Reptile & Amphibian Forums

A friend of mine owns a pet store, and I have been telling him to let me know the next time someone brings in a female sugar glider. Luck brought me my Mya about two weeks ago. However, she is a year old, and the owner had decided that he did not want her anymore. She is my first sugar glider, but I have researched continuously on how to care for them.

She eats regularly, and it is always a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, a few sunflower seeds, and she loves deli turkey meat. However, she will not touch her meal worm food. This has not been a main concern because she seems to be content with the other varieties of food. Her bowel movements have also been normal.

My true concern comes into play because when I received her the hair on the back of her neck was very very thin. So thin that her black stripe is no longer full. I don't know her previous owner or how she was cared for. She also has developed a habit of urinating several times within the first few minutes of leaving her cage, and she continues to mark various items the entire time she is out of her cage. I know that female sugar gliders do not usually mark their territories as much as males, but she seems to want to mark the entire room (including my shirt) when she comes out. She is not being forced out of her cage (I've read that this can be a cause for urinating), and she usually glides to my shirt from the top of her cage. She seems to be a little scared of people (she's been getting used to me). She loves playing outside of her cage, but I'm having to watch her every move to clean up the urine.

If anyone has any suggestions, please reply back. I am very concerned.

Hiya, the hair loss could be due to either poor diet, or stress. Suggies need a mixture of fruits and veg, a protein source (boiled egg, chicken or high quality cat biscuits), a calcium source and mulitvitamins. I'd stay away from deli turkey and processed things like that, the sodium content is too high. Don't give tinned fruit as the preservatives are not good for them, and they're often in syrup or with added sugar/sweetner, fresh is best.

She is a single suggie, they don't do well on their own, I would recommend you try and find another female or neutered male as a companion for her. Overgrooming is a common symptom of stress.

Weeing alot is normal, females do scent mark too, they have anal scent glands, so I'm afraid that's something you will have to put up with. Gliders are high maintenance pets, but if and when you get it right they are very rewarding. )