Instructions
Call or email your local USDA regional office or visit the USDA website to request a packet for an animal welfare license that includes APHIS Form 7003-A. The packet will arrive within three weeks.
Decide which license class you need. Class A is for selling sugar gliders that you have bred. Class B is for selling sell sugar gliders that are bred by someone else. Class C is called an exhibitor's license and required if you have three or more intact females. You'll need a Class C license even if you don't plan to breed your sugar gliders.
Fill out the appropriate forms in the packet. Use the accompanying paperwork as a guide or call your regional USDA office if you have difficulty.
Mail form 7003-A to your regional USDA office with the correct fee. The fee is based on the amount of money you made the previous year from sugar glider sales or shows. As of December 2010, the minimum fee to apply for a license is $30. This $30 applies even if you did not make income from your sugar gliders the previous year.
Contact your veterinarian and set up a time for her to visit your home or breeding facility. The vet will need to fill out and sign APHIS Form 7002 during this visit. You should keep the form for the USDA inspector.
Fill out forms 7019 and 7020. These forms show a record of your animals, their care, how you acquired them, and how you sold them or disposed of any dead sugar gliders.
Schedule an appointment with a USDA inspector. If the inspector hasn't contacted you within three weeks of mailing your Form 7003-A, call your regional office to make the appointment. Only schedule an appointment if you have completed the vet visit and forms 7019 and 7020.
Allow the inspector to look over your facility and provide him the paperwork from the vet visit and forms 7019 and 7020. Once you pass, the inspector will give you a customer number. You will receive your license and certificate number in the mail within three weeks.
How to Get USDA Approval for Sugar Gliders
Sugar gliders are marsupials that have gained popularity as pets. While cute and fun to watch, they have special dietary and care requirements, and finding a vet who knows how to treat them can be difficult. The USDA has established regulations regarding how many intact female sugar gliders you can own without a license. The license is mainly intended for people selling sugar gliders, but anyone with more than three intact female sugar gliders may be required to obtain one.