- Sugar Glider Care -
When you first get your joeys home, they will most likely be very stressed. They have been taken to a new and strange place where nothing is familiar. I will give a small a scrap of fleece that has been kept in the sugar glider bonding pouch. Place this in their sleeping area to give them something they know to help settle them. Once they know the cage is theirs, they will have a place they know and will most likely run back in if startled. I would advise leaving them alone the first day before starting the process of bonding your new joeys with you.
- Housing -

Sugar Gliders are arboreal so a taller enclosure is the best for them. The bare minimum size is 2ft x 2ft and 4ft in height for a pair or trio but naturally the bigger the better. Sugar gliders must never be housed alone and doing so can cause stress which can lower resistance to illness and also lead to mental issues such as running in circles and even self mutilation. In the wild, sugar gliders live in large groups and, though there may be a very very rare glider who will not tolerate company, it is essential that they are kept in pairs or larger groups. All female groups are generally the easiest: females do not scent mark as much as the males. All male groups can work but the colony must be carefully observed for any bullying which can be easily resolved by having the males castrated. Mixed groups work well but naturally they may breed if the male is intact. More than a single intact male should not be kept with females (even if the females are only in the same house) as they may fight each other as a result.
Different types of enclosure can be used; barred cages should have bars no more than 1.5cm apart and wire cages should have a coating over the mesh to make it easier on suggie feet. Wire/barred cages are widely available, allow the suggie to climb over all the walls (and ceiling) so giving them much more climbing space but also allow them to fling food and poop out of the cage and into your room. Vivariums prevent the mess and draughts but you lose the wall space for climbing. Beware of cages with sliding waste trays as these can be used as an escape or you may trap a suggie when in use.
Sugar gliders will need a sleeping area and I usually provide two or three for a trio of gliders; though you will almost always find them snuggled up together. You can use nest boxes lines with fleece strips or paper bedding for example or hanging fleecy pouches. I have always found mine prefer the pouches.
Different types of enclosure can be used; barred cages should have bars no more than 1.5cm apart and wire cages should have a coating over the mesh to make it easier on suggie feet. Wire/barred cages are widely available, allow the suggie to climb over all the walls (and ceiling) so giving them much more climbing space but also allow them to fling food and poop out of the cage and into your room. Vivariums prevent the mess and draughts but you lose the wall space for climbing. Beware of cages with sliding waste trays as these can be used as an escape or you may trap a suggie when in use.
Sugar gliders will need a sleeping area and I usually provide two or three for a trio of gliders; though you will almost always find them snuggled up together. You can use nest boxes lines with fleece strips or paper bedding for example or hanging fleecy pouches. I have always found mine prefer the pouches.
- Cleaning -
Sugar gliders are fairly messy, especially with their food which will often end up everywhere! Some people use a self contained “kitchen” to minimise the food flinging but this is only a choice. Suggies cannot be toilet trained, when they want to go, they go, but I find they usually urinate and defecate after being first woken up so you can allow them to do their business before handling. Suggies will also sit on the bars of an open cage and wee outside the bars.
Sugar gliders will also scent mark (males more) anything and everything in the cage. You will need to do a daily spot clean to remove any uneaten perishable food (or you will end up with fruit flies and other nasties!) and mess and a weekly full clean. There are many animal safe cleaning products that can be used to clean the branches and toys inside the cage. I tend not to wash all the items at the same time as I find the new scents stress the gliders. I always have two pouches and I wash them on alternate weeks so they always have a sleeping area that has a familiar scent. I do the same with the branches / toys; half one week, half the next.
Sugar gliders will also scent mark (males more) anything and everything in the cage. You will need to do a daily spot clean to remove any uneaten perishable food (or you will end up with fruit flies and other nasties!) and mess and a weekly full clean. There are many animal safe cleaning products that can be used to clean the branches and toys inside the cage. I tend not to wash all the items at the same time as I find the new scents stress the gliders. I always have two pouches and I wash them on alternate weeks so they always have a sleeping area that has a familiar scent. I do the same with the branches / toys; half one week, half the next.
- Temperature -
Room temperature (between 18 – 30 degrees) is suitable for sugar gliders but always be aware of draughts or direct sunlight cooling or heating your cage. An open cage will naturally fluctuate in temperature as much as the room you have them in. A vivarium type enclosure is easier to keep constant temperature wise but more susceptible to getting too hot. Again keep the enclosure away from direct sunlight or draughts. A glider that gets too cold can suffer from torpor which is similar to hibernation except it will be fatal if not resolved. The glider will need to be warmed, rehydrated and the blood sugar level raised back up to normal.
