Clothes?

As ridiculous as it sounds I have seen clothes for sugar gliders.  If I had to guess they are probably home-made by "sugie parents" or are recycled doll clothes.  I personally would not dress Tinki and Telly up because I would not want to hurt their little wing flaps.  But I will admit to having put Barbie hats on their heads with hilarious results.  Tinki and Telly also get use of some of my old Barbie and doll furniture during play-time which also produces hilarious results.



Here are some of the silly outfits/accessories that I have found on Google.

http://static.gotpetsonline.com/pictures-gallery/exotic-pictures-breeders-babies/sugar-glider-pictures-breeders-babies/pictures/sugar-glider-0025.jpg

http://www.sugarglider.com/glidergossip/Photos/12089/sugar_glider_bee_costume.jpg

https://33.media.tumblr.com/ea576e35de40741b50f2b67a10092800/tumblr_mzbh4jPbRJ1r7ufbxo3_500.jpg

http://www.sugar-gliders.com/images/carriage.JPG

Legailty

As with all exotic pets, it is very important to check and see if sugar gliders are legal where you live.  There are multiple states in which sugar gliders are illegal or require additional documentation to own.  A quick Google search should help determine if sugar gliders are legal where you live.

Here's a map that depicts in which states sugar gliders are legal to own (green), legal to own with additional documentation/ a permit (blue) and illegal to own (red).

https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?oe=UTF8&ie=UTF8&msa=0&mid=zI7wYKg41rD4.kY9q_c2e7jx0

There are even some places in Australia (the natural home of sugar gliders) where sugar gliders are illegal to own due to the lucrative &illegal trade of exotic animals.  With that being said, also make sure to get your sugar glider from a legitimate, legal, and humane breeder.

Relationship with Other Pets

One thing that my sister and I are very careful of is letting our other pets come into contact with Tinki and Telly.  Our hosehold has six pets; two sugar gliders (Tinki and Telly), 3 cats (Tiggir, Leo, and Meowth), and one dog (Koia).  While our animals would never maliciously hurt Tinki and Telly, it cannot be forgotten that they have natural instincts to hunt small animals, and when Tinki and Telly are down on the floor, scampering around they look just like cat toys.

Here's Leo watching Telly have a snack.

For the most part the three cats and the dog are more scared of the sugar gliders than the sugar gliders are of them, but that does not mean that I trust the cats and the dog around the sugar gliders.  My sister and I always make sure that the other animals are not in the room if we are going to play with Tinki and Telly on the floor.  It is also important to know that if you want other animals to become familiar with sugar gliders, then you should "introduce" them to each other while holding the sugar glider in a bonding position on your thumb.

Here's Koia spying on Tinki through the cage bars. 

Play-Time

Along with playing with the toys inside their cage, Tinki and Telly get a healthy dose of play-time outside the cage as well.  When my sister and I take them out to let them play on the floor, we tell everyone else in the house so they know to be careful around us.  My sister and I keep a good eye on them and keep them close because it would be very easy for them to get lost due to their tiny size.  We let them run, walk, and hop around the carpeted floor, but we also actively play with them.  They love to chase our fingers as well as string.

Plastic string, like we use to play with Tinki and Telly.

All my sister and I need to do is dangle a little piece of string in front of Telly and he will chase it uninterrupted for minutes at a time.  Tinki is a little more cautious outside of the cage, but she also enjoys playing with the string.  After seeing them play with string, I am curious to know if they would be as excited to chase a laser light across the floor.

Bonding

It is important to socialize with pet sugar gliders.  Sugar gliders are naturally very social creatures, so the more you interact with them, the more they will accept you into their "colony".  An important aspect of humans socializing with sugar gliders is referred to as "bonding".  Although bonding occurs whenever you are in contact with the sugar glider, their is a special technique that I learned about.  This technique involves holding the sugar glider in one hand and having them wrap all four of their feet around your thumb.

Here's Tinki bonding with me.

