Sugar Glider University

It is always with baffled amazement that I observe some of the interesting philosophies and ideas that emanate from some of the people who own sugar gliders, especially those who own sugar gliders in North America.  Occasionally, however, I must take a moment to step away from the computer and try to compose myself and keep from becoming physically ill when I see things that some sugar glider owners are doing, apparently in complete ignorance of and/or disregard for Petaurus breviceps as a whole.

In the United States, any person at all can get a license to breed sugar gliders, in most cases by simply paying a small fee and getting a veterinarian to sign a piece of paper.  Although the license application states that a vet should visit the premises where breeding will take place, this is rarely enforced, and most vets will simply sign the paper without ever stepping foot in the home or facility where the sugar gliders are bred.  In the few cases where a veterinarian will actually go to the premises, most vets know so little about sugar gliders that it makes little difference one way or the other.

For example, we took one sugar glider to a vet who looked flabbergasted. "I had no idea a sugar glider could look like this!  He's so beautiful, vibrant and healthy!"  She said, "Do you know how many sugar gliders I've seen that, in comparison with this one, are seriously stunted in growth and unhealthy....and I never knew."  She was so stunned that she insisted on keeping us at the office for an hour to find out more about healthy gliders.

Most recently, I have been considering whether or not giving any person, no matter how much they profess to love sugar gliders, permission to breed these wild, undomesticated animals, is, instead of a license to breed, actually a license to kill.

To and Fro Gliders is a perfect example of a breeder who has had a USDA license for four years and is still completely ignorant of the damage she is doing to the species. 

According to several reliable sources, this breeder has, in the past been unable to get her animals to have joeys that will live long enough to leave the pouch because she handled them so roughly that they were detached from the mother's nipple and died.

Sugar gliders are born weighing only .2 grams.  They attach to mother's nipple and the nipple swells inside the joey's mouth, making it impossible for them to detach unless handled extremely roughly.  In order to detach the joey from the nipple before the joey is ready to come out of pouch, the glider must be forcibly and roughly pulled from the nipple. Regardless of what people may say, a sugar glider cannot simply fall off the mother's nipple! 

Again, the only way a sugar glider could come of the nipple before coming out of pouch would be in the case of being handled roughly or forcibly pulled by a caregiver. 

In the most recent case of "hand feeding" from To and Fro Gliders (click here to see the photograph), these gliders were detached from the nipple at least 10 days early.  The one pictured shows how very altrical marsupial babies are.  This photograph is an example of cruelty inflicted on the species due to complete ignorance of marsupial reproduction.  A joey this undeveloped should never be off the mother's nipple.  This photograph should never have happened.  This joey should never have been detached from its mother's nipple.  Regardless of what To and Fro may believe, it is most likely that the joey(s) became detached due to rough handling.

This joey is undeveloped and completely dependent on its mother for survival.  It is important to note that To and Fro Glider's statement made (which they have since removed, thank heavens!), "Born 10 days early", is not an accurate statement, as gliders are actually born about 70 days before they come "out of pouch".  Many glider caregivers mistakenly say that gliders are "born" when they come out of pouch, but that is because most people think of birth in a placental view, and marsupials are not placentals.  In actuality, the gestation period for gliders is only 16 days long! 

Sugar gliders are born more altrical than precocial.  This means that they are born (they are the size of a grain of rice when born) completely dependent on the mother for life.  The forelimbs of the glider are developed and the nostrils are opened, but the lungs are not fully developed, and the mouth, tongue and digestive system are only developed enough to deal with a diet of the mother's milk.  This means that until the sugar glider is old enough to be out of pouch, the sugar glider's digestive system is unable to safely consume anything but her mother's milk.

Now, let's look at the history of To and Fro Gliders with regard to joeys.  First, many people have hailed To and Fro as the "experts" on "pulling a joey" and hand feeding of joeys.  In almost every case, a joey should not be pulled from a mother sugar glider.  There is a reason not to interfere.  For some that may seem cruel, but it only seems that way because many are ignorant of the growth and development of marsupials.

Sugar glider joeys are absolutely dependent on mother's milk.  There is not a scientist, rehabilitator, or sugar glider caregiver in the world who can duplicate the composition of the sugar glider's milk.  When we understand that joeys are born absolutely dependent on their mother's milk, and that their digestive systems are in the first stages of development, and only enough to accept mother's milk only, it becomes obvious that hand feeding a joey, especially one that is not out of pouch, is a dangerous and, at times, cruel practice.

One woman who is a sugar glider rescuer insisted on hand feeding a joey, only to prolong his life by two weeks, in which the glider was bloated and in constant, agonizing pain.  This is because the glider was not developed enough to handle anything but his mother's milk.

When a human baby is born prematurely, without lungs fully developed, the baby is sent to the NICU, where he is put in a special environment that attempts to match the humidity level to which his lungs are developed.  Take the baby out of that environment, and he will suffer and die because his lungs aren't ready for our air.  No matter how great the air is, no matter what we do, that baby's lungs cannot breathe the air.

The same is true for sugar gliders and their undeveloped digestive system.  No matter how great glider rescuers think their milk replacement is, no matter what they do, joeys who are pulled too early are not able to properly digest the replacement.  Their systems are not capable of processing anything but mother's milk.

It will be no surprise to us, if the joeys survive, that To and Fro Gliders will continue its practice of breeding these "pulled joeys" who should not be bred. Even if they survive, they will survive minus the important and vital nourishment and proper development they should have received from their mother. Most, if not all joeys who actually survive hand feeding or being "pulled" will grow up with health problems (many go undiagnosed), chronic pain, lowered immune systems, and eventually early, painful death. Any sugar glider that survives "hand feeding" should not be in a breeding program!  This is irresponsible and damaging to the species as a whole.

In addition to this, a quick perusal of the website shows that To and Fro's breeding practices are replete with far too much interference in the joey development process.

For example, one of the things that is apparent from reading about To and Fro's "First Time Moms" is that the breeder constantly interferes with the natural process of development and nursing, supplements unnecessarily, and is not breeding to improve the species as a whole (apparent from the fact that the father in one instance was a "wild and nervous glider".  Why in the world was this glider in a breeding program, then?). 

It is highly unlikely that To and Fro Gliders is purposely trying to hurt gliders.  This breeder just appears to be ignorant of sugar glider growth and development.  This is no surprise, as there are no requirements set by the USDA for a sugar glider breeder to know anything about marsupial reproduction at all.  This is inherently dangerous, because marsupial birth and development are completely different than placental development.   Maruspials are born much more undeveloped and dependent on mother than any placental mammal.  This needs to be understood on at least a basic level.

Until the USDA license requires at least a modicum of education regarding marsupial development, the license may function more as a license to kill than a license to breed responsibly.

To learn more about Joey Development, take the Glider University courses in Glider Colonization.  Read about the proper way to handle a joey here.