Sugar Gliders are small marsupials that are native to Australia, Papua-new Guinea, Indonesia, and Tasmania. They can be found living among the tree tops and are by nature nocternal animals.
The Sugar Glider's name come from the fact that they tend to prefer the sweet fruits and sap found within the wild. Hence you have the first part of the name "Sugar". The "Glider" comes from the fact that they glide through the tree tops using a membrane they possess, similar to that of the flying squirrel.
The Sugar Glider is a popular pet in the USA and is becoming increasingly more popular in the UK and after seeing them it is not hard to understand why.
The Sugar Glider belongs to the class of mammals known as marsupials. This group consist of various creatures that adapt to their enviroments and also quite highly specialised.
Koalas- live in the trees as well.
The Sugar Glider also belong to the group of animals known as the "phalangers", meaning those with fingers.
The Adult Sugar Glider measures approximatly 5 to 6 inches from its head to the end of its body and the tail is approximatly the same length as well. The tail is used as a aid to balance and stabilize itself. During gliding it acts as a rudder and controls the direction. They however do not use it to pick things up with, but may wrap it around things to for balance.
They are grey to a light brown in colour and cream to light tan on their undersides. A black stripe runs down the complete length of the gliders body. From the the head all the way to the tail, with the last 2 inches or so of the tail being completely black.
An adult male glider has an average body weight of 5oz and the female is 4oz but this can vary +/- .5 ounces.
The gliders have a furry membrane of skin called a 'Patagium' which extends from the wrist area to the ankle area. When not in use this membrane will look like ripples of skin along the sides of its body. When in flight or gliding, the skin spreads out turning the glider into what would look and act like a rectangular kite.
The ears of a glider are large and are not covered in fur. They move independently to each other and are constantly moving around, listening all the time.
Their eyes are large and as in most animals that are nocturnal by nature they are set on each side of the head and protude which allows for better vision in low light to total darkness conditions.
Their body tempature is right at 35C , slightly lower than that of a human being at 37C.
Sugar Gliders have 5 toes on each front foot. Each toe has a sharp, scimitar shaped claw which is used for gripping during climbing and landing.
The hind feet also have 5 toes which include a larger clawless toe which is larger than the others and opposable, much like our thumbs. The second and 3rd toe are partially fused together, known as "syndactylous toes". They work well as an aid in grooming.
The males have a scent gland on their head and in the upper center of their chest. They do have a slight odour to them as this is used for marking territory and attracting the females. However with the proper food and diet the odour is virtually none existent and you can also purchase scent inhibitor to go on their food.
The Gliders tend to make several different sounds which is a bark, a pur, and a growl, or also known as crabbing. The Crabbing is normally used when the glider is scared or startled, ours normally do it when we wake them up. The idea is to scare whatever it is away. The saying "its bark is worse than its bite" is true for these little gliders. I've had them nip at my fingers when you first wake them up or startle them, but never to draw blood or even break the skin. The pur is low, and not heard very often, normally when they are eating they tend to make this sound, especially when it is something they like and can't get enough of. The bark is... well any time, we've not figured out what it is for other than maybe just a simple "hey look I'm over here" call to other gliders.
Are you ready for a Sugar Glider?
