SugarGlidersHere.com | SugarGliderReviews.org

Below is an actual FAQ that has recently been posted on the internet by a company whose website based in the country of Panama and registered in Germany. I think this is the first hint it's not a site intended for true education and support of the glider community, but a website owned by a company with a hidden agenda.

My conclusion is this site was created by a major for profit company that wishes to influence the thought process of new sugar glider buyers. Regardless of who owns and runs this site, at a minimum, they should share their credentials, support their facts, and if they are focused on the US glider trade, why are they not registered and hosted in the US? Further reasons to question the motives of this site (are the reviews real?) can be found in a full discussion here, you might also be interested in info on a similar misleading site here.

Hopefully those who find the Sugar Glider Reviews site and are influenced by the information in the "Free Consumer Guides for New Owners" will do some additional searching to verify the integrity of this site, and will find my reviews of this info below.

The information in these "Free Consumer Guides for New Owners" is presented in a FICTION / FACT format, where they set up as FICTION information generally known to be actually true and FACT as a twisting of the truth that directly benefits a group of companies that make their living by selling sugar gliders at home shows, rodeos, state fairs, and gun shows. Our interpretation of the information under this FICTION / FACT scheme is provided as "SunCoast Fact".

Overseas website claims:
FICTION: Sugar Gliders are abandoned by the thousands each year by overwhelmed owners who got in over their heads. Rescues are flooded with abandoned gliders who need good homes. Adopt rather than buy..."

FACT: ** BEWARE ** No legitimate Sugar Glider "rescues" exist anywhere in the U.S.. Sugar Glider "rescues" are simply an old internet scam perpetrated by persons who are actually trying to sell animals they have usually bred themselves (often illegally and against Federal Law). They often play on the well-meaning emotions of others with phrases like "Think Rescue/Adoption First" - and sometimes even have the nerve to ask for donations to help fund their cause. Check with your local animal shelter - and you'll see that most have never seen a single Sugar Glider through their doors.

SunCoast Fact:
There are many legitimate rescue agencies that are run as 501(c)3 not for profit organizations. Most of the major animal shelters, like the SPCA, don’t accept exotic animals, so you won’t find a lot of sugar gliders in the big “name brand” rescue agencies if you call because they are not set up to handle any and all types of animal.

I have had a huge increase in calls from people needing help in re-homing sugar gliders primarily because they made a spontaneous purchase at a show. SunCoast is not set up as a rescue company. Most of the sugar glider rescues are small organizations that are privately funded and have limited space to care for unwanted gliders.

I know many rescuers that actively seek to re-home all gliders, some will make sure males are neutered before re-homing and many will ask for a nominal fee to cover the expenses of caring for the animals. Even the SPCA charges an adoption fee to help defray some of the cost of animal care, which can be very expensive when dealing with large numbers of animals.

The overseas website’s fact is really the fiction. Unwanted animals in need of homes, sugar gliders and other pets as well, is a very real and very large problem. The best way to address this is not to claim that rescue groups are scammers, but to discourage spontaneous sales of pets in venues that are inappropriate for animals. Spontaneous sales of pets are the number one reason that pets become unwanted, so we need to address this issue from the root cause.

Overseas website claims:
FICTION: Sugar Gliders need spacious cages occupying a lot of your living space.

FACT: Veterinary studies show that a 2ft x 2ft x 2ft cage is appropriate for up to 2 adult Gliders. Larger cages are fine for adult gliders, but Joeys are more active (and bond faster) in a cage roughly the size of the one noted above. Cage wires should be coated either in PVC or a high-grade epoxy resin to avoid toxicity poisoning.

SunCoast Fact:
Cage size has little impact on bonding. Cage size is to accommodate the animals’ needs and the size stated as fact on the overseas website defies all that is accepted by the glider keeping community and veterinarians. If you are going to quote a veterinarian study or pluralized studies as stated here, please post the published studies and name the vets.

We are aware that a lot of breeders that keep gliders in smaller cages. This does not mean that it is healthy or recommended just because people do it. Rather, it is for the humans and their own space limitations without concern for the animals’ needs.

I’ve had a lot of calls from people telling me of this cute trick their sugar gliders do which is repeated back flips. This is not a cute trick, it is a sure fire indication that the cage is too small. These animals have a high metabolism and as such, are very active at night and need adequate space to accommodate their level of normal activity. Using cages that are too small will limit activity, affecting overall health due to lack of exercise and will actually affect the joint mobility in time.

Overseas website claims:
FICTION: Sugar Gliders require expensive health care.

FACT: Sugar Gliders require no vaccinations of any kind. They also require none of the monthly Vet care treatments common to other house pets like cats and dogs. As with any pet, an annual “checkup” is always a good idea, and any small mammal veterinarian will be familiar with these popular little animals.

SunCoast Fact:
It is true that gliders require no shots or vaccines and annual checkups or wellness visits are recommended. But if a glider gets sick, expect the bill to be higher than that of your dogs or cats. And finding a veterinarian who is familiar with sugar gliders is not as easy as the Overseas fact implies. Sugar glider vets require some homework to find. And if you live in a rural community, you may have very limited choices on experienced glider vets and/or may have to drive long distances to get to a sugar glider experienced vet.

Overseas website claims:
FICTION: Sugar Gliders can get very lonely and will die if you do not have at least two.

