The Smell

I have heard and read a lot of complaints/concerns that sugar gliders smell horrible. This can be true... let me say that again... it CAN BE true.

Some interesting information for all of you:

Male sugar gliders have a scent gland on top of their head as well as one on their chest. Female sugar gliders have a scent gland in their pouch. The thing most people don't know or don't mention is that both male and female gliders alike also have an anal gland. They also have 3 different smells... bet you didn't know that! Yes it's true! One smell is kind of sweet (sounds disgusting considering what we are talking about), another scent they have can be quite strong but is usually only when they are breeding and will go away. The third scent is a very strong smell that is from the anal region and happens when they get scared. In other words, if you are holding your baby and smell something horrible... they are probably scared. 

Now that we know all of that, the question becomes, how do we get rid of or control the smell so our homes don't smell like a zoo?!?

You should know, the more you clean... the more they will mark. They like to mark their territory, just like dogs. If you clean it up and make everything smell fresh and pretty, they will mark it up all over again and the process starts over.
Cleaning needs to be done in steps and on days. This is my cleaning process....

1. Once a day or every other day (depending on how dirty it is) I will clean the drop pan of my cage. I remove the soiled newspaper, wipe the tray with a baby wipe, put down fresh newspaper and it's done. 

2. Once a week I remove all fleece, pouches included and wash them. Sometimes I use Tide with Downy or just plain vinegar. Either way, they get run through the washer and the smell is gone. 

3. Every other week I remove all toys and their wheel. (ball pits, hanging toys, shape sorter, anything toy related). These can be cleaned either by putting them in the dishwasher or swishing them in soapy water (use Dawn, it works the best). Make sure they are completely dry and they can be placed back in the cage. 

4. Once a month, I remove everything from the cage (including the gliders, lol) and wipe down the cage. The grate in the bottom is usually the worst part and that is put in the bathtub to get it completely clean. I use a 50/50 mix of vinegar and water to wipe it down. 

Now, on step 4, I usually put the dirty pouch and toys back in the cage because if I don't, it becomes scent city but by this step nothing is really too stinky or too bad.
Food dishes obviously are changed every single day and kitchens are removed every other day and washed for obvious reasons.

There are some important things to note here though. In-tact males will mark more than neutered males and females. However, even if your males are neutered, they can still mark and so can females... it just won't be as bad or as much. Diet and cage cleanliness can also impact the smell of your gliders and cages. From my personal experience, I can tell you, my gliders had more of a smell when I was using the BML diet. I switched to the TPG diet and the smell wasn't as bad. THAT DOES NOT MEAN you should not use BML. This is my personal experience. Some gliders do very well on BML and some don't.

So... any questions? Comments? Concerns?

😃 Happy Gliding 😃