Hey Everyone,

I have two sugar gliders coming home next weekend. They're 8 weeks old. I've read somewhere that you should leave them alone in the cage for two days without taking them out to get adjusted, etc. Should I do this or should you start the bonding process sooner?

Also, I live in NJ and keep my heat at night around 60 degrees. I've read it should be warmer, they'll be ok if I put pieces of fleece in their sleeping pouch, etc. Is this ok or should I get one of those warming lamps that doesn't light up and attach it to the cage top?

The owner of the pet store I'm them from has been very helpful and seems very knowledgeable about their care. She says as babies they should have the HPW Food with the Baby Premium diet and apples along with the calcium etc etc. She also said they should have two sources of water for now, one in a bottle and the other in a bowl with some of it mixed with clear Pedialite. She said to stick with feeding them apples for the time being and when a little older I can add different fruits, etc. Any advice would be appreciated! Thanks in advance!

Terry

Howdy!!

Rule of thumb is to let them settle in & get use to the enviroment. The personalities of your two might indicated otherwise. You'll need to go at their pace through the whole bonding experience, so start feeling them out right away as they're doing the same with you. If they seem extremely interested right away, see how they react if you (*SLOWLY*) give them a small treat through the bars.

That said, I didn't wait. Mine refused to let me see if they were alright so we had our first 30min of bonding the first night. Then again, I did have to take a couple breaks from bonding to let them normalize. SO, goes back to, they control the pace.

Due to the draftiness, crappy heating system, & low set-point I use to save on heating oil, my house gets down to 60 dF easily. They don't seem to care when active & just pile in together during the day. I leave several fleece cloths around the cage & they bring them in the pouch or toss them out as needed. Try not to let it get much colder than that, I would recommend. My will sleep a lot below that temp.

That doesn't sound like a very good diet to me. There are several people talk about on here, including Critter Love (very popular, I'm switching to it), Lead Beaters, The Pet Glider, Sun Coast (I used for my furballs' first year), & more. You should see the word diet underlined in blue. If you click on it, the link will bring you to a lot more information. I've never heard of limiting foods due to age.

The main reason I'm personally switching is due to how tested & refined the Critter Love diet has become due to the efforts of its designer. Others have various reason for using it. The bottom line of every diet is this: if they won't eat it, it isn't right for your gliders.

I hope that gets your started. More people will come along after me to offer their greater experience & tips. Until then, welcome to Glider Central & remember: we love pictures!

Welcome to GliderCENTRAL!

Hutch has given you a lot of good information.

I would cover the cage on three sides with a fleece blanket, besides adding little fleece blankets to their sleeping pouch.

If you feel they are not warm enough a heat lamp outside of the cage will help, just make sure that they cannot reach the fixture, lamp or cord.

You have been given great advise! I'm just here to say:



Please keep us posted and if you have any other questions, please ask away!

PS, we love pics!

Welcome to the wonderful world of being owned by gliders! My two joeys just came to me in October, so I'm still very new as well.

I'll repeat the advice that the babies are in charge. Your best strategy is to let them come to you, and be *very* slow and quiet whenever you're near them or their cage. I liked to sit still beside the cage and sing softly to my gliders in the beginning, so that they could get used to my voice and presence in a non-threatening way.

Good luck, and keep us posted once they arrive!

hey welcome I am Terry too lol. I live in
Delaware so depending on where your at I might be able to help if needed so can PM for my cell and I shall share it encase you need help or have questions, need nail trimmed and such.

Thanks for the warm welcome everyone! The pet store person said we could take them home in one to two weeks. I said two weeks to play it safe. Next weekend will be two weeks. We went to visit them again yesterday and they seemed to grow a little bigger. We asked her if she thought they would be ok to leave their parents next weekend and go home with us. She said next weekend hopefully but we might have to bottle feed if we did. It would all depend on if they went out foraving on their own in their cage. They fit into our cuffed hands and are smaller than the older ones they have out on the sales floor. Im going to attach pictures. Anyone have any idea how old they are? Im guessing 7 weeks?

Heres one

Second pic

Here's last one. Do they look old enough to go home n eat solid food next weekend?

They're adorable!!

I can't foot-stomp what Karen said enough, it doesn't sound like the store is very informed. Try to find out when they were OOP & understand they shouldn't leave mama before 8 weeks at the earliest!