FACT: Sugar Gliders are very social animals and – like any other household pet – are happiest when they have some type of companionship. It’s always best if you have more than one Glider, but it’s almost never a “life & death” issue. If you can only afford to get one Joey, then just try to spend as much time with it as possible, playing and enjoying its naturally friendly nature.

SunCoast Fact:
For years we’ve been major advocates of gliders being kept with their own kind. Can they die if kept alone? Yes they can, but this is more of an exception than a rule and more likely to happen with older gliders that have recently lost a mate, the survivor is at higher risk of passing as well. But is life and death the only issue here?

The fact is that sugar gliders are at very high risk for behavior disorders and mental imbalance when kept alone. For someone not familiar with glider normal behavior, there is no way for a newbie to know that their single glider is unhappy as they have nothing to compare it to. Death is one thing, mental health is another issue and keeping gliders as single pets will affect their mental health. Is that not as important as their physical health?

If you can only afford one joey, can you afford vet bills? If money is that tight, consider waiting on getting any pet or go with a less expensive pet because the cost of keeping pets is not really in the acquisition, it is in the long term maintenance, proper housing, feeding and the big ticket item, vet bills.

Overseas website claims:
FICTION: Sugar Gliders stink and are messy

FACT: Sugar Gliders only exude an offensive smell when fed a diet consisting of “live” foods such as insects and meat. Commercially available pellet foods that eliminate this problem have been available for years. Additionally, Sugar Gliders are actually very clean animals and do not need bathing.

SunCoast Fact:
Male sugar gliders will develop two dominant musk glands and urine mark when they mature. As babies, sugar gliders fed a proper diet - meaning proper vitamin dosage as too much vitamin supplementation will increase smell - and maintained in a clean habitat will not exude much smell. But male sugar gliders will get pretty stinky as they mature regardless of diet, and while some foods or over-feeding vitamins can make odor worse, no food "eliminates odor", that's just not realistic with sugar gliders.

Plus, feeding live food is not a contributing factor to smell. Sugar gliders require a certain level of protein, and a level that needs to be a bit higher if breeding gliders. If you’ve ever been on the Atkins diet, then you know that more protein can increase body odor. However, sugar gliders require certain levels of protein in order to maintain optimal health. Denying them the nutritional balance they require in order to minimize odor is an inappropriate way to address the problem! And when males mature, musk glands produce musk, which smells. Neutered male sugar gliders and female sugar gliders have minimal smell if proper husbandry is practiced.

Are sugar gliders messy? They do clean themselves as cats do, but that doesn’t address the issue of messiness. Gliders will throw food out of the cage, so they are somewhat messy, but not nearly as messy as birds, for example. They keep themselves clean, but not the habitat or the nearby surrounding area.

Overseas website claims:
FICTION: The diet of a Sugar Glider is very costly and it’s a time consuming effort to arrange for its daily meals. If you don’t feed them live insects and mice every day, they’ll die.

FACT: The three components of a healthy Sugar Glider’s diet are: 1) fresh fruits and vegetables, 2) a Veterinarian-approved protein-based pellet food, and 3) a Veterinarian-approved multivitamin. The typical monthly cost of this diet normally does not exceed $10 per animal.

SunCoast Fact:
We agree on this point two thirds of the way.

Feeding only a vet approved protein based pellet and fruits and veggies does not meet with the enrichment criteria of a captive diet. Sources of protein other than just a pellet food are advisable not only nutritionally, but for the enrichment provided by variety in the diet. We’re not quite sure where this statement of “fiction” is published, because most legitimate sugar glider websites don’t claim that feeding live bugs and mice every day as an appropriate diet. So while we agree partially with the fact here, we wonder where the idea of this fiction came from, unless the writer has a commercial motive.

Overseas website claims:
FICTION: Sugar Gliders make a lot of noise at night.

FACT: All pets make some kind of noises, and Sugar Gliders do not make any more noise or less than other household pets. They are capable of making several kinds of sounds, but usually only do so when they are scared or hurt.

SunCoast Fact:
Sugar gliders are nocturnal by nature so are very active at night! As opposed to your dog or cat who is perfectly happy sleeping - like you are. Sugar gliders make a wide range of vocalization, but their natural sounds, with the exception of barking, are not likely to keep one up at night. This is particularly true if the gliders are not kept in your bedroom. The barking is actually quite cute, in my opinion.

But the loudest noises are the sounds of them running in the wheel at night, and jumping and swinging on toys that have bells. Also, if you keep them in large tall cages, if they jump from top to bottom, you will hear a bit of a thud.

Absolutely contrary to the FACT above, if a glider is hurt it makes no noise at all. You would think they would make some sort of cry, but they do not. But think about it, if an animal is injured or caught up in something in the wild, a cry out would only serve to alert predators, so Mother Nature instilled the need for quiet when hurt.

Do you honestly believe there is some kind of mass conspiracy involving thousands of people on the sugar glider message boards? That somehow all these owners of sugar gliders could be wrong and this one source - who is actually a major distributor of sugar gliders - has all the right answers? Don't take my word for it; do yourself a favor and check out Glider Central or Glider Gossip.

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I hope you have found this information useful! Unlike the folks behind SugarGlidersHere.com (formerly SugarGliderReviews.com), you know who I am and can contact me here: lisa@sugar-gliders.com

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