Another way to bond with sugar gliders is to put them in one of their pouches and tuck the pouch into your shirt.  By doing this you keep the sugar gliders warm and also they are near you so they will be inhaling your scent which helps then recognize you.

Here are Tinki and Telly snuggled into their bonding pouch.

Bathroom Habits

Here's a word of warning: Sugar gliders like to go to the bathroom right after they wake-up.  So that means if you wake them up to take them out of their cage be prepared to get pooped and/or peed on.  And yes it has happend to me more times than I can count.  The good thing is that because sugar gliders are tiny, so are their poops, which makes them easy to pick up with a tissue. Another plus is that their poop and pee is fairly odor-free.

For reference, here are a few sugie poops in relation to a dime.

In order to prevent unwanted messes, my sister and I wake up Tinki and Telly and put them on the second level of their cage and leave them there for about five minutes to take care of their bathroom business.  Then we come back and take them out of their cage and we do not have to worry about them going to the bathroom on us (unless they have an unintentional accident of course!).

Claws!

A photo of Telly showing off his nails!

CAUTION: Sugar Gliders have sharp claws!  It does not matter if they are running, jumping, or simply sitting on you, you will most likely get scratched.  Sugar glider claws are extremely sharp and thin, so they are more apt to get stuck in your skin than simply scratch it like a cat.  As with any type of small animals, make sure to wash your hands after (and really before) handling sugar gliders.

This is not the best picture, but it shows the tiny red marks of
devastation that can occur after handling sugar gliders.

It is important to keep your sugar gliders nails taken care of.  My sister and I use a running wheel with an insert that files their nails as they run.  Some people use human fingernail clippers to trim the nails of sugar gliders, but I would not recommend it because their fingers and claws are so tiny and it would be very easy to clip if more than you intended to.

A nail trimmer insert from Pocket Pets that is similar to the one my sister and I use.

It's Never to Early for Christmas Gifts!

As the title implies this post is about some great Christmas ideas for the sugar glider and/or sugie lovers in your lives!  These products all come from Pocket Pets because I trust them with making sugar glider-safe products.



This hat is absolutely adorable and I want to get one for my sister!

http://www.sugargliderinfo.org/store/glide-r-hattm.html

These bears are super cute and brand new to the Pocket Pets website.  They come in a pack of two, which is perfect because I can give one to Tinki and one to Telly!

http://www.sugargliderinfo.org/store/snug-l-bears-1.html

The bears even come in four different colors.

Pocket Pets offers a great supply of sugar glider safe toys that sugies will love to climb, swing, and play on.  This particular package of toys is the largest package that they offer and it also comes with a "Cal-C-Yum" vitamin toy so sugies can snack and play at the same time!

http://www.sugargliderinfo.org/store/swing-n-things-3-and-4-piece-toy-set-and-calcium-kabob-combo.html

The Cal-C-Yum kabob toy.

Lastly, I think that I want to get Tinki and Telly some "Yum-E-Treats" from Pocket Pets.  Yum-E-Treats snack mix is a mixture of dehydrated fruits and other sweets that are completely sugar glider safe.  What makes Yum-E-Treats different from similar foods that you could buy at a supermarket is that the ingredients in Yum-E-Treats are 100% Certified Organic; and do not contain Sulfur and other chemical preservatives which can be harmful to Gliders.  So far my sister and I have only given Tinki and Telly fresh fruit and plain yogurt as treats, but I think that they will appreciate (and devour) this mixture.

http://www.sugargliderinfo.org/store/yummy-treats-organic-snack-mix.html

Snuggle Buddies

One of my favorite things about Tinki and Telly is their love of snuggling.  Sugar gliders are nocturnal, so when I take Tinki and Telly out of their cage during the day, there is nothing they like better than to curl up in a ball and nap on me.  Since they are so tiny, they have found some very interesting, but snuggly places to curl up in.

For instance in my shirt!

Telly waving for the camera. 

