Thank you for that reply! Seems like that's about the best "scientific research" we have to go on. Like you, I'd love to see a glider specific study done, but its not very realistic at this point.

Please don't take it that I am being negative regarding the use of pellets. I just like to see some information to substantiate the claims being made. More than the "he/she said" logic. As been said already, it is difficult to accept change, especially with such a "sensitive" subject.

we will probably see some major research done when gliders become legal in all states and a large pet food manufacturer realizes there may be an opportunity to make money.

While I would love to see a "complete" glider diet out there, I am not sure how much I would trust one of the "larger" pet food manufacturers. Look at all the disagreements people have over cat and dog food, kibble vs raw diets, popular cheap kibble vs "holistic" expensive kibble, etc. There is plenty of evidence that shows high grain content catfoods CAN be harmful, but as long as SOME cats thrive on it, and people will buy it, companies will make it, even though there are health risks to it. Not to mention those horrible recalls you hear about.

there has been research done on what gliders live off of in the wild. So the big diet question is: how do we copy that same nutrition in the home?

BUT copy it in a healthy way? to further illustrate: hummingbirds live off of nectar and tiny insects. someone decides nectar is equivalent to sugar water, and since they like red, lets put in red food coloring. Lately I have read that "they" are finding the red coloring is harmful to hummingbirds and recommend NOT using it. Yet you still see the manufacturers making it. AND is nectar REALLY the same as sugar water? while the hummingbird will eat it, and live on it, is it best???

just my 2 cents worth at 5am

Hi JillMarie

The videos you see (BBC for example) are quite often contrived for the camera. In the case of the gliders our during the day gliding and scampering up trees...this is not normal behaviour. Most likely the cameras were present and footage was shot during the release of captured gliders or alternatively the nesting area was disturbed to get the animals out into the open to get action shots. Sometimes simulated natural habitat in a facility is used too. One memorable footage of lyrebirds with Sir David Attenborough walking through the bush was actually filmed in the lyrebird enclosure of one of our local sanctuaries!!

I have lived in Australia all my life including within some of the highly populated wild glider territories in the bush and never ever seen gliders out during the day unless they were injured, ill or dead. I have seen them in the wild at night (definitely hard to locate as they are small and quick) but for the average person here would never see a wild glider in the bush at night...now if you are talking about brush tail or ringtail possums, they are everywhere in the suburban areas and they are commonly seen by all and sundry!!

I would be curious to know where exactly your friends saw gliders. Some touristy areas up North have feeding stations for the tourists to see various critters come and feed at night...gliders known to be included.

HI Marz!
It is possible they saw another critter and thought it was a sugar glider. They have seen mine up close, but it is possible, I guess, they saw a critter jumping around and miss-identified it. will get specifics from them next time I see them.
what a bummer about the videos. here I am thinking I am watching a glider doing its thing naturally and it was all staged. heavy sigh...LOL

Jill Hi,
The Hummingbird diet requires sugar Smithsonian

The main nectar solutes are the sugars sucrose,glucose & fructose & their total concentration ranges from
7%-70% w/w

Jill your friends may have visited Northern Queensland -

Chambers Wildlife Rainforest Lodge

Marz -
have David Attenborough's 'Life on Earth' nice read, enjoyed it, I understand Wild Kingdom was accused of similar follies.

Will stick with Australian info here, see you are in Melbourne area & I have no idea where you have resided but, a couple contacts I have on the Top End, NT (Kakadu & Arnhem Land) have stated that it is not that unusual to see wild sugar glider's in the daylight. although in your area as you stated it would be unusual unless in captivity.

I have a couple video links on Facebook that show a sugar glider & the another I treasure - Leadbeater's possum but I am not sure where they were filmed - also not sure I would doubt either, without a few more facts

Posting this article on another forum here & thought you may be interested in a peek -
Thermal biology, torpor and behaviour in sugar gliders:
a laboratory-Weld comparison
Fritz Geiser · Joanne C. Holloway · Gerhard Körtner


Our study shows that activity in captive gliders in an outdoor aviary is restricted to the night and largely unaVected by weather, whereas free-ranging gliders omit foraging on cold/wet nights and may also forage in the afternoon.

