Sugar Gliders: Prices and Availability

Sugar Gliders: Prices and Availability

SunCoast sold sugar gliders to the public for over 15 years, so we have a lot of experience with glider care and behavior.  We started out when few  people had ever heard of sugar gliders, never mind wanted to own one!  Now, we keep about a dozen gliders around as pets but no longer offer sugar gliders for sale, choosing to focus instead on other glider missions.

Buying Sugar Gliders – what you need to know

If you’re not really familiar with sugar gliders, perhaps only saw them at a mall, fair, or pet store, you really should read this first.

You can generally find sugar gliders for sale in just about any part of the country; very often there may be a “hobby breeder” near where you live.  These folks are generally kind and caring people who love gliders but don’t want them taking over the house!  So they offer the joeys their pet gliders produce for sale, much as many folks do with puppies and kittens.

You can expect to pay about $125 – $150 for a standard gray joey glider.  Often these friendly folks will send you picture of your potential pet, and in many cases you should also expect they’ll ask you to sign a sales contract.  Also worth mentioning is people who have less than 4 breeding females are not required to have a USDA license.  This license really only sets a “floor” for care of the animals, so just because someone does not have a USDA license does not mean they are a “bad” or “illegal” breeder.  Sugar gliders are also available in a variety of colors at higher prices; you can read more details about colored gliders here.

One of the best ways to go about finding a breeder near you is to check the breeder database at Glider Central, which is organized by state:

Sugar Glider Breeders by State

There is also a database of breeders that will ship sugar gliders:

Sugar Glider Breeders that Ship

You may have heard shipping sugar gliders is “bad”.  When we sold sugar gliders, we shipped them all over the country without any problems and had 1000’s of happy customers.  If you’d like to read more about shipping sugar gliders safely, here’s a good place to start.

SunCoast also maintains a list of people who have to give up their gliders for one reason or another.  Usually they are moving or something else in their lives has changed such that they simply can’t keep their gliders anymore.  Perhaps one of these families lives within driving distance of you?  These Gliders Looking for a Home are 7 months old or more so are a particularly good match for families who already own a single glider and need to find a buddy.  Check out the Glider Exchange here, and read a bit about Introducing Gliders from SunCoast’s GliderVet newsletter.

If during your search you have seen web sites screaming “”Do NOT buy a Sugar Glider before reading these FREE reports” or “Thinking about BUYING a Sugar Glider?” you should realize these web sites are operated by or influenced by a large franchise organization that sells sugar gliders on impulse in malls and at events.  More info on these web sites here.  If you believe the “gliders are easy to care for” and “just feed them pellets and a slice of apple” info these people offer, we just ask you be open to a different opinion and be willing to learn the proven husbandry practices we used since 1999.  If you can accept our best practices for health and longevity of sugar gliders, (see Thrive versus Survive approach), we’d be delighted to work with you.  We know our practices work exceedingly well, over many generations of sugar gliders.

Bringing Home Your Sugar Glider

When buying a sugar glider either you have two opportunities.  You either buy them locally or you buy them remotely, as in buying from someone online who will ship to you.  There are correct ways to do either.

When buying locally, make sure you have the opportunity to hold and see the glider.  Don’t let someone just say, here, these are yours.  

Physically look at the gliders.  Are their eyes bright, big and clear?  Is the tail fluffy?  Is the fur clean and fluffy?  If not, this could be a sick animal or under-aged.  Also, ask questions.  How do I tell the sex?  Look for and listen for anything that sounds “off”.

For example, if the person needs to put on gloves to pick out your baby, these joeys have not likely been handled much by humans, and may be aggressive.  If the person keeps emphasizing how easy they are to bond with and to feed, inquire deeper into the specifics.  If something feels off to you, don’t buy from this seller.  

If you are buying remotely, my best advice here is to go on some of the online message boards and do a search on that breeder.  There is plenty of information out there so that you can see how the general public feels about this breeder.  There are some excellent online organizations that ship and many of these organizations are full time breeders, so they tend to have the most experience when it comes to raising sugar gliders.  Ask questions: How long have you been doing this?  What is your guarantee?

With proper care and nutrition, your sugar glider will live a long and healthy life.  We encourage our customers to stay in touch, send us their pictures, ask questions, and share personal experiences.  We have learned much valuable information from the experiences of others and together with you, will continue to build and maintain a supportive glider com munity.

For a great package deal on items you may need to properly care for your sugar gliders, check out our starter kits.  If you have any questions on feeding and care, start with our newsletter.  If you are wondering whether you can trust us and if we deliver on our promises,  just take a look at what our customers have to say.