- Enrichment -

As arboreal animals, naturally you will need various climbing platforms for suggies. Branches (fruit trees such as apple and pear wood are much appreciated and will often be chewed) hanging ropes and ladders all make good substitutes for the trees they would use in the wild. Ferret type cages that often have multiple floors and levels are no use to sugar gliders as they tend to spend all their time in the branches and not on flat floors. These also limit the gliding room. My own cage has only one very narrow shelf which I use as a feeding platform.
I would say that a solid based (not wire) exercise wheel is essential. Sugar gliders will spend ages each night running, or rather leaping, along in the wheel and it also helps ensure your glider is fit, healthy and not overweight. Wodent wheels, Savic, stealth wheels and silent spinners all make good wheels. My suggies also have a flying saucer wheel but I would personally only use as a secondary wheel as they tend to play on it rather that run.
I like to provide my suggies with a forage box filled with dry leaves where I hide treats such as mealworms or yoghurt drops. I do also have various “hidey” holes around the cage where I hide treats.
I would say that a solid based (not wire) exercise wheel is essential. Sugar gliders will spend ages each night running, or rather leaping, along in the wheel and it also helps ensure your glider is fit, healthy and not overweight. Wodent wheels, Savic, stealth wheels and silent spinners all make good wheels. My suggies also have a flying saucer wheel but I would personally only use as a secondary wheel as they tend to play on it rather that run.
I like to provide my suggies with a forage box filled with dry leaves where I hide treats such as mealworms or yoghurt drops. I do also have various “hidey” holes around the cage where I hide treats.
- Diet -

The diet of sugar gliders is probably the most complex and much debated area of their husbandry. The main rules are that the calcium: phosphorus ratio must be 2:1 and the diet must consist of a protein source, calcium source, fruit, vegetables, nectar and vitamin supplements. Fresh water must be readily available and a water bottle is the best method even if they do drink while hanging upside down!
Sugar gliders can and do eat a huge range of foods. Papaya, sweet potato and blueberries are superfoods so I often use one or other as a base in my fruit mixes. They will eat a wide range of fruit, vegetables, meat (chicken and turkey go down well), cooked egg as well as insects such as mealworms or dubia roaches. I have a protein bowl (chicken, egg, insects) a kibble bowl (a few cat biscuits mixed with insectivore diet, bee pollen, aciaca gum and glider booster dusted on), a veggie bowl (fruit and veg) and my staple mix bowl for my chosen base diet.
Calcium is essential for sugar gliders as a lack can lead to Hind Leg Paralysis. This can be treated in the early stages but will eventually most likely prove fatal if missed. The best cure is prevention by being careful over your sugar glider’s diet.
Your Sugar glider diet must contain protein, fruit and veg, a staple diet (see diets above), calcium, supplements (aciaca gum, glider booster) and naturally fresh water always available.
Sugar gliders can and do eat a huge range of foods. Papaya, sweet potato and blueberries are superfoods so I often use one or other as a base in my fruit mixes. They will eat a wide range of fruit, vegetables, meat (chicken and turkey go down well), cooked egg as well as insects such as mealworms or dubia roaches. I have a protein bowl (chicken, egg, insects) a kibble bowl (a few cat biscuits mixed with insectivore diet, bee pollen, aciaca gum and glider booster dusted on), a veggie bowl (fruit and veg) and my staple mix bowl for my chosen base diet.
Calcium is essential for sugar gliders as a lack can lead to Hind Leg Paralysis. This can be treated in the early stages but will eventually most likely prove fatal if missed. The best cure is prevention by being careful over your sugar glider’s diet.
Your Sugar glider diet must contain protein, fruit and veg, a staple diet (see diets above), calcium, supplements (aciaca gum, glider booster) and naturally fresh water always available.
Good Food Examples
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Bad / Toxic Foods
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- Bonding -

A new sugar glider will naturally not be bonded with the new owner. They have been taken from their family, taken for a stressful journey and placed somewhere new with strange smells, sounds and unfamiliar people. I always keep a few scraps of fleece in the pouch with joeys so that the suggies will have something familiar in their new cage. The suggies may have been bonded with their old owner but you will have to effectively start again to bond them in their new home.
The most important thing is not to rush it, let the suggies settle at their own pace and never discipline them; only reward good behaviour. Many suggies can be pouch defensive, so do not stick your hand straight into the pouch while they are asleep, the best you will get is angry crabbing and perhaps a nip for your trouble. Wake them up gently, talk softly and offer treats. Use a little bit of yoghurt on the back of your hand to tempt them out, they get a treat whilst also getting used to your scent. (sugar gliders are not lactose intolerant like many animals) Don’t let them finish it as suggies will gouge instinctively for more, simply top it up. You can also leave an old t-shirt in the cage or pouch so they can get used to your scent.
