As with ANY pet there are certain risks involved, but especially with having sugar gliders as pets.  Some of the risks are more obvious than others.  When you decided to take on the responsibility of sugar glider ownership it will certainly have an impact or change in your lifestyle.  I will not go into the general risks inherent with any pet ownership such as sickness, accidents, injury, poopy messes and the like here.  What I wanted to talk about in this article was the emotional risks, and how they affect training, taking your sugar glider outside, and general daily playtime.  

While sugar gliders are very intelligent animals, and they can become very devoted companions, you need to remember that they are still in essence a wild animal.  However, the sugar gliders we keep as pets in this country have been bred domestically for so many generations that they would not survive if released into the wild here.  For one, the habitat and food sources are not available for them, there are no sugar glider colonies in the wild here, and the weather alone would most likely kill them. As well as they havent been taught by their parents HOW to survive in the wild.   So please, if you are ever in a situation where you just cannot keep your sugar glider anymore, DO NOT RELEASE IT OUTSIDE!!!  Please contact a sugar glider rescue, they do exist.  You can find out more about sugar glider rescues by visiting www.glidercentral.net.  You can also visit these links for rescue information: "All for Gliders" ; "The Sweet Spot" ; and "Sugar Rescue" (these groups came highly recommended by others)

The Sugar Gliders we keep as pets are not true wild animals but not truly domesticated either, as emotionally they exhibit some wild animal behavior.  They can and do react quickly in fearful situations and cannot always be relied upon to run to you for safety.  They can panic in a situation they are unsure of and may respond in a way you do not expect.  Even sugar gliders that are very strongly bonded to their owners may react in situations that are risky due to the affects of fear and panic.  Humans have been known to react in life-threatening situations in such a way to put them at more risk, what makes you think a sugar glider may not do the same thing?

Your sugar glider who loves you and knows you are safe, may run to you every time they get frightened.  But all it takes is that one time out in the yard, a car horn suddenly blasts in the next yard and the sudden loud sound startles your sugar glider so much that they take a flying leap into a nearby tree and instinct tells them to run up as fast as they can and up they go!  And think about this: I saw a hawk attack my pet duck when he was standing only about 6 feet away from me, so anything can happen!

I want you to really think about this every time you take your sugar glider out of the house.  Now I am NOT saying you should never take your sugar glider out!  I take mine out all the time.  What I want to make clear is that every time you do so, you do place your beloved friend at risk.  By the same token, we place ourselves at risk as well, and we dont stay in all the time.  What I want you to do is to take as many precautions as you can to keep your sugar glider as safe as possible.

Here are some things you can do:  first off, never take a sugar glider outside unless it is bonded to you!  Make sure that your sugar glider does indeed recognize you as a safe retreat when in the house first before ever taking it outside.  When traveling to the vets or other place with a sugar glider who is not bonded, don’t rely on a bonding pouch to contain them, use a small cage instead.

If you have the opportunity to take your sugar gliders out while they are still joeys and less likely to jump, you should do so, only so they do get used to loud and sudden noises, and they will learn they are safe while on you.  I had to bring my sugar glider to work for almost 2 months when she first came OOP (out of pouch) due to the fact her mommy rejected her.  I work in a very noisy environment and I think that now a bomb could go off and she wouldn’t wake up!

When you do start taking them out, first go to places where you have some control over the surroundings and a measure of containment (I used my church!) this way if things do go badly, hopefully everyone is safe and quickly captured.  It helps to have people nearby who are familiar with handling a sugar glider, in case they do jump, you have assistance in capturing your adventurous friend.

I have a number of different pouches in which I carry my darling Arwen.  Click here to see some of the pouches I make and use.  But by far her favorite place to reside is in my bra.  It is warm and smells like me and she loves to groom my skin, and hugs me.  However I think she likes it best there as well because it has become her “safe haven”.  She knows that whenever she sleeps there I will not pull her out, unless it is time to go in her cage/house.  I think it is very important to cultivate this and give your sugar glider a “safe haven” especially if you do plan on taking them into insecure surroundings.  This safe haven will hopefully be where their instincts tell them to go in a panic situation.

How do you cultivate/create this “safe haven”?  First and most obvious is it has to be a place they enjoy napping in and feel comfortable, and…… safe.  Of course it has to be a place/pouch that you also enjoy using.  It can be a pouch/bag/shirt pocket, whatever you feel is appropriate for taking them out in.  My husband’s sugar glider LOVES to sleep in the hood of his sweatshirt hoodie.  The problem with that is the shirt is too hot for the summer.  Since Frodo likes the location and material so much I am experimenting with a new pouch design to accommodate them both (will reveal it here if it works out!).

