Sweet Sugar Gliders - Your Ultimate Suggie Resource Guide

Our goal at Sweet Sugar Gliders is to compile all of the best information we have found about sugar gliders as pets and in the wild.  Our main focus at this point is to educate people who want to keep these exotic creatures as pets.  We strive to produce accurate and updated sugar glider information for both prospective owners and suggie slaves.

Here you will find information on diet and nutrition, health and hygiene, bonding, behavior, anatomy, housing, toys, breeding, regulations, and more.  You will also find lots of pictures and videos. 

This is a brand new website as of 01/01/2009 and we are steadily adding new content.  Please contact Sweet Sugar Gliders if there is additional information you would like to see added to this website or if you believe any of this information to be inaccurate.  We are here to serve the glider community as the ultimate resource for learning about pet sugar gliders.

What are sugar gliders? / What is a sugar glider?

Below is just some very basic information.  Soon, we will have links on the left for more details (including color variations, male and female anatomy, breeding, behavior, diet, and bonding).

Sugar Glider Anatomy

Sugar gliders are marsupials, with the moms carrying joeys in the pouch (similar to koalas and kangaroos), but they fit more into the possum family.  They originate from Southern Australia and New Guinea.  They’re about 6 ½ - 7 ½ inches long, with a bushy tail almost the same length.  They look a lot like a flying squirrel, but are very different.  They are usually grey with a black stripe down the back, a black tip on the tail, black ears, and a cream-colored underbelly.  There can be many color variations as well.  The fur is very soft to touch. 

They are called sugar "gliders" because of a unique membrane called the patagia.  This piece of skin extends from the front hand all the way to the back foot on both sides of the body.

The picture above shows a sugar glider joey (about 8 weeks old) with his patagia extended out.  It is this patagia that allows sugar gliders to glide between trees in the wild.  Sugar gliders can glide over 55 yards!  The membranes are also used to gather food.  We will soon have links on the left for more information about the differences between male and female sugar gliders.

Sugar Glider Diet

The glider diet in the wild consists mostly of insects, sap from eucalyptus, acacia, and gum trees, pollen, nectar, small vertebrates, and arthropods.  The "sugar" part of the name "sugar glider" refers to its preference for sweet food. 

View our diet links to learn more about how to mimic the glider diet in captivity.

Sugar Glider Behavior

In the wild, gliders are very social creatures within their own group.  Outsiders are not tolerated.  Tame gliders in captivity seem to adapt well to various humans (see our page on bonding), but different clans of gliders kept in different cages should not be allowed to mingle.  They can and will really hurt each other.  Introductions should be made slowly and cautiously.  Males mark their territory and other gliders, by rubbing their scent glands on them.  In captivity, they will also do this to the humans they are bonded to.  With the right amount of attention, sugar gliders can be wonderful pets.

We will soon have additional information available on this website to help you find out whether or not having a sugar glider is right for you.