Sugar gliders are marsupials, so they naturally love places that remind them of their mother's pouch. Baby sugar gliders only spend about two and half weeks in utero, so it is essential that they live in their mother's pouch until they are developed enough to make it on their own.  To promote bonding between pet sugar gliders and their owners, Pocket Pets sells pouches that simulate this close relationship, where sugar gliders can take a nap while they pouch hangs around their owner's neck. Tinki and Telly each have their own pouches, but prefer to snuggle in the same pouch.

The Pocket Pet pouches.

Telly in his pouch.

Tinki being camera shy in Telly's pouch.

The Set-Up

            Pocket Pets requires all new sugie owners to purchase their "Start-R-Kit" along with their new pet to ensure that their new sugar glider will be properly housed and taken care of.  Therefore, when my sister and I got Telly, we bought the Pocket Pets "Start-R-Kit" along with an extra two year supply of food and vitamins.  At first, I was slightly annoyed that they forced you to buy their specific set-up, but looking back it was a great choice because not only are the products that they sell proven to be safe for sugar gliders, it also meant that Telly had a home as soon as we got him.

The Pocket Pets "Start-R-Kit includes:

• one-month supply of Glide-R-Chow™ (for 2 animals)
• one-month supply of Glide-A-Mins™  (for 2 animals)
• 4oz., “Non-Tip” Food Bowl
• 4oz. Water Dispenser with Cage Hanger
• GliderSafe™, ATR (Auto-Temperature-Regulated) Heat Rock

The Pocket Pets Start-R-Kit

            As I mentioned before, my sister and I bought an additional two year supply of food and vitamins when we got Telly.  While it was convenient to buy the extra food and vitamins on the spot, it was not necessary because the Pocket Pets website sells the two year packaged supply, making it easy to restock at anytime (just make sure to remember to calculate shipping time if you need the food right away).

Two-year supply of food and vitamins.

            The Pocket Pets website is also great if you are interested in buying toys and additional treats for your sugar gliders.  I have not bought any toys from their website, but they have a great selection.  I have bought toys and cage accessories from Pet Smart and Wal-Mart.  One of my favorite cage accessories that I have gotten Tinki and Telly is a little hammock that is intended for ferrets, but works for sugar gliders as well.  They use the hammock to nap on from time to time, but they prefer to curl up in a sheet on the bottom of their cage near their heat rock.

This is similar to the hammock that
I got for Tinki and Telly.

Diet

Theoretically, there are many different diets that sugar gliders can eat.  Personally, I follow the diet that was recommended/endorsed by Pocket Pets.  This diet includes pellet food, vitamins, “Glider Gravy”, fresh fruits, fresh vegetables, and sometimes yogurt.  The reason that my sister and I chose to put our sugies on this diet is because it is an all-around healthy diet, is odor-free, and is easily accessible to get my hands on. 

The main food source that my sugies eat is pellet food.  I buy the pellet food straight from the Pocket Pets website in a combo package along with the vitamins.  The Pocket Pets pellet food and vitamins costs about $3.50 per month, which in comparison to other kinds of animal food is very inexpensive. 

The Pocket Pets Food & Vitamins

Along with a daily fresh source of pellet food, I give my sugar gliders a serving of fresh fruit (or sometimes vegetables) every night.  Tinki and Telly’s favorite fruit treat is by far green grapes.  Since Tinki and Telly are so small, I dice up the fruit that I give them and serve it to them in a second food dish.  Every other night (as directed by Pocket Pets), I sprinkle their vitamins on top of their fruit.  I put it on their fruit to make sure that they are consuming it as they love their nightly fruit treats.  Before I give my sugar gliders anything new fruit or vegetable to eat, I research it to make sure that it is sugar glider safe.

This is how I chop up the fruit/vegetables that I give Tinki and Telly.

In addition to the regular servings of pellet food and fruit/vegetables, I will sometimes give my sugar gliders plain yogurt.  They go absolutely crazy for it!  I will also mix in some powdered “Glider Gravy” which is another Pocket Pets product that provides additional vitamins and minerals.

