Different Kinds of Sugar Gliders

Sugar gliders, Petaurus breviceps, are small marsupials native to Australia and Indonesia. Measuring around 12 inches nose-to-tail, they posses a sail-like membrane that connects their legs and allows them to glide between trees and perches. Sugar gliders typically have gray fur and characteristic facial markings but a number of varieties are available to exotic pet keepers.

  1. Gray

    • The majority of sugar gliders available to pet keepers have retained their species' typical colors and markings. Normal sugar gliders have soft gray fur with a pale belly and dark, smudge-like markings on their face and around their eyes. Most sugar gliders have a dorsal stripe that is particularly pronounced in this color variety.

    Leucistic

    • Leucistic sugar gliders, also known as black eyed whites, are highly popular due to their unusual coloration. True leucistics have pure white fur with no markings and black eyes. Leucistics are highly sought after.

    Albino

    • Often confused with leucistics, albino sugar gliders totally lack pigmentation on their bodies. This means that a true albino will have no gray markings, cream or white fur and pink eyes and skin. Like many albino animals, albino sugar gliders are more prone to sunburn. Albino varieties that do posses some faint stripes or markings are often called creamino or creme-ino.

    Platinum

    • Platinum gliders are a variant in which the gray coloration is very soft and subtle, almost as though a leucistic glider has been dusted with silver. They often have very little by the way of of markings and any markings are usually fairly faint.

    White-Faced

    • This marking pattern can occur with any glider, although it is impossible to tell if an albino or leucistic glider has the gene for it unless they are bred and produce white-faced offspring. White-faced gliders show a great reduction in facial markings and lack the typical black bars on their ears, giving them a white mask-like look.

    Mosaic

    • This is another marking pattern that can be found in conjunction with a range of body colors and other variations. Mosaics are typified by patches of white on their coat. A popular mosaic variation is the ring-tailed mosaic which produces white and gray rings on the tail. Due to the novelty of their markings ring-tailed mosaics are another highly sought after variety.

    Other Variations

    • Aside from the varieties mentioned here, sugar gliders can come in a wide range of coat colors and posses varied markings. Popular varieties include champagne, black, cinnamon, white-tip and calico, with breeders working on new lines all the time.