Hello all!

I am a longtime animal caretaker turned first time suggie mom about a year ago. I was contacted by a rescue about taking in a unhandled 3 year old male glider. I had never even thought about owning a sugar glider, but I am always for expanding my animal caretaking knowledge so i figured why not. Well it was a lot of work, and some learning curves, and sorting through countless husbandry debates but I feel like I am in a great place with my little glider. We are finally bonded and he has completely tamed down...in fact I am thinking its time to get him a family!

I decided to join this forum because I have two questions I would really love some input on

#1: Trio of males
I am going to meet another male glider today that may be a good match for mine.The glider in question is currently living with another young male. Should I just adopt them both? What are your thoughts on trios of males?

#2 diet
My current glider would not touch TPG, so I fed him BML for about 8 months...it was fine, but i just wasn't convinced he was at peak health. Mind you I followed the instructions to the letter. I have recently transitioned to the Suncoast Sugar Glider diet. I was originally EXTREMELY skeptical over diets with pellets...for no real reason, just indoctrination I suppose. Anyway I have been loving the results, my suggie has been such a good eater and has never had a weight or coat as nice as he has now. What is the general consensus over this diet? Anyone else use it?

Thanks all!!

Welcome to GliderCENTRAL!!

I'm not familiar with the Suncoast diet.

I feed Critterlove as well with salad #3. They also offer a kibble (which is from Petpro.com) that I leave out for them during the day for several reasons. First, if the decide to wake up early, they can have a snack, (especially if I'm late getting back home in time for dinner). And lately they have cleaned their dishes and are still hungry, so it supplements their dinner too.

What ever diet you decide on, please don't try exotic nutrition diets. They have been proven the ingredients on the label aren't consistent with what's inside.

I'm not real experienced in male to male trios, but I agree all males should be neutered. Especially if you're not familiar with their backgrounds.

So glad you're here! Please feel free to ask more questions.

Three is good but definitely agree on getting them neutered. Not only does it cut down on smell it also means dominance fights are much less likely to turn overtly violent. They will still work out their pecking order and maybe even challenge each other but it is more likely to be hissing a bit and dominant one lying on top of the competitor. Make sure you have a plan for housing if early introductions take a while. I did not when I tried to combine my two colonies and had some adventures. All four get along fine now. It sounds like they are all young which increases odds of success.

I do not know that diet. I also do Critterlove. The only problem I have is I am not super good at getting ingredients and getting salads mixed so I use a lot of the pre packaged freeze dried stuff they sell. Expensive but they like it. My goal in the next month is to do as was said above and make and freeze a supply for several months. I also sub in general fruits and vegetables for the salad once or twice a week. They get seeds or chicken about once a month and that they LOVE. I learned to be quick distributing those and to not tease them. I was trying to draw Elric down with some chicken so I let him get the smell and started slowly moving it away. He jumped onto my hand and grabbed it and ran away thinking I would steal it. They like blackberry day when it comes. For treats I do fruit (fresh or freeze dried) and a yogurt drop each two or three times a week. I usually do this on a hand bonding day. I take their sleeping pouch out in the afternoon and put it next to me on the couch or bed and watch TV or read. I put the yogurt drops in and while they are eating I stick my hand in and underneath them a little. Then when they go back to sleep they sleep on my hand and between fingers. It has helped a lot with keeping down nipping now that they see the hand as an occasional honorary colony member.

UPDATE: I adopted both males! One is a year and a half and the other is about 6 months. I am in love and feel very good about my decision. They are both not fixed so that needs to be remedied...they are a bit...uh, pungent? haha anyway should i focus on fixing them before i really start introducing them to my lone glider? They both seem pretty relaxed and mellow and i plan on integrating the three over the next 1-2 months. I just dont know if being neutered right after getting a new home is too much stress?

It would depend on their health and how well they are adjusting. A well check before neuter is a good idea.

You said they have a smell? It could be everyone is laying out their territory since they know another glider is around.

I would definitely neuter before intro's.

You said they seem pretty well-adjusted and mellow so they sound like they are ready. You can wait a week or two and it should be fine. I definitely agree to do it before intros.

Just be aware that intros can weaken bonding due to the new social relationship. It did for mine but it was not hard to rebuild so do not be discouraged if they seem a little distant for a while after intros. Now if I can just get Dobby to stop thinking my toes and ankles might be food this time.

Getting them neutered will help with the smell. Get them neutered before doing introductions.

Safetyinpouch, I just wanted to comment on the SunCoast Sugar Glider diet. I have my boys on the OHPW diet and not a huge fan of pellets for any pet. That being said I am spending a lot of time on the nutrition of my gliders right now because I feel that their 2:1 balance could be improved a bit. After some research I decided to get the Wholesome Nutrition pellet from SunCoast because even though my boys do not wake up during the day to eat, I am comfortable with them eating it at night along with their regular diet. Lisa has spent many years as a breeder and was involved in a nutrition study of sugar gliders, which led to the creation of these pellets, with the help of vets and a nutritionist. I don’t think you can go wrong with SunCoast but as with any diet, and I’m sure many will agree with me, do your own research and check with a vet to make sure your colony is as healthy and happy as they can be.

In my opinion, the best kibble or pellets on the market are Happy Glider kibble from Pet Pro. It is made from human grade ingredients.

