What goes in the bottom of the cage??

New owners and many others often ask what to use in the bottom of the cages. 

Depending on your cage, most have a wire grate with a drop pan. However, some cages do not have the grate. In the case your cage is one without a grate, you can use newspaper which is not highly recomended because the ink from the paper can cause a urinary tract infection. My suggestion would be to use a piece of fleece cut to the size of the cage. You may want to cut several pieces as it should be changed at minimum every two days to help prevent smells and again, urinary tract infections... we want these little guys healthy and clean. You can use newspaper under the fleece as well if you wish to do so.
As for cages with the bottom grate and drop pan, below is a list of things you are able to use. 
1. Newspaper 
2. Equestrian Bedding Pellets - make sure they are pine, not cedar
3. Fleece- either in the drop pan or to cover the grate in the bottom of the cage
4. Puppy Pads
5. Freezer Paper
6. Cozy N Frsh

Personally, I have cut fleece to fit over the grate in my cages. Please feel free to share your ideas and what works for you!

Happy Gliding!!

Stains?

Just so we are clear, I am not talking about clothing stains or carpet stains. Although I have a good fix for those 😄

As I am standing at my cage this morning giving the usual yoggie treat or marshmallow to my fuzzbutts, I noticed Bam Bam is severely stained on his chest and part of his belly. Being that I am not at all an expert or "veteran" on sugar gliders, I reached out for help. My first step was to post on Facebook and start asking questions... why is he stained? What causes staining? Did I do something wrong? What do I do and how can I fix it? My second step, because I didn't get an immediate response on Facebook and I am the most impatient person on earth, I Googled it! Yes, I am addicted to Google.

Here are the answers I found to all my questions;

There are literally like 5 things that can causing yellowing, or staining as we suggie slaves call it. 

1.) Poor diet - Yellowing of the fur could mean the glider is not on a good, healthy diet resulting in poor health. Changing the diet will result in an improvement but will take time. Considering all my gliders are on the TPG diet with vitamins, I pretty much ruled this one out.

2.) The living conditions are not clean - Living conditions must be improved and fur will reverse itself but, again, will take time. I deep clean my cages once a month and "spot clean" almost daily so this was also ruled out.  

3.) The glider is ill - I haven't noticed anything else going on with Bam Bam or any pressing concerns with his attitude or mannerisms. This has not been completely ruled out and will more than likely result in a vet visit if the staining does not improve over the next few days or so. 

4.) Scent gland/marking/grooming-  If the yellowing is on the chest of a male glider, it can be from his scent gland. He could be marking, flossing or grooming. Considering he is an intact male, this could be the culprit. 

5.) UTI (urinary tract infection) - this could very well be the cause of Bam Bam's staining. He has been making the hissing/spitting/sneezing sound but as we all know, that could just be from flossing or grooming. 

At any rate, I don't have an exact answer to give as to why my sugar glider is stained, however this is a good guide to finding out why he is. 

Please note that this is only possible causes of staining. This blog post in not in any way intended as a medical reference for your gliders. If you have concerns with your gliders and staining, please contact your vet for advice and/or care. 

As always, thanks for visiting my blog!

 ~ Happy Gliding 

TOYS! TOYS! and MORE TOYS!!

    TOYS!.... oh boy!! Aside from all the handmade toys you can find on Ebay, Amazon and Etsy, there is also Little Tikes, Playskool, etc. I personally have 3 houses, 2 buses, 2 shape sorters, 3 cars, an airplane, an elephant ball popper, a dinosaur ball popper, a barn, a treehouse and 2 other treehouse type things.... that's the things I can think of off the top of my head. you can seriously spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on this little guys! So where do you find all these things without spending a fortune at retail stores like Wal-Mart, Meijer, Target?? Let me tell you... Goodwill will be your best friend if you own a sugar glider.
I went to our local Goodwill last week and finally found the airplane I wanted. It was $4.00 but had all the little people with it that I didn't want, didn't need. So I asked to speak with the manager and got $2 off because I didn't want the people. Same with the big treehouse, I didn't want or need the people so they took $2 off the price.
Another good place to find toys?? Yardsales and flea markets. During the spring, summer and fall most people are cleaning out their homes and getting rid of stuff they don't need, things their kids have outgrown and just plain clutter. I bought my elephant ball popper for $5, they retail at $35. How? Yardsale.
My point to all of this... don't pay retail for toys! Get out to those yardsale's, go to Goodwill. They are everywhere once you start looking.

