The Sugar Glider

THE SUGAR GLIDER

The Sugar Glider is a spectacular animal that lives in the trees, although its habitat is being destroyed by bush fires over the past couple of hundred of years, it can adapt to living even on the smallest patches of land. They are excellent climbers and they are pretty good on the ground too. They can live up to 15 years of age and they spend their lives in family groups of up to 20 individuals. These family groups often consist of seven adult Sugar Gliders, usually there are three males and four females for mating with, the rest of the group is made up of their off spring.

Unlike most of the tree dwelling marsupials these are not endangered, they are a popular domestic pet in the States for the last 20 years or more. However they are only deemed as a legal pet since Autumn of 2008. They have made great pets because of their kind nature and inquisitive behaviour and they interact with humans more so than any other rodent like pet. They are highly active and very entertaining to watch, Laws have been imposed to ensure their well being in Australia and in the States such as you must hold a permit to capture these from the wild, for breeding them and selling them. I personally don't agree with any of it, but sure who am I in the greater scheme of things.

What I would like to see happen instead is to introduce them to the country by all means, but let them live in the wild as a squirrel would, they will make human contact because they are that way inclined naturally, but let them experience the wild. Like any other animal they enjoy the freedom of the world and shouldn't,t be restricted to a house or a cage. If you leave food out for them they will come and interact with you.

                        

DESCRIPTION OF THE SUGAR GLIDER

These creatures of the trees only grow to be about 6-7 inches long, so they are only small and you could easily fit one or two onto the palm of your hand. They weigh only 90-150 grams. They vary in colour but they are mainly grey on their backs with black or cream patches on their underside with grey or black ears. They have a long tail that can support their weight when they are eating upside down, it is usually longer than their bodies, the last quarter of their tail is black often fading black to the darker tip on the tail. They come in different colours such as all white or in browns, but more commonly grey and black, with black stripes. Sugar Gliders are nocturnal creatures meaning they hunt at night for food, but they are also very active during the day light hours too.

          

They get the name Glider from their body design, they have a twin membrane that stretches from their little finger to their hind legs, when fully stretched out in flight they act as a wing or a parachute enabling the Sugar Glider to glide across open areas in the trees. They have another use for these membrane wings, when the are foraging they use them as pockets to collect food in to take back to their young. This membrane is disguised with a thin layer of fur that over laps them keeping the food safe inside. Pretty impressive little creature wouldn't you have to agree. But I'm not done yet, the Sugar Glider have been recorded to travel up to 50 meters in a single jump, they push them selves off the trunk or branch they are on, nose dive for a couple of seconds and then stretch out their arms and legs. When they are fully extended they can manipulate the down wind to get the distance required, and they can steer through the air too. They do this by curling their hands either left or right or up and down. When they are near the tree they were planning to make contact with they curl up into a ball to get the wind out of their sails and assume the impact position. They make contact with their target with all four limbs at the same time to establish a firm grip.

             

THE DIET OF A SUGAR GLIDER

Sugar Gliders eat a range of things but they don't need enormous amounts of food to sustain a stabled diet, they inhabit areas that have tree hollows for security and a supply of insects and small vertebrates, acacia, gum trees and eucalyptus sap, pollen and arthropods. They are almost impossible to see in the wild because of their nocturnal behaviour and their small size, you would have to look very closely to find one.

REPRODUCTION OF THE SUGAR GLIDER

In the Northern side of Australia there does not seem to be a mating season, here they mate all year round because of the temperature. In the south they have two mating seasons in Mid Winter and Mid Summer, the female will give birth to two infants at a time, after birth they stay in the females pouch for up to two months, after this period they will stay a further two months in the nest that the family built. All of the family will wear a sent that is formed by the male by two separate glands in his forehead and his chest, they wear this scent to let each other know that they are part of the family, and also if an intruding Sugar Glider should come they will know that they are not part of the family and they will be chased away. Sugar Gliders are very territorial when it comes to caring for their young. If the elder female adult should die then the off spring female will take her place if the male dies then a foreign male will come in and take his place. Young males of the same family will either join another colony or stay within the group, they never breed with their own kind in the wild.

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