This picture shows the powdered "Glider Gravy".

As for liquids, I give my sugar gliders a 50/50 combination of water and 100% apple juice.  I give them this combination, rather than plain water because the apple juice provides extra sugar for energy as well as sensory appeal.  I do not believe that my sugies would stay as hydrated as they are if they only had plain water because they (as all sugar gliders do) love sweet things.  I give them their water/apple juice in a typical “rodent” water bottle, attached to the outside of their cage.

The exact water bottle that I use for Tinki and Telly.

The Language of Sugar Gliders

Here is a pretty good video that goes over the different noises that sugar gliders make.  

            Personally, I have only heard my sugar gliders bark, crab, and "sneeze".  My sugar gliders bark on a daily basis, right before they tuck themselves in for bed around seven in the morning (they are nocturnal).  Based on their habits and personalities, I think that it is Tinki barking at Telly and it is because she is telling him to calm down and go to bed.  I have only heard Telly crab and he only did it on the day that we brought him home.  I think that he crabbed at my sister and I because he was scared and wanted to portray himself as a vicious giant, rather than a cute little fur-ball.  Since sugar gliders are so tiny and really do not have a way of defending themselves against predators, they use crabbing to try to scare the predator away from them.  When sugar gliders crab they make themselves look bigger than they actually are, expose their teeth, and make a very loud, distinctive cry that can actually be very intimidating.


Here is a video that my sister and I found on YouTube and watched when Telly crabbed, and we had no idea what he was doing or why he was doing it.  It was a good reference video to learn that crabbing is a natural and normal sugar glider noise.

Telly Needs a Friend

            As everyone should know, the most important thing that you can do before adopting a pet is researching the type of animal you are looking into getting.  As I stated in my first entry, my sister and I had no idea what a sugar glider was, let alone how you take care of one.  However we made sure that we were capable of taking care of a pet sugar glider before we finally decided to get Telly.

            One of the most important aspects of owning a sugar glider is knowing and understanding that they are social creatures.  In the wild, sugar gliders live in extended family colonies of up to seven adults and their young children.  My sister and I made a pact from the start to have Telly out of his cage every second that we could so that he would not get lonely.  Unfortunately, life gets busy and we were not able to take him out as often as we would have liked.  Also, sugar gliders are nocturnal, and my sister and I are not, so we were worried that Telly was getting bored and lonely at night.

            When we got Telly, we asked the Pocket Pet employees when they would be in our area again and they told us probably not for at least another six months.  This meant that we could not get Telly a friend for quite some time.  A month after we got Telly, we went back down to Manchester to go shopping at the mall, and to our astonishment Pocket Pets was back.  We knew that this was a one in a million chance, so as soon as we saw them we knew that we had to get Telly a buddy.

            After inquiring as to which gender of sugar glider would be best to bring home to our little guy, we found out that it does not matter.  The Pocket Pet employees told us that Telly should do great with either a boy or a girl, and that all male sugar gliders are neutered so there would be no surprises if we decided to get a girl.  After a quick period of deliberation, we decided on getting Telly a little girlfriend.  Once again, we were taken to the cages that housed the baby sugar gliders and when the door of the girl's cage opened up my sister immediately saw the perfect little friend for Telly.  Just as when we got Telly, we did not choose our sugar glider, our new sugar glider chose us.

            My sister and I were so excited to get home and introduce our new baby to Telly, but truth be told we were also extremely nervous how they would react to each other.  Telly was such a social little man that we knew he would accept any sugar glider that we brought home, but we did not know how the new little baby would adjust to a new home that already had a sugar glider.  While anticipating the pending introduction, my sister and I brainstormed names for out little girl.  In the end we settled on Tinki.

Telly on the left & Tinki on the right.

