1998 at 19:07:44:

Troy and Melissa:

First I just want to thank you for being a humanitarian and taking on such a woe-begotten little creature.
Also, as an invaluable resource, I would recommend buying this book: Sugar Gliders: A Complete Pet Owner's Manual by Caroline MacPherson. I have used this as my primary source of information, and it comes in handy to me every single day.
Coming straight from this book is the list of branches and plants that are safe to your small friend.
Acacia. African Violet. Aloe. Baby's tears. Bamboo. Begonia. Bougainvillea. Chickweed. Christmas cactus. Cissus. Dracaena. Ferns: asparagus, bird nest, Boston. Figs: creeping, rubber, fiddle leaf, laurel leaf, weeping. Monkey Plant. Mother-in-law's tongue. Nasturtium. Natal Plant. Norfolk Island pine. Palms: areca, date, fan, lady, parlor, howeia, kentia, Phoenix, sago. Peperomia. Petunia. Pittosporum. Pothos. Prayer plant. Purple passion. Schefflera (umbrella). Sensitive plant. Spider plant. Swedish ivy. Thistle. Wandering Jew. White clover. Zebra plant.

These are all the listed safe plants I know of. I used bougainvillea because we have been making an arbor out of it along the side of our house. When I clip the branches sticking out of it, I put them in the cage to replace any ones that have become old or gnawed on. My sugar gliders especially love this because it gives them something new to explore and a new way to get around their home.
About getting a cage, I did what I though was best and bought the wire, bars and everything I needed, enlisted the help of a few friends and built it myself, to my standards. I found this to be less expensive, better looking in the end and actually more suited to my needs. A warning though, all gliders love to chew and cage wire is no exception. Make sure you buy wire that you have asked about. Heavy Metal Toxicity has been known to occur in animals to lick or chew on their galvanized wire cages. Try to find plastic coated wire to prevent this from happening to Onyx. Besides, the plastic coating prevents sharp edges from hurting him.

Dela

P.s. the info on cages I found in, guess where--the book I told you about. This manual even has a section on how to build your own cage, and I must say, it is well thought out. If you don't know where to find this sort of book, I bought mine from the store that sold Velcro to me.

Follow Ups:

• Re: Branches dominic 13:20:36 9/19/98 (0)