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.