I am in no way endorsing one product over another. I stick by what I said previously of “do your research” when it come to everything in my life, especially when it comes to the care and well being of my family members. I mentioned I am not a fan of pellets because generally the massed produced pellets you can pick up at a local pet store or pet store chain are made with a profit margin in mind, far outweighing true care of the pet they are feeding. So for me to feed them to my boys, my children, I made sure they were of the highest quality. Not that they are the only pellet of this quality or the only ones making high quality pellets. Just for a small snapshot of my approach to their nutrition; the yoggies (from a completely different supplier) my gliders get cost me almost double other top suppliers, but I pay that because they don’t have one of the preservatives that other (what I consider to be) top quality “brands” have in them. I would rather make sure they are getting the best nutrition I can give them than worry about saving a few dollars.

The SunCoast Sugar Glider pellets are also made with all human grade ingredients. Here is a copy paste of the ingredients list from the website (I bought the Honey Yogurt flavor)


Ingredients: Chicken Meal made from Human Grade Chickens, whole grain brown rice flour, whole grain barley flour, coconut oil, dried whole egg, oat groats, fish meal, flax meal, calcium carbonate, blood meal, animal plasma, dried kelp, Vitamin E supplement, salt, potassium chloride, Vitamin A acetate, D-activated animal sterol (source of Vitamin D3), DL-alpha tocopheryl acetate (source of Vitamin E), menadione sodium bisulphate complex (source of Vitamin K), Vitamin B12 supplement, calcium pantothenate, niacin supplement, riboflavin supplement, pyridoxine hydrochloride, thiamine mononitrate, biotin, folic acid, ferrous sulfate, zinc oxide, zinc sulfate, maganous oxide, sodium selenite, manganese sulfate, copper sulfate, calcium iodate, dried tomato pomace, yeast culture, monosodium phosphate, sodium sulfate, ferric sulfate, manesium oxide, cobalt sulfate, cane sugar, di-methionine, pyridoxine hydrochloride, ferrous fumarate, sea salt, l-lysine, lecithin, potassium iodide, beta carotene, zinc methionine complex, hydrochloric acid, yucca schidigera extract, algae meal, diatomaceous earth, cobalt choline citrate complex, ferric choline citrate complex, calcium pantothenate, copper choline citrate complex, magnesium amino acid chelate, zinc amino acid chelate, calcium amino acid chelate, iron amino acid chelate, manganese amino acid chelate, copper amino acid chelate, cobalt amino acid chelate, thiamine mononitrate, ferrous carbonate, amylase, cellulose, maltase, phytase, protease, lipase, mixed tocopherols, citric acid, ascorbic acid, lecithin, rosemary extract.

Happy Glider pellets can only be purchased online at https://www.pet-pro.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2&products_id=11

And Critterlove.com. I think there are a few online suppliers that carry their pellets too.

I have spoken to the owner/operator Ken of happy glider in person. He's not a giant corporation that's only in it for the money. This kibble is proven to be a good supplement and also aids in dental hygiene.

I use this as a supplement and daytime snacks. I also have it for emergencies in case of catastrophe or evacuation.

I was curious about Happy glider ingredients and looked them up. I'm surprised that some of the ingredients are the same and just about in the same order which indicates portion/percentage of each ingredient.

We all have to make some hard choices on what and how to feed our pets. In the end, it's up to you.

As far as I know Suncoast hasn't been a proven diet or been tested by any uninterested ( by financial gain from Suncoast) lab.

I feed Critterlove and salad #3 as the main staple diet.

Below is the ingredient list from Happy glider fruity flavored pellets. One that is a favorite in our home. It's possible Suncoast pellets are made by pet-pro, but I'm not sure.

Ingredients
Toasted yellow corn flour, extruded soybean meal, toasted barley flour, soybean meal, corn gluten meal, whole dried eggs, calcium carbonate, dicalcium phosphate, fish meal, flax meal, sweet dried whey, vitamin E supplement, animal plasma, salt, potassium chloride, vitamin A acetate, D-activated animal sterol (source of vitamin D3), DL-alpha tocopheryl acetate (source of vitamin E), menadione sodium bisulphate complex (source of vitamin K), vitamin B-12 supplement, calcium pantothenate, niacin supplement, riboflavin supplement, pyridoxine hydrochloride, thiamine mononitrate, biotin, folic acid, ferrous sulfate, zinc oxcide, zinc sulfate, maganous oxide, sodium selenite, manganese sulfate, copper sulfate, calcium iodate, dried lactobacillus acidophilus fermentation product, corn germ meal, dried kelp, dried tomato pomace, yeast culture, monosodium phosphate, sodium sulfate, ferric sulfate, magnesium oxide, cobalt sulfate, cane sugar, dl-methionine, pyridoxine hydrochloride, ferrous fumarate, sea salt, I-lysine, lecithin, potassium iodide, beta carotene, zinc methionine complex, hydrochloric acid, yucca schidigera extract, algae meal, diatomaceous earth, cobalt choline citrate complex, ferric choline citrate complex, calcium pantothenate, copper choline citrate complex, magnesium amino acid chelate, zinc amino acid chelate, calcium amino acid chelate, iron amino acid chelate, manganese amino acid chelate, copper amino acid chelate, cobalt amino acid chelate, thiamine mononitrate, ferrous carbonate, amylase, cellulose, maltase, phytase, protease, lipase, mixed tocopherols, citric acid, ascorbic acid, lecithin, rosemary extract, artificial flavors.