            When we got home my sister took Telly out of his cage and firmly held him in her hands while I held Tinki in mine.  We slowly brought them toward each other and rubbed each of their scent glands on the other one, exactly how the Pocket Pets employees told us to introduce them to each other.  Telly was very interested in Tinki and I could tell that he was extremely excited to have a friend.  Tinki on the other hand was fairly timid and was not quite as sure what to do, but she soon warmed up not only to Telly, but also to me and my sister.

Snuggle buddies from the start!  Telly is snoozing on top of
Tinki while they sleep in their carrying pouch.

            Honestly, Tinki and Telly have adjusted to each other so well that sometimes I forget that we did not get them at the same time.  They truly have a special bond and I could not imagine my life without either one of them!

As you can see it didn't take long for Tinki to feel
comfortable enough to pass out in our presence.

The Pocket Pets Website

The Pocket Pets logo

                                           
                   Click here to visit the Pocket Pets Website!


            This is the website for the company, Pocket Pets, that my sister and I bought our sugar gliders from. They do not sell baby sugar gliders directly from their website, however they do provide some very useful information for potential buyers and curious individuals.  As I mentioned in my previous entry, my sister and I bought our sugar gliders from Pocket Pets in person when they were visiting the Manchester, New Hampshire mall.
            The Pocket Pets website does sell accessories for sugar gliders; including various cages, pouches, and toys.  The website also sells the Pocket Pets brand of pellet food that has been prove to be a safe and nutritious diet for the exotic sugar gliders.  This is the food that my sister and I feed our little babies.  Pocket Pets also sells additional nutrients, such as vitamins and healthy treats.
            In addition to selling various products for sugar gliders, the Pocket Pets website is a great resource for reliable information about sugar gliders.  The website specifically provides advice about how to interact with your new sugar gliders and how to understand their unique behaviors.  And of course the website also contains many adorable pictures of sugar gliders.

What's in a Name?

As you can probably tell, this entry revolves around the long (and even excruciating) experience that my sister and I had while coming up with a name for our new sugar glider.  As soon as we got in the car for the trip home, my sister and I were bouncing ideas for his name off of each other.  We each came up with a handful of names, but nothing quite fit.  I think the problem was that our new pet was a native of Australia and considered “exotic” and we wanted something that reflected that.  Cue my sister’s fanatical obsession with Australian actress Rebel Wilson; and suddenly our little guy was named after a lady.  Don’t get me wrong I think Rebel Wilson is hilarious, but I by no means thought that Rebel was the name for our little man.  I let my sister know that I did not think that he looked or acted like  “Rebel”, but as much as I wanted to further protest his new moniker, I bit my tongue because “Rebel” was mine and my sister’s pet, not just mine, so I knew that we had to cooperate to make his life with us amazing.

This is one of the very first pictures that we took of our new friend.
Does he look like a "Rebel" to you?

So my sister made it known to our family that his name was Rebel.  But as the next couple of days dragged on she started to have second thoughts; I think my hesitation over the name had finally eaten its way into her thoughts.  I also think that as we got to see more of “Rebel’s” personality, we realized just how little of a “rebel” our little man was.  He was way too sweet of a little guy and had an enormously outgoing personality that in no way reflected his minute size.  My sister and I soon found ourselves back at square one; what were we going to name him?

Eventually, and believe it or not, we settled on one of the very first names that we brainstormed for him; Telly.  Now before you question our sanity, there is a story behind that name.  My family has four other pets on top of our two sugar gliders (the story of sugar glider number two will be told a little later); we have three cats named Tiggir, Leo, and Meowth, and one dog named Koia.  My sister had taken to calling Leo, our only male cat, “Telly” because he reminded her of the Teletubbie creatures from the children's show of the same name.  As we started to see our little sugar glider's personality begin to emerge, we were amazed by how much he resembled Leo.  Therefore it was only appropriate to name our new baby boy after our first baby boy.  Despite the uncertainty of his original name, once we decided on naming our little guy Telly, the name just fit and we knew it was the one.