Pop up tents are a fab way of bonding; sit inside with your suggies and, as you are the only climbable object, they will use you as their “tree” but make sure you hide the sleeping pouch or they will simply run back inside. It is a lot easier trying to recapture loose unbounded suggies from a contained tent than loose in your room.
When your suggies are calm, not crabbing at you (except maybe a grumble if suddenly woken up) try picking them up, whilst offering yoghurt or treats, by scooping them from behind. Just allow them to sit there quietly until they move away and repeat. Eventually they will be coming over to you asking for cuddles.
I also use bonding pouches which I wear around the house so they sleep next to you again getting used to your scent.
The most important thing is not to rush it, let the suggies settle at their own pace and never discipline them; only reward good behaviour. Many suggies can be pouch defensive, so do not stick your hand straight into the pouch while they are asleep, the best you will get is angry crabbing and perhaps a nip for your trouble. Wake them up gently, talk softly and offer treats. Use a little bit of yoghurt on the back of your hand to tempt them out, they get a treat whilst also getting used to your scent. (sugar gliders are not lactose intolerant like many animals) Don’t let them finish it as suggies will gouge instinctively for more, simply top it up. You can also leave an old t-shirt in the cage or pouch so they can get used to your scent.
Pop up tents are a fab way of bonding; sit inside with your suggies and, as you are the only climbable object, they will use you as their “tree” but make sure you hide the sleeping pouch or they will simply run back inside. It is a lot easier trying to recapture loose unbounded suggies from a contained tent than loose in your room.
When your suggies are calm, not crabbing at you (except maybe a grumble if suddenly woken up) try picking them up, whilst offering yoghurt or treats, by scooping them from behind. Just allow them to sit there quietly until they move away and repeat. Eventually they will be coming over to you asking for cuddles.
I also use bonding pouches which I wear around the house so they sleep next to you again getting used to your scent.
- Introductions -
So for whatever reason you have a lonely glider or you want to expand your colony, you will need to know how to introduce sugar gliders to each other.
Never try to introduce intact males to other males as they will be very very unlikely to get on and will probably fight, but introducing castrated males to each other is fine.
The first thing you will need to do is quarantine your new suggie to make sure it is not carrying any parasites or illnesses that can affect the rest of your gliders. After quarantine, you can either split your existing cage if it is large enough or place two cages side by side. Your suggies can see, hear and smell each other, but not touch or fight. Swap over pouches and toys to mix the scents and get them used to each other.
After a period of pouch swapping you can now try a first meeting. You will need neutral ground, somewhere neither suggies have been; again a pop up tent is perfect for this. Make sure there are no toys, pouches or food to start squabbles and try them together in the neutral space. Be ready to break up any fights. If they are in a ball at each other, break it up quickly before one gets injured.
A bit of crabbing, swiping and lunging is normal and hopefully after any initial warnings they will investigate each other. Grooming is the best sign of all. When I see new gliders grooming each other for a period of time I classify them as bonded and move them in together... with all the stuff washed to try keeping it neutral.
Some suggies will not get along, so be prepared to have two cages in case it doesn’t work. Some may squabble and settle and others may be friends instantly; you can never tell.
Never try to introduce intact males to other males as they will be very very unlikely to get on and will probably fight, but introducing castrated males to each other is fine.
The first thing you will need to do is quarantine your new suggie to make sure it is not carrying any parasites or illnesses that can affect the rest of your gliders. After quarantine, you can either split your existing cage if it is large enough or place two cages side by side. Your suggies can see, hear and smell each other, but not touch or fight. Swap over pouches and toys to mix the scents and get them used to each other.
After a period of pouch swapping you can now try a first meeting. You will need neutral ground, somewhere neither suggies have been; again a pop up tent is perfect for this. Make sure there are no toys, pouches or food to start squabbles and try them together in the neutral space. Be ready to break up any fights. If they are in a ball at each other, break it up quickly before one gets injured.
A bit of crabbing, swiping and lunging is normal and hopefully after any initial warnings they will investigate each other. Grooming is the best sign of all. When I see new gliders grooming each other for a period of time I classify them as bonded and move them in together... with all the stuff washed to try keeping it neutral.
Some suggies will not get along, so be prepared to have two cages in case it doesn’t work. Some may squabble and settle and others may be friends instantly; you can never tell.