New owners seem to be under the illusion that they should have a breeding pair of Sugar Gliders. Yes Sugar Gliders are sociable animals and they do need company, but they don't HAVE to breed to be happy. Breeding you pet is not for the faint hearted, it's not all plain sailing. How would you feel about your cute babies if you saw them killing and eating their young? There is so much to think about before breeding. The following is just a brief outline of the ethics and the problems we will be facing in the future with the 'must breed' attitude that seems to dominate the glider world.
If done properly, you will never make a profit from breeding Sugar Gliders; it’s not a quick and easy way to make money! Always buy from a breeder, pet shops, brokers and animal dealers are not likely to have spent time with the animals to enable them to be socialized. These sorts of sellers may offer Gliders at cheaper prices than a breeder, but it really is worth finding a good breeder that can offer you good, sound advice. Build up a friendship with the breeder, an ethical breeder will want to make sure you as a buyer understand exactly what you are letting yourself in for. A good breeder will offer after-care because they care about their animals, they can offer (hopefully) good advice, from your first enquiry to the day you know more than they do! Sugar Gliders make excellent pets with the right person, if you don’t have the time and patience, or you’re not willing to prepare fresh food for them daily, then maybe a Sugar Glider isn’t for you
Pet shops, dealers and brokers will often feed the gliders a totally inadequate diet, usually consisting of things like rodent or parrot mix, tinned fruit and even condensed milk. Breeders should feed an optimum diet to sustain the mother through the nursing and weaning period. Always check exactly what the breeder feeds so that you can continue the diet to make the transition to a new home a little less stressful, even if you don’t want to continue using the breeder’s diet in the long term, you can wean them onto your preferred diet. Don’t be satisfied with the answer ‘just fruit and stuff’, it’s important the parents are fed a healthy diet to ensure the joeys are healthy. A joey can only be as healthy as the mum, if there are minerals missing from her diet then they will be missing from the joey’s diet too, from the moment they begin to suckle to weaning and beyond!
Socialisation is also an important part of breeding, a broker, dealer or pet shop won’t have time to spend with the parents never mind with the joeys, chances are they’ve not bred their own joeys, so again, you’ll have no idea how much the gliders have been handled, nor what diet they have been fed.
So, with that off my chest, why do you want to breed your suggies? As I said you won’t draw any profit, especially if you do it properly. Do you realize that there is a lot more to breeding healthy, well adjusted gliders than chucking a male and female into a cage? Are you prepared for the nasty side such as killing and possible cannibalization, rejection and hand rearing? What about finding a good home for the joey/s. What happens if you only have one joey? Would you sell the one joey as a single? Knowing that suggies are social animals and suffer depression when alone? What happens if you have male and female joeys? You can’t sell them as a breeding pair because they’re related. Would you be prepared to get the male neutered so they can go together? There is a lot to consider before you embark on your breeding ‘programme’.
With so many people breeding suggies, it won’t be long before we end up with far too many on the market, and that’s when problems begin, we’re already seeing gliders in rescue homes, we’re seeing people selling their suggies after just 2 weeks because they have now realized they don’t have enough time for them, or they can’t cope with the diet, or the noise, or sometimes the smell!! Unfortunately Gliders are extremely cute and people are under the illusion that all suggies are tame, which just isn’t the case! As soon as they find out otherwise they’re not interested. If you do decide to breed to sell, then PLEASE make sure you give the prospective buyer ALL the facts, don’t whitewash, they need to know the bad as well as the good for the sake of the suggies! Don’t forget neutering IS an option, it must be done by a vet, and it is relatively inexpensive, my vet charges about £45 per glider. Neutering a male before he reaches sexual maturity is a great way to prevent any aggressive or territorial behaviour that comes with being male. It will also prevent the scent glands from activating as the hormones are mostly produced in the testicles. I know of many people that recommend having neutered males over females as pets.
A responsible breeder will:
- Provide (at least) adequate housing for their gliders
- Provide an optimum diet to sustain the parent throughout nursing and weaning
- Have a good relationship with their adult suggies
- Socialise the joeys
- Provide care information for prospective buyers, and ensure they have researched their new pet adequately
- Discuss whether gliders are the right pet for them
- Discuss the bad side of suggies as well as the good
- Offer support to the new owner if it is needed
- Will only breed from healthy gliders
- Will give the buyer the option to return if they no longer feel Suggies are the right pets for them
- NOT allow an un weaned joey go to a new home
- NOT Allow an ill joey go to a new home
- NOT Breed from rescued animals
- NOT sell siblings as a breeding pair
Before making your decision, consider this: These numbers were calculated by a lady called Cyndie in the USA.
1 male glider lets say he has 4 babies a year look what happens in lets say just 5 yrs of breeding
1x4= 4 add babies and dad 4+1= 5 at end of yr 1 (5)
5x4= 20 add babies and dads 20+5=25 at end of yr 2 (25)
25x4= 100 add babies and dads 100+25=125 at end of yr 3 (125)
125x4= 500 add babies and dads 500+125=625 at end of yr 4 (625)
625x4=2500 add babies and dads 2500+625=3125 at end of yr 5 (3125)
So ... that's 3125 joeys to find GOOD homes for ...
Now bear in mind that 