Captive gliders also remained in their nest boxes during the day, whereas free-ranging gliders foraged occasionally

peggy, you are wonderful!!! :)_

There is a parallel discussion to this one going on at Glider Gossip.

Pellet discussion on GG.

There are some people who are relying on old information saying "All pellets are always bad."

I think it is amazing how quickly our knowledge and understanding of gliders is evolving. And - at least on the forums - the changes seem to sweep through, so that all our community's gliders can benefit.

diet has been the most controversial, but has also seen the most changes. In spite of the fact that there are precious few "formal scientific studies" we ARE learning. We ARE developing better and better glider husbandry - including diets. So much has changed - and is still changing.

When you step back and look, it is actually very exciting. It can be frustrating - but ... I'm not aware of any other "community driven" research the way this community is doing for gliders.

thanks for the links, especially about the hummingbirds. was glad to see they added the "no red dye"

while understand that "sugar" is needed, my comparison was "while they can live on it, is it BEST?" as sugar and water is NOT the same as nectar. nectar has other properties that plain sugar and water dont have. remember that honey is actually concentrated nectar with some "bee spit" added LOL

With apologies to the original poster and moderators for adding to this slightly Off Topic discussion,I just had to respond to this for the last time

I am currently in Melbourne, Australia and even though we do have wild sugar gliders in our neighbourhood, when I mentioned highly populated glider territory I was referring to areas with amazing forests of tall,tall gums where I lived for many years. My family owned land abutting the National Parks where my mother would release rehabbed possums and gliders.

It is definitely considered unusual to see wild gliders out in the daytime (with the exception of dusk/dawn where they are getting up or going to bed ) unless there is a problem. The fact these animals are nocturnal and prone to predation is enough to be concerned about if they are indeed doing so. Maybe loss of habitat/ lack of food is forcing them out.... Also considering torpor that you mentioned, you would find it less of a problem up north where the average min temperature up in Kakadu is 66.6 and down here is 37.2.



As in regards to videos on the net showing gliders out and about during the daylight hours (and some at night), it is quite common knowledge and acceptable in the industry how documentaries are edited & staged for best result.It can be about perception. Whilst many docos are years in the making, others are not so and combine real footage with footage that has been shot inside nocturnal houses or large outdoor enclosures in sanctuaries to get up close and personal to "wild" life. They also take advantage of wildlife being released into the wild to some good action footage. How do I know? My husband has been a professional television cameraman for over 30 years and he is very familiar with how the industry operates for best results.

Yes - Foods of the God's

Excellent publication & if you visit google can read quite a bit of the following -

Nectaries and Nectar 2007
Susan W. Nicolson , Massimo Nepi , Ettore Pacini

Nectar Chemistry Chapter 5 - pg 224 is Sugars
PDF file to large - google - Nectar Chemistry Chapter 5

My sugar glider`s tend to love the sun coast sugar glider pellet food its the only pellet food they eat.

o.o instering i feed like 60/40 fruits/menies to pellets i just looking for a good brand of pellets

Actually, the reason cats should not be fed dog food is because they require more protein in their diet, and dog food doesn't have enough. Cats will develop uti and bladder infections if fed a diet lacking in protein. Gliders may have similar issues with protein in kibble not designed for their needs.

Hi I seen you mentioned you have some video of sugar gliders on facebook can you let me know what your name is on there as I would like to view these vids, also do you know of any other site that has videos of sugar gliders in the wild that teach more about them such as what all the sounds they make possibly mean and how they live? If so please send me a private message I am on facebook under the name Karen Fontana Have a great day

I did a search for the happy glider pellet food and under the google search a bunch of bags are being sold on ebay. Does anyone thing this is legit happy glider good or some rip off being sold on ebay?? Just curious.