Sugar Gliders

Chaos Marine

Hi, I'm thinking of getting my niece and nephew pets (their parents are okay with it, so long as it's nothing huge). I found some videos on sugar gliders and they seem reasonably straight forward to take of and they're small and adorable. I live in Cork and I was wondering how one might get a pair of them?

Cherry Blossom

We had chipmunks which don't need nearly as much space. We had a whole double garage chipmunk proofed when we realised the huge dresser we had converted was nowhere near big enough for them to express normal behaviour. They need trees to climb and we had an old pub pool table (basically a maze of tunnels) to be explored.

Sugar gliders are not easy to care for. They are marsupials native to hot climates, they need heat. They are pretty fragile creatures and their environment, diet and how they are handled needs to be spot on.They are nocturnal so will be fast asleep when the kids are awake and will be up all night being extremely noisy. They are also very hard to find and very expensive to buy. I wouldn't have them in a million years.

How old are these kids?

Chaos Marine

Nine and five. They had rabbits before but a recent altercation with a fox...

I have my own rabbits and I thought them how to take care of their rabbits and their rabbits seemed perfectly happy every time I visited. My sister always has their heating turned on but I couldn't guarantee it would be on all the time. I can't believe I missed that.

James Bond Junior

My second hand knowledge of sugar gliders is they are not for the faint hearted. They may look cute but need huge levels of care and attention which children are not going to be able to provide. They urinate a LOT which is pretty putrid smelling. I'd go back to the drawing board if I were you. Hamsters maybe?

Cherry Blossom

A pair of female guinea pigs would be my recommendation. Hamsters bite and are also nocturnal.

Chaos Marine

I would have liked to give them something unique. I'll keep looking.

Cherry Blossom

Pets that are uncommon are usually uncommon because they have needs that the average person can't cater for. If you want a pet like this yourself and are willing to do lots of research and learn about them that's fine. I think it's very unfair to chose a pet for someone else and put this responsibility on them. The parents will be caring for the animal(s) so they should be the people deciding on the species.

aonb

A 9 and a 5 year old wont be taking care of pets - their parents will be doing the work/have the responsibility.
Why does it have to be something exotic - the kids wont care how exotic it is after the initial novelty wears off.
I feel very strongly about people giving children pets as presents - this is a live animal, it can give the wrong message as animals as 'throwaway presents' to a small child - not saying that this is your philosophy OP, but just think about the animals welfare before you hand over some exotic pets to small children, then go home yourself... what if you arrive with an animal that the parents dislike or cant care for or have an aversion to or have no idea about its needs?

kylith

I'd say to talk to the parents and tell them you'd like to buy the kids a pet and ask what they'd like. I'd imagine that, cool though they may be, an unusual exotic animal with very specific needs regarding diet and housing, coupled with the fact that 99% of vets will know nothing about how to treat them, wouldn't be top of the parents's list.

REPTILEDAN88

Sugar gliders are expensive at 250-300e+ each add to that a cage, thats about 300e more for even a big parrot one and then theres the decor etc. They have very unique diet requirements too that could be costly and you generally won't find them in shops over here. I know of 1 shop who sells gliders over here I can pm you if you like. They do African dormice/micro squirells too, more common, cheaper and easier to look after too as a better alternative to SG's.

Sanymc

Please do re - consider. You can PM me any questions you want regarding safe and good keeping of sugar gliders . I had them with years their proper nutrition is costly. They do have very distinctive smell , which some people would consider faul. I have boy and girl , they are nocturnal animals hence the eyes and take alot of time from my day... kids wont be able to keep them at all . Good pet for kid would be guinea pig or rabit or even something smaller. I have seen throughout the year people just re homing sugar gliders and it breaks my heart. Some people fo not realise how big inclosure they will need and cost of nutrition treats and vets if needed. My full set up cost me bones of 2 grand together. Just please be very vise in your choice

loveisdivine

I really don't think it's a good idea to encourage the keeping of very exotic pets. I understand you wanting to give them something cool and unique but these are living beings you're talking about. In my opinion I think it's cruel to try and keep truly exotic animals as pets, most of their time there needs can't be adequately met, particularly their natural environments.

Aren't there enough already domesticated species to choose from?

thegreatgonzo

I think in general buying a pet for someone else is a bad idea. Buying an exotic pet for a child is worse again. Most of the time that we see an exotic in a vet clinic the animal is already very sick because the person responsible for its welfare is a child. It's not fair on the child or the animal.

Jen Pigs Fly

As someone who has taken in numerous reptiles bought as present for kids ... Please don't do it .... I've had to put down so many geckos, beardies and snakes due to kids loosing interest and parents either being landed with this animal and not knowing how to take care of it properly or weren't bothered with the expense so cut corners to save money.

Worst case was a gecko with such bad gout due to an entirely improper diet and no heat. She couldn't walk, couldn't move and was in tremendous pain ... The parents saw nothing wrong with her. They just didn't want to give her a heat mat because "it was too expensive to run ...." And they fed her lettuce because they "didn't like having live insects in the house".


Please do not buy these kids an exotic animal ... Not only does the animal suffer in the long run but us enthusiasts are compromised due to the idea that "they're not that hard to take care of." If they weren't hard everyone would keep them ....