So now you have the place/pouch, how do you make it a safe haven?  When you do take your sugar gliders out with you, I know you want to show them off, but resist the urge!  Show pictures of them instead!  Do not constantly open the pouch so some strange huge face can look down on them!  Or worse, don’t keep pulling them out of the pouch for people to squeal over.  They will not feel safe if they are constantly confronted while trying to nap.  You don’t like to be bothered when you are trying to sleep, why should they be any different?  Frodo was very difficult to travel with as he would never settle down.  When I gave this advice to my hubby, and he followed it, what an improvement in Frodo’s behavior when we go out!  Now that he knows the “hoodie” is his safe haven, he goes right there and settles down.  They need to know this is the place to go when they feel afraid, and constantly letting strangers look at them while they are there will NOT add to the feeling of security you want them to have there.  So respect their privacy and their need for a safe place, and let that place be sacred for them, so that INSTINCT will tell them to go there!

The other point I want to make, and there are many that will disagree with me, when I take Arwen out, if she does happen to come out of her pouch to look around, I DO NOT let anyone touch her!  She is off limits.  I do this only because you do not know what may be on a person’s hands.  And I take no risks with my little ones.  However, I do bring with me a small travel sized antibacterial hand gel, just in case there is a need for someone to touch her, and there is not a place to wash nearby.

Now, as for taking them outside their cage, but in your home.  Again I will not state the obvious such as removing other pets, children, making sure the doors and windows are closed, etc. as those things we should know to do with such a small animal about.   But here are a few other things to look for as well: make sure the toilet lids are closed.  Make sure any tub and sink drains have covers on them, as well as heating and cooling vents.  You should make sure all outlets are covered as well.

When you do start out bringing your sugar glider out of its cage you should start out in a small room.  A tent is actually better and is one of the BEST bonding tools (more on bonding to come in a separate article!).  Rooms should be “glider-proofed” for safety.  Look at every angle, including getting down flat on the floor and remove anything that presents a hazard.  Remember they are very small and can squish through a much smaller hole than you realize (think the size of their head, NOT the size of their body!)  
Be sure that you fill or block anything that can be an escape route (under the door for instance).  This is why a small tent is such a great idea to start out.  As for glider-proofing a house…don’t think it’s impossible, but it would be very hard.  

There are just too many things that pose a hazard in a whole house.  Imagine one day you cant find your furry friend, only to discover he was sleeping in your laundry basket and that the laundry is now in the washer or dryer.  Or he was snoozing in the garbage can and its on its way to the city dump.  I know those are scary thoughts, but those kinds of things have happened to others.  This is one reason why I discourage sugar gliders as pets for kids.  There is just too much responsibility to go with sugar glider ownership, if you want the sugar glider to be truly happy (or as happy as any animal can be in captivity).  They will be miserable in a cage all the time.  They flourish when given more space to explore and play and interact with their human friends.   But, this comes with many risks.

The less obvious risk to sugar glider ownership is what we (as sugar glider owners) affectionately call “Glideritis”.   This is a scary disease and I have found that it can be very contagious when there are sugar gliders residing in the home.  Symptoms of glideritis include, but is not limited to:  

• Buying tons of toys or toy making supplies for your sugar gliders.

• Looking at everything you see as if it could be made into a toy

• Driving an hour to buy some high priced exotic fruit no one has heard of to see if the sugar gliders will like it

• Buying a dehydrator for the sole purpose of making sugar glider treats

• Insisting on a pouch in every color

• Buying a sewing machine for the sole purpose of making your pouches because buying them got too expensive

• Deciding to sell extra pouches you make just because you spent all your (human) grocery money on toy making supplies

• Buying a chest freezer because you need more room to store all the frozen exotic fruit you bought

• Carrying pictures of your sugar gliders and showing them off before pictures of your kids/grandkids.  Carrying 10 pictures of the sugar gliders but one or two of the kids/grandkids

• Every conversation ends up being about sugar gliders, even if it started about the car getting an oil change

• Cant go on vacation unless the sugar gliders can go too

• Choosing clothes that “match” your sugar gliders, and being concerned that they can climb on the material easily

• Insisting on your spouse putting the phone up to the pouch while you are away so they can hear you and you can hear them “click” to you in response.

• You can never remember being without them, cant imagine what it would be like to be without them, and not wanting to ever be without them again