Happy Toy Hunting 😉

MOM!... I want a sugar glider!

    For me to say it is a bad idea to buy a sugar glider for a child wouldn't be fair. Not all sugar gliders are the same and not all children are the same. Many people will tell you sugar gliders are not "kid-friendly" animals. My personal opinion is that you are the parent, you make the decision. Sugar gliders CAN BE good pets but there are things you should take into account before actually making the purchase.
 
    Let's cover some basics; sugar gliders pee and poop wherever and whenever they feel the need, or even want for that matter. Little tiny nails have a tendency to scratch our skin and trust me, when they jump on your head it doesn't feel too pretty... and then there is the biting issue... yes they bite (I'm talking about the gliders but beware of the kids, they can bite too). Biting is not an all the time, everytime you hold them thing but it does happen and more often than not, it really hurts. They can nibble to say I love you or they can chomp down and draw blood.
Gliders are nocturnal animals, it is 12:39 a.m. where I am currently sitting and my 6 gliders are just waking up so time is an issue for children going to school and needing their 8 hours of sleep. For obvious reasons, children cannot stay up late at night to play with the little fuzzy creatures.
Diets are also sometimes an issue because gliders need a good healthy staple diet, which does not include buying a bag of food at the local grocery store, throwing it in a dish and being done. These diets are specific and while there are several different variations and types, they all involve prep work and measurements, etc... things younger children cannot be responsible for.
When I was a child, I loved giving my cat a bath. I bet I had the cleanest cat in the entire world considering his bath was usually twice a week and so we are clear... cats hate water! Sugar gliders can not get wet, not because they will turn into ugly little gremlins but because they can catch pneumonia very quickly and it can be fatal.
Cleaning, which most kids absolutely hate, is a must. I'm not talking about dumping some wood shavings and replacing them. The whole cage has to be cleaned, wiped down with vinegar and water or even taken outside and washed down. Everything in the cage must be cleaned on a regular basis; this means all the toys, all the fleece, all bedding.... anything and everything in the cage.
On top of everything else, gliders seem to be messy little things and some even like to throw their food... all over the cage, on the floor, on the wall.... it's crazy how such tiny little animals can be so messy!
    Now, with everything I have said, please understand I am not saying gliders are the worst animal for kids. In the beginning I told you not all sugar gliders are the same and not all children are the same and that is true. If this is something you are considering, I will not advise against it however, I will strongly suggest you do a lot of research. Keep in mind, every child should be supervised with animals especially animals of this size. Educate your child about the animal and how to care for it and be there to guide them when they need help.

So that's it! I hope you have enjoyed this blog post!!

