Sugar Glider

The Sugar Glider is a marsupial, common in light wooden areas in East and North Australia. It is increasingly popular as a pet because of its cuddly appearance. The Sugar Glider is named for its preference for sweet foods such as ripe fruit and nectar. On the sides of the body, between front and hind legs, there are skin folds that can function as gliding membranes when the animal stretches its paws. Like this it can glide for distances up to 50 meters.

Sugar Gliders are not diurnal, not even crepuscular, but a hundred percent nocturnal. Not until it is completely dark will they stick out their heads from their hiding places and blink at their surroundings. With their large black-rimmed eyes they look extremely decorative, but, unfortunately, their owners can hardly ever observe that. The eyes of these shy little animals are so photosensitive that even a flashlight is almost too bright. If you would like to keep a Sugar Gliders as a pet, you must live in a darkened room, and that room needs to be of a considerable size because squirrels, and in particular flying squirrels, need a lot of living space. Standard cages are much too small.

Also, the Sugar Spider enthusiast had better have a very weak sense of smell. Like a lot of nocturnal animals the Sugar Glider uses odours to communicate and it uses its urine to mark its nest hole and territory. It definitely is not a good idea to have a Sugar Glider as a pet.