Hello all!

New member here. My gf and I adopted a pair of females yesterday. They had been surrendered to a pet store by the previous owners and are thought to be about a year old. My gf came across them while shopping. We buried ourselves in research for a couple of days and decided to bring the gliders into our lives. We are aware that we may have a longer road ahead of us then had we opted to go with a breeder and get babies that were weaned and just oop. My gf is good with animals; she grew up in the country and bottle-fed more than one rejected/orphaned raccoon when she was growing up. She was confidant that we could give them a loving home and we're looking forward to the challenges.

The smaller of the pair is much more social and trusting. From what we understand, the larger of the pair was never very social or willing to bond. Time and consistency will tell.

We haven't named them yet.

As far as I can tell, they came from a popular internet site The cage and food are consistent from that site. I have never had an experience with them one way or the other.

A couple of newb questions (I apologize for my ignorance, I'm absorbing a lot of info)..

1) Is the protein powder mixture sufficient enough to replace bugs and insects in their diet? Should I avoid one or the other? Use a combination?

2) When we transition to bonding pouches, can we separate the girls for part of the day or should they stay together as they are bonded to each other?

Thanks for the help!!!!

Hi! And

They will need some time to acclimate (a week or so) to their surroundings before you should start bonding. I wouldn't separate them or put them in a bonding pouch just yet.

Take some fleece blankies (4x4"ish cut fleece) and tuck under your pillows or toss in laundry basket to get your scent on them and tuck into the sleeping pouch in the morning so they can sleep with your scent and get used to you.

diet is a bit controversial. When you say protein powder, exactly what do you have?

The 2 top diets that have been tested and proven are BML and Critterlove. ( You can click on the blue word diet and it will take you to a link where there are several diet choices. I have tried BML and am currently feeding Critterlove (CL).


I'll get back on here tomorrow and look up a few links that will be helpful unless someone else pulls them up for you. In the meantime browse around and ask any questions you may have.

So glad you're here!

Congratulations on your new family members !

Dawn has given you some great information.

Thank you all for the responses! I really appreciate it. This site looks like a really wonderful community.

I will definitively get them a couple of safe snuggle blankets. My gf and I improvised by laying a couple of our just-worn t-shirts over the top of the cage to try and get them introduced to our scents.

My Critter Love Complete food order has been placed! ! I also ordered the tropical blend salad. In the meantime, I'm making due with the food they came with, which is Exotic Nutrition Instant HPW. I made them a side salad of bananas, broccoli, and kale. I also picked up mango and sweet potato. They came with a bottle of Glide-a-mins powder, which I sprinkled lightly on the salad. I'm not sure exactly what or how they were fed by their previous owners or during their month in the back room of the pet store, but the employee who took care of them mentioned that he tried to keep them in fresh veggies and mealworms.

We've kept them isolated in my studio (one of the bedrooms in my home) in low light so they have a quiet place to decompress. I spent some time with them last night, just talking to them and feeding them blueberries through the cage wire. They seemed more chill than I had seen them since we brought them home. I'm not sure if they've ever had fresh blueberries but they seemed to be delighted!!

They are so fascinating to watch. Their personalities are starting to show a little bit. The smaller, lighter colored one is more curious and, I think, was handled more. The larger one seems like she wants to be the alpha. She has no interest in her humans (yet) and keeps stealing treats from the smaller one.

They didn't have an exercise wheel so I ordered one of those as well, with a nail-o-matic.

Oops. I just read about feeding treats through the cage bars. Rookie mistake. I’ll try other techniques.

Be sure to keep the wodent wheel clean on the inside as they like to potty and poo while running.

wheels a re a bit of a controversial matter in the glider world also, but right now, the best wheels seem to be on back order by a couple of different vendors, and can take up to 10 weeks to get.
Did you order the wheel with the tail protector specifically for gliders?

I did find this:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/511313...MehwJOKchAYkXhUtZJyYJn1M5RhoCrmEQAvD_BwE


I'm curious what you read about feeding gliders through the cage bars.

I forgot to add a couple of things, still one my first cup of coffee this morning...


Here is a link to fresh salads you can make and freeze to accompany the staple you ordered. The freeze dried salad is great too, but can get expensive. For 2 gliders the fresh salads will last about 2- 3 months per batch.

https://www.critterlove.com/salad-mixtures

Second, don't forget to log in . I get bumped out about every 5 weeks or so which is normal.

That's great, thank you!

I ordered the wheel from Pocket Pets. Mistake?

I'm also looking at upgrading the cage. They came with a starter cage from Pocket Pets and need more room but I'm not convinced their I-home model is the best way to go. Critter Love has some decent ones as well. I found these on Craigslist. Would either of these be a bad/good idea?

https://dayton.craigslist.org/for/d/springfield-small-animal-cage/7174433309.html

https://dayton.craigslist.org/for/d/bellbrook-cage/7154574404.html

I feel like I don't know enough about cage height. I want to give them more room but if I get a cage that's too tall is there injury risk from a fall? Are there current cage vendors that I'm missing? I'm not on Facebook (my gf is and is looking to join some owner groups).

Regarding feeding treats through cage bars, it was somewhere in a thread on the bonding forum on this site. I'll see if I can find it. Some folks commented that feeding treats through the cage bars can encourage biting.

Again, thank you for all of your help. I really appreciate it.