~ Happy Gliding

The Life of Henry

   It has been a week shy of one entire year since I first got Henry... sweet, little, adorable Henry.
Valentine's Day was the next day and I told my husband I wanted a squirrel. I started a search on Craiglist and actually found a breeder. I was told I would have to wait until May because of the breeding season so I went back to Craigslist and ran across an ad for a sugar glider rescue.
  Now, before I get into that story, I owned a sugar glider several years before. At the time, I had absolutely no knowledge of gliders whatsoever. The little guy I had was SO mean, he wouldn't come out of his pouch except to eat, wouldn't come out of his cage and every time I tried to get him out he would bite. The few times I was able to get him out, he would crab the whole time and bite almost continuously until I finally gave up and sent him back to the lady I got him from.
   So back to this rescue. I contacted them and was told they didn't usually adopt out any of their gliders but they had just gotten one about 6 weeks beforehand and being that they already had 9 gliders, they would sell the one they had just gotten. Mind you, this was Craigslist and we have all heard the horror stories of meeting random people from Craigslist. I was told this was a 16 year old girl who just had a deep love for gliders and rescued them from people who could no longer care for them. She sent me pictures of Henry, pictures of her with Henry and even had me check out her Facebook page. Henry originally came from a woman who just left him in the cage 24 hours a day, never took  him to play or anything else for that matter. In other words, Henry had never bonded to anyone. I have no information on Henry at all. I don't know when he was born, how old he is and have no lineage. I was told he might be about 3-4 years old. After talking to my husband and deciding it was safe to meet this girl, I made an hour long trip (one way) to get Henry. I paid $95 for him. I got to the gas station where we had agreed to meet and as soon as I took the pouch, Henry started crabbing and would not stop. I got in the car, with Henry in his pouch around my neck and held my hand over his pouch until he calmed down and fell asleep. The drive back home was terrible. It had started to snow, which I knew there was a snow storm coming and decided to make the trip anyway figuring I would make it back before it started. The car was slipping and sliding all over the road and all I could think was that I was going to have an accident and kill the little guy before I even got him to his new home. It took almost 2 1/2 hours to make it back but we did it... just me and little Henry.
   For the next 2 months, I played with Henry constantly, got him out of his cage, played with him, let him crawl all over me. I joined just about every sugar glider group on Facebook I ran across and even bought him a leash so I could have him out more without him getting lost. Of course, I found out not long after I got the leash they are completely unsafe and got rid of it.
Anyway, I had read several posts in the Facebook groups saying you should have more than one glider because of them being highly sociable animals and decided to get Henry a friend. That's when I found Yoda and Lucy and made another hour long drive to pick them up. Low and behold, I found out apparently sugar gliders are also highly sexual animals, lol. Henry would not leave Lucy alone. He was constantly on top of her, wouldn't let her out of the pouch and if she attempted to get out, he would pull her back in. One night while I was feeding them, I noticed Henry's penis was out and looked really red and was black on the tip. Yes, completely black!! I was terrified and contacted a glider friend on Facebook. She told me what to do for the night and to get him to the vet as soon as I possibly could.
The next day was Henry's first vet trip. The vet looked him over and told me there were two options. One, they amputate. Two, they put him to sleep and try to manipulate his penis back in. Obviously, I went with the second choice. So, although I didn't want to, I left Henry in the hands of the vet. I got a call later that afternoon telling me I could pick him up. When I got back to the office I was informed that everything went really well BUT.... as soon as Henry woke up, he grabbed his penis and pulled it back out!! The vet suggested I take him home and use a lubricant to see if it would go back in on it's own. I did this for 2 days over the weekend without any luck. Monday came around and he was back at the vet. Henry's penis was amputated and he was neutered.
Fast forward almost a year later, Henry still isn't completely bonded but seems to be very happy and healthy. If I go close to his cage he will come to me, he knows his name and will come when called, he will jump on my arm and climb up when I open the cage door, and absolutely loves tent time. When he is out of the cage and gets scared, he will run to me and hide. However, if there is any bare skin showing, he will bite and he loves toes, with or without socks, if he can get to them, he will bite them.
He seems to get a little better with each and every passing day and hopefully one day he will let me hold him in my hand. Although, I'm not sure that is very likely considering he doesn't like being still for any length of time but I will keep trying and working with him.
Henry was my first glider. I'm ashamed to admit it but... Henry is also my favorite (shhh, don't tell the others, they don't know).
So, that's it! The life of Henry. Again, I don't know his exact age or his birthday but I am considering Valentine's Day (February 14th) as his birthday and will consider this Valentine's Day as his first birthday.
So... here's to my baby boy Henry and a very long, happy life!!

A Little Pouch Time

Been busy making bonding pouches. Sorry for the delay in a new blog post.... stay tuned for more blogging!

