Sugar Glider Life Expectancy

Sugar gliders are small nocturnal marsupials that make surprisingly good pets. The actual name "sugar glider" comes from the fact that they love sweet fruits and have the ability to glide. While pet sugar gliders live up to five times longer than in the wild, there are certain challenges involved in caring for exotic animals such as these. Proper care, diet and environment are all important factors in determining the life expectancy of these furry critters.

  1. Characteristics

    • Sugar gliders come from the marsupial family and, contrary to popular belief, they cannot actually fly. They utilize a thin membrane of skin that runs between their front and back legs to glide around tree tops. They have been known to make glides up to 50 meters long and are able to control their flight direction with their tails. These nocturnal creatures are mostly active at night when they seek food. Physically, sugar gliders have large eyes, a distinguishable black stripe that runs the full length of the body and black markings around their faces. They can grow up to six inches long (not including the tail) and weigh between four and six ounces.

    Life Expectancy

    • Like many animals, sugar gliders live longer in captivity than in the wild due to the harsh survival conditions, predators or simple natural selection their wild counterparts must endure. Wild sugar gliders generally live from five to eight years, whereas pet sugar gliders have sometimes lived up to 15 years in an adequate environment with proper diet and health care.

    Environment

    • In the wild, sugar gliders tend to live in the tree tops where they are safe from many predators on the ground. Owners of pet sugar gliders often keep them in large bird cages. They are extremely social animals and should be housed with other gliders to keep them healthy and happy. However, males have an inclination to become territorial and fight other males when there is a female present, so keep same-sex groups if you are not going to breed the gliders. As pets, they can become very attached to their owners and often cuddle on the owner's shoulder or in his hands.

    Diet

    • Sugar gliders are omnivores and thus have a very flexible diet. Captive gliders usually dine on primarily fruits, vegetables and dry food. However, they enjoy many other things such as live insects, scrambled eggs, yogurt, nuts, fruit juice, tiny lizards or mice, or flower blossoms. They eat essentially anything put in front of them, but pet owners should limit the amount of live protein (such as the insects or lizards) in the diet to prevent the critters from developing a strong musky odor.

    Health Care

    • Sugar gliders are fairly robust animals for their size and don't carry any known diseases. Although they can get sick on occasion, two simple factors are crucial to ensure their health: fluids and warmth. Baby sugar gliders in particular tend to become dehydrated, so keep water, fruit juices or fruit slices constantly available for hydration. Sugar gliders are healthiest around 80 to 85 degrees Fahrenheit, since they are native to tropical locations. Sometimes the owner's body heat when handling them takes care of that. At other times, use an electrically heated rock inside the gliders' cage.