I can't agree more with what Karen has told you. They do look good, nice bright eyes and fluffy tail.

The one has a little Ninja pose going.

Can't wait for more pictures and updates on your little ones.

They are currently still in the cage with their parents and born at the pet store. They have quite a few breeding pairs in the back. I'll stop by tomorrow and ask about OOP date.

I'm really considering a heat lamp or a space heater for the room they're in. Do the heat lamps actually heat well and how long do the bulbs last? Leaving anything on 24/7 whose soul purpose is to make heat freaks me out thinking about fires etc lol. I could keep heat on 65 whole time I'm not home I guess but then there is gas bill to worry about. I always keep heat on 60 when not home or when sleeping. How what do u guys think is the best option?

Oops that was me above. Logged me out i guess. Also should i make a glider kitchen now and i think theyd like the ball room basket too. Good ideas? Sorry for so many questions.

Heaters... I prefer infrared heaters. When we travel with our 5th wheel in winter, we use it as alternate heat (40 lb propane tank has a tendency to go empty at night). If you do a heat lamp, be sure all cords are away from cage, and there are choices for them to get away from it if it gets too warm.

Feather has a few more things to think about, since i do not use them. She has more experience.

You can make a kitchen now if you like. It could save you time once you get them. Because you will become enamored with their cuteness!

I like the Avitech bird warmers, here is the link: http://www.avitec.com/Cage-Heaters-AviTemp-Infrared-Heat-Panels-s/50.htm

These warmers hang outside of the cage, so the gliders can't get to them or the electrical cord.

Also covering the cage on three sides helps keep the heat in.

If you use any kind of heater or heat lamp do not use fleece to cover the cage. Fleece will melt just by touching the bulb of a heat lamp.

Hi Feather,

These look really nice! How effective are they? They don't seem to be too hot or cost that much to operate and the fire risk seems low. Do you use these personally? I think a small would work nicely!

Terry

Hmm. I'll decide on the heater this weekend I guess. I'll be home Sat-Sun so the heat will be kept up if we do take them home. Supposed to pick them up Saturday but I'm not sure. The owner said they should be fine with me and my boyfriend because I'm so obsessive about their care and ask 100000 questions and sit in the pet store for over n hr with them.. Sigh. OCD me on Sugargliders it seems lol.

All the food I bought are the Exotic Nutrition stuff... The HPW, the Baby Glider Food, Glider Aide, Insectavore, bee pollen, eucalyptus powder, etc etc etc. Now I'm second guessing if this was a good idea and should do the BML diet. What does everyone think? What kind of wheat germ does everyone use? The salad part seems like the hardest part. Would you suggest the Critter Complete diet as the pellet portion of their food to keep in cage? Can someone post like a 5 day meal schedule for their gliders? I need to keep these kids happy!

Yes, I bought the for my parrots but have used them for my sugar gliders.

I hang two pouches in the cage, one near the heater and one away from the heater so they can choose. I always found them in the pouch near the heater.

When the landlord couldn't buy propane for several weeks in the winter I wrapped the cage with a cotton blanket and hung a thermometer in there. It was nice and toasty for them.

The hangers that come with it allow you to keep it from touching the cage, but that time I zip tied the heater right to the cage as there is enough of a space that they can't reach it.

Hi Feather,

Thanks for the info! How warm does it make the cage or around the area of the pouches about? Can you notice the difference if you put your hand in the cage?

Oops, yeah.. I confused the two. Do you think the BML or the Critter Love diet is better? Are you supposed to used Critter Love Complete alone or combine it with Critter Love Plus? Also, what about the calcium protein requirements? Are these all fine with Critter Love with the added eggs, etc? Sorry for 10000 questions.

Yes, you can tell the difference when you put your hand in there.



I myself use Critterlove diets. You choose either Critterlove Complete or Critterlove Plus for your staple and then use the fruit and vegetable salad mixtures on the Critterlove web site.

I use BML because that's what they've been on since I got them but I also ordered a month supply of Critterlove plus to try. The Bml is very easy to make and the fruits and veggies aren't exotic so you can get them anywhere. I live in a very small town and we don't get things like papaya, so the Critterlove might be a bit harder for me to make the salads.