I bet I'm your GF's mentor on Sugar glider guardians on FB(Just this morning).. Is she from Cincinnati? It would be weird if I were! I was wondering about that! Lol!!! You two are asking similar questions! Lol!!!

I have never heard of it being bad to feed through the cage bars, but if they don't know you, they may nibble on your finger.

Hahahahaha! She might be! Her name is Arielle. She’s from Bowling Green but went to Mortuary school in Cincinnati. It would be hilarious if you’re the same Dawn who is mentoring her!!

Yep! It can be a small world sometimes!
Ok, so here's a UTube video of how a sugar glider uses a wheel:


https://youtu.be/s1V91ze6dvs


The wodent wheel has a center axle and they only run in it. If it's got a plastic shield over the axle, it's safer than the thin metal bar.

There are several videos on wheels, but be careful about the ones that "Review" safe wheels. The one I watched was a bit too graphic of an accident... Once you get that picture in your head, it stays...

Spinzone global has wheels and treadmills. Spinzoneglobal.com it can take awhile to get this one. Each is made by hand.

Custom cruisers:
http://customchoicecruiser.all4gliders.com/
According to a reliable source they are ready to ship.

Atticworks was my favorite, but they retired and I'm not sure exactly who took over their business.


I recently looked over the other wheel some recommend over the wodent wheel. I wasn't impressed... Too many moving parts that (in my mind) could be dangerous. It's called "The Silent runner". I saw it in a pet store.

Thank you so much, Dawn!

I really appreciate you taking the time to help me with my newb questions!!!

So……changing their water everyday. No problem. Does it need to be bottled water or is tap ok? The tap water where I am is pretty good, but I may just feel that way because I was raised on it. Does the water bottle itself need to be washed every day? ‘Should I keep a handful of clean water bottles on hand and rotate them? What sort of best practice to you recommend?

The wheel came today and it’s a Wodent Wheel with no protector over the metal bar. Womp womp. I’m glad that I was able to read up on wheels (thanks again for the links) before I gave it to them. I will wait on that one and order one that you recommended. I may end up getting the style that Peggy sells and a custom cruiser. As well as a new cage. They definitely need more room!

On the bright side, CL complete food arrived!!!! They DOWNED it. I pulled the other HPW that had been provided with the gliders a couple of days prior and they didn’t touch the scrambled egg I made them the night before. They went to bed this morning happy with very full bellies. They’re still a bit picky with the salads, but I’m also still learning. The fresh mango got thumbs up all around.

We ended up naming them Violet and Veruca (any Roald Dahl fans in the room)? Violet goes crazy for blueberries (actually they both do) and Veruca is plenty salty (see what I did there?) about her life situation. Thankfully, she’s not lunging, just crabby. But, her tail has started to lay down quicker when I open the cage door, so that’s a start!

I’ll keep posting updates. Thanks so much for answering my questions!!!

Many give bottled water. When we are home I usually give tap water which in our case is well water. As long as you drink it, they can. Just stay away from distilled water. There is no hydration value to it

I use bird silos instead of water bottles( I wash every 3 days) and a shallow dish of fresh water(every day). Water bottles can be changed out once a week. Be sure the ball check is working properly. Gliders can become dehydrated quickly.

On the wodent wheel Without a plastic protector, I would send it back. Or turn it in to a toy box full of army men, barrel of monkeys, ping pong balls, dinosaurs, fleece blankies and foraging things. (But a plastic bowl or small tote is cheaper. Lol!)

SBX614,

We have many subforums. If you put you posts in to a subforum it relstes to, you may get more people chimming in with more diverse answers.

Thanks, Feather!

I'll check it out from here on out.

Update: Violet and Veruca are getting used to their new cage (EN Congo), pouches, and toys (Critterlove). I need to make a vet appointment for them. They seem to be doing well but their nails are so long that they are snagging on the fleece something fierce. It takes a herculean effort for either of them to get out of the pouch. I'm thinking about fashioning something out of a small plastic bucket to hold them over until I can get their nails clipped. My Apollo wheel with nail kit has been ordered but I don't know whether or not I can count on that to shorten their nails enough. I don't think they've ever had an exercise wheel so I don't know whether they'll take to it right out of the gate.

Anyway, thanks again for all of your help!!!

There are a ton of UTube videos on nail clipping. I think I've tried them all and I kinda took a bit out of each one and made it my own way...

I use the slant nail clippers.

I have 3 suggies that I adopted/rescued. I feed Critter Love and have used it for a few years. The vitamin powder smells like a vanilla milkshake, and the salad mixes are very detailed. I brought the bag to my exotic vet, and he thought it looked sufficient. I have tried various diets as well, and am still confused. One previous owner said she fed the BML diet, but when I got the suggie home, he refused to eat it, so I switched. There was also the TPL and Pretty Pet and (PPP) Perfect Pocket Pets I think that I have tried. No go. The other two rescues were eating cat food because the breeder told him it was okay. I always try to research foods before I add them in. I have learned not to prepare big batches of salad mixes for the freezer because they don't like the taste after a few weeks, so I do smaller batches now. I feed meal worms mainly as treats or when trimming nails. You also have to realize that each glider will have his/her own personality and likes and dislikes when it comes to food, I have tried the Monkey Biscuits and mine never touched them, as well as some freeze dried stuff which they never liked either. Waste of money for me there. You will also find that some of the better breeders will talk with you and answer questions and give advice, which for me has been super helpful. These guys are little, but they take time and dedication, but it will be worth it.