My sister holding Telly.

What the #$%@ is a Sugar Glider?

      I vividly remember that warm August day, back in 2012 when I laid eyes on a sugar glider for the first time.  My sister had been wanting to go to the mall in Manchester, N.H. and since summer vacation was coming to an end, my mom relented and the three of us took off.  Going to the Manchester mall was nothing new to us and we were expecting this trip to turn out like the many others before it.

      We entered the mall and began to make our way around the interior hallways, window shopping as we went along.  Then suddenly we took a corner and a huge group of people had gathered around what looked to be a couple of tables and three men advertising something.  As we got closer to the tables it became clear that each of the men had something jumping from one of their pockets to another and from one of their hands to the other.  Whatever it was, it was small enough that we still could not make out what exactly was jumping; was it a toy, was it a "magical" contraption, or something entirely different?

      Naturally, our curiosity was piqued and we moved even closer to the three men.  Suddenly realization dawned on the three of us; those things that were jumping around on the men were living creatures.  But, not just any living creature, they were exotic sugar gliders and the men were part of a company called "Pocket Pets" that sells them.  Both my sister and I are animal lovers, so we instinctively wanted to know what exactly sugar gliders are.  I am the oldest of three siblings, and I pride myself on being mature and responsible, so as much as I wanted to learn about sugar gliders I knew that getting one was out of the question.  My sister on the other hand (the youngest of three children) begged my mom to go up to one of the men and find out more about the little creatures.  My mom agreed based on the condition that we could not and would not get one, mostly due to the fact that we already had four pets (three cats and one dog) and my dad would be mad if we came home with another one.

      We approached one of the men and he told us what sugar gliders were and some basic information about them; for instance that they are native to Australia, they are marsupials, and they are legal to own in New Hampshire.  He also gave us some specific information about their company and how to care for pet sugar gliders.  Once we were done getting the information, my mom shooed me and my sister away from the area, with the idea to get us away from the sugar gliders before we started teasing to get one.  Like I said before, I truly understood that it was not a real possibility to get a sugar glider even though I thought that they were amazing little creatures that would make fun pets.  My sister on the other hand, begged and teased my mom to get one and slowly but surely my mom was giving in to her.

      Eventually, while we were walking around talking about what we had just seen and how cool it would be to have one, we saw a lady with two young daughters who had just bought two sugar gliders.  My mom approached her and just asked her a little bit about what she knew about sugar gliders and what made her decide to buy them.  The lady said that she had seen the "Pocket Pets" once before a few years ago and her daughters were absolutely enamored by the sugar gliders that they were selling.  However, the lady chose not to buy them at that time because she, like us, knew nothing about sugar gliders.  She said that when she got home she did a lot of research and sugar gliders seem to be an all around great pet.  Unfortunately, she did not cross paths with "Pocket Pets" again until that day, several years after first seeing them.

      This story only intensified my sister's desire to get a sugar glider that day because she was nervous that we would never get another opportunity to get one.  Between the information that we got directly from "Pocket Pets" and the lady's story, my mom finally gave into my sister's pleading.  We turned right around and went straight to the set-up.

      When we told the men that we wanted to buy one of the sugar gliders, they took us around the back of their set-up and showed us two cages; one was filled with female sugar gliders and one was filled with male sugar gliders.  My sister chose to get a little boy, so the man opened up the cage full of the little boys.  When the cage door was opened, my sister, mom, and I almost died from the cuteness.  Inside the cage, about twenty little baby boy sugar gliders peeked up at us from under a cloth blanket.  Instantly, my mom locked eyes with one of the little guys and knew that he was the one for us.  

      Along with our new little baby, we also bought a cage (that came with a water bottle and food dish), the specialized pellet food, vitamins, and a cloth pouch.  As soon as our little sugar glider was ours, my sister and I could not contain our happiness.  We could not wait to get home and set up our little guy's cage.  Now the only issue was, who gets to hold our new friend first?