Let's Bond

Many new sugar gliders owners, and even older ones, want to know the secret to bonding with  their babies. There are so many different ways, so many different opinions and so many different styles. There is tent time where you actually set up a tent and climb in with the glider and let them jump around the tent and all over you to get used to you. There is bathtub time where you actually put the glider in the bathtub (no water of course), sit there and pet them and play with them. There is the bonding pouch which most everyone knows, you put the glider in a little pouch and where it around your neck for several hours throughout the day. I'm sure there are other methods but these are the most common (or ones that I have seen and heard most commonly anyway).
The problem with all these different methods is that no two gliders are the same and no two gliders have the same personality. The other problem is gliders have their own time frame on when they want to do things, you can't make a glider bond with you when you want them to. Trust me on this one, I have had Henry for almost a year now and have done everything I can possibly think of, including begging him, to get him to bond with me. Although he is doing a lot better, we are still not quite there yet.  If you want the best advice anyone can give you, LISTEN UP!
SPEND TIME WITH THEM!! I don't care how you do it. I don't care if you walk circles around your house for three hours straight while letting them climb and run all over you. It doesn't matter if you do tent time or bathtub time or whatever your method is. Simply spend time with them. Talk to them so they know your voice, sing to them (they don't care if you are good or not 😄, pet them, give them treats from your hand. Let them crawl on you. Let them investigate you. When they feel completely comfortable with you, then and only then, will they start to bond with you. It really is that simple. 
As most of us know, some gliders take longer than others and the amount of time can vary depending on your glider. Don't stick with just one thing, like the bonding pouch, because it may not work. Try different things with them. As long as you are spending time with them, that's really what counts. 
Please feel free to drop a comment... or two.

Good Luck and as always, thanks for visiting my blog! 

Sugar Glider Recipes

Having 6 sugar gliders, 2 dogs, a cat, 3 kids and a husband at home it's really not easy to find time to just sit and do the things I want or enjoy. Last night, I had a bit of extra time and decided to spend that time on Pinterest, yeah I'm a pretty interesting person, lol. 

At any rate, I'm on Pinterest and I ran across some weird recipe for sugar gliders and got curious. Of course I have seen recipes before but never really gave them much thought. I typed "sugar glider recipes" into the search bar and came up with a lot of different stuff. Keep in mind, when I look for recipes, I want something reasonably cheap and easy to prepare. I copied down the recipes and off to the store this morning to buy ingredients. Below, you will find the recipes I used (I do not own the recipes). I spent roughly $16 at Meijer and that includes a few little extra things I needed for the house.

First we have Glider Pancakes...

You need: Plain or fruit flavored shredded wheat cereal (not frosted) and an egg.

I used one pack of Post Shredded Wheat Original Big Biscuit and 3 eggs. 

To Prepare: Crumble shredded wheat and mix with the raw egg then cook just like a pancake. No need to use butter or oil. 

You can freeze these also. 

Glider Pancakes

The ice cubes really are not a recipe but I figured I would throw it in. I had some blueberries, raspberries and bananas I bought a few days ago so I put them in the ninja, chopped them up and put them in a cute heart shaped tray. Gliders LOVE them!

Frozen fruit treats

So next we have Glider Quiche.

You need: 1 egg, diced veggies or fruits or whatever glider safe food you want to use. I used a veggie mix of sweet potatoes, spinach, carrots and baby bok choy. Also, mini cupcake baking cups. 

To Prepare: Mix ingredients, Bake at 350 degress for about 15-20 minutes.

You can freeze these as well.
                                             

Glider Quiche

And there you have it. The photos are what I actually made btw. 

Do you have any other recipes you use for special treats for your gliders? Please feel free to share!

As always, Thanks for visiting my blog!
                                           

Tent Time

Last night was Jericho's first tent time. He did pretty well but was really scared at first. I know he was scared because of the horrible smell of him marking me (remember the post yesterday about the different smells, lol). When we first got in the tent, he climbed up on the side and didn't move for probably a good 10-15 minutes. After Jericho watched Lucy and Yoda jumping around and finding all the hidden treats I had left for them, he decided it was safe to come down. He moved really, really slow at first then would run across the whole length of the tent and stop. Eventually he warmed up to me and got comfortable with where he was and started jumping and running all over the place like he had been there his whole life. He ran around, climbed, leaped and even jumped on my head several times. By the time we finished and started packing stuff up, I couldn't keep him off me. I say tent time went really well for him and bonding has begun! 😆

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 😃

Jericho's First Photos

Finally got some photos of Jericho. He doesn't like to be still and absolutely loves to attack the phone, although he doesn't take very good selfies, lol. 💓

Glider Kitchens

Glider kitches... why do we use them, what purpose do they serve?

I always thought it was kind of a dumb idea to use these "kitchens." I mean, seriously, give the little guys their food and be done with it. I never really saw the purpose of using one except to take up extra space in the cage and it was just another thing to spend money on... like we don't spend enough money on our cherished fuzzies. Of course, I was having these thoughts when I still had only Henry, then I got Yoda and Lucy... then I added Gizmo (he is currently living with my daughter in his forever home) and then... I got Pebbles and Bam Bam...  Now, I also have Jericho. See how that works... they are truly addictive!
Anyway, back to the point I was trying to make, lol. By the time I was up to 4 gliders, I realized Pebbles and Bam Bam are SO messy; they would throw food everywhere, all over the cage, the floor and of course my wall. I thought it was just because they are blind and couldn't see what they were doing. Turns out neither of them are actually blind, but have cataracts. Even still, the mess was just horrific. I was wiping down and cleaning the cage, floor and wall every single day. As we all know, cleaning up after these babies is sometimes an all day job just in itself.
Eventually I gave in and decided to use the kitchen. WOW, what a difference! The food actually stays pretty well contained in the kitchen and there is not much of a mess to clean up. 
So, why do we use them and what purpose do they serve? ... yeah, I answered that. The kitchen gets pretty dirty but it's easy to grab it out, throw it in the dishwasher or wash it on hand and put it back in the cage. Wa-la.. clean up is done!

I use the igloo style hamster hideaway in my cages but there are several other things you can use. I opted to use the hideaways because they only cost about $5 - $10 depending on where you go and buying was just easier than trying to make one.

I have added some photos for everyone and I highly recommend using one of these.

Thanks Again for visiting my blog!

This is the igloo style I use

Homemade kitchen

I love this one but it looks hard to make 

Sugar gliders and Other Pets

I have seen and heard so many different opinions on whether it is okay for sugar gliders and other pets to be around each other and to "play" together. I am on the fence with this issue. I completely understand the view of the sugar glider "community" and the (for lack of a better term) Facebook hate groups. I understand why it is said by many, many people these small creatures should not be around other animals. I understand the dangers involved.

Taking a closer look...

Cats: their saliva is supposed to be toxic to sugar gliders, their instinct is to hunt, chase, kill. Cats will pounce on their prey. Cats like to bat at things when they play, most times with claws out.

Dogs: size alone is an issue regardless of the dog, dogs like to bite when they play, they become rambunctious and bounce around, they paw at things when they play.

With all that being said, the fact remains... YOU KNOW YOUR ANIMALS! Maybe you have the sweetest , most loving cat or dog in the world and maybe they don't do all the things mentioned above. Maybe your animals will just lay there and be completely oblivious to everything around them. Maybe you have an older dog that just likes to cuddle with anything and everything they possibly can, including sugar gliders, lol.
Maybe your cat is lazy and doesn't like to hunt. Maybe your cat has been declawed.

There are so many different factors we have to consider when we determine if it is safe for our fuzz butts to play or be around our other animals. Not all dogs are the same, not all cats are the same and as we all know too well... not all sugar gliders are the same. Each and every animal has their own personality and demeanor.

My point is this; While it may not be safe in some households, it could be completely safe in another. Yes, there are risks and there are dangers, but at the same time, YOU are the one taking the risks and weighing the dangers between YOUR animals. In my home, I know without a doubt, it is not safe.

So, instead of asking in facebook groups where you will get yelled at, degraded and told how horrible you are for even having the thought.... make the decision for yourself. You know your animals and you are the only one taking the risks.

Thanks for visiting my blog!

Meet the Crew

Here I am Creating a blog about sugar gliders. Lame? Maybe, but here you are reading it.

So... Let me introduce you to my crew...

Henry is a classic 

Bam Bam is a white face

Yoda is a ringtail mosaic

Pebbles is a white face

Lucy is a ringtail mosaic

Yes, I know, I said I have 6 gliders and you are only seeing 5. I just got Jericho this past weekend and have not had a chance to snap any photos of him, not to worry though, there will be plenty coming.
That's all for today. Stay tuned for more about my sugar glider life ❤❤