sugar gliders

[mischief121]

Hi,does anybody own or have information on sugar gliders.Saw them yesterday on tv and they look fascinating.Many thanks.

[puddicat]

mischief dont tell me you want one?they are going to be the new chinchillas!!!!

[wildwood]

Sugar gliders makes excellent pets but require more than the usual care.

[lankeela]

UK Tabloids Spark Sugar Glider Fad Fears
Thursday's headline in the Daily Mail: 'The new pet that's simply flying off the shelves', followed by more irresponsibility from The Sun newspaper: 'This hang-gliding possum is Britain's new must-have pet', and many follow-ups over the weekend from other mainstream media, have led to fears in specialist keeper circles, of a potentially tragic fad for Sugar Gliders.

Sugar Gliders are small silver and grey, furry, nocturnal Australasian marsupials. They have a membrane which they stretch between their wrists and ankles which enables them to glide for up to 100M, using their tail as a rudder. They are an exotic - which means, almost by definition that they are difficult to look after and can live for up to 10 years in captivity.

They need to be kept in pairs, a single animal will pine for company, so much so that it will begin self-mutilating. A pair will set you back around �300. They require a very large cage and even more secure space beyond that in which to glide at night. They cannot be trained to use a litter tray like a cat, so they will foul whatever space they are given.

Specialist Sugar Glider keepers have expressed dismay at this weekend's tabloid driven fad and warn the public that these animals, which are illegal to keep in most Australian states, are high maintenance with specific and complicated dietary needs, messy, smelly and noisy, (they will bark all night long).

If you have not yet been put off from joining this fad, find out more before you buy - by visiting the Sugar Glider Forum.

[LoftyLottie]

Seeing them on TV the other day filled me with dismay as people will now want to keep them as pets. I agree totally with Lankeela and Pickle.

I can understand your interest in them mischief as they were certainly beautiful little animals and I had never heard of them before.

[spudqueen]

Personally I think it a shame that anyone would want to keep an animal like this in captivity. Surely it should be in the wild. Zoos aren't too bad, at least they can replicate in minature the animals natural surroundings, and there would be others of their species there. I can't see a suburban living room being a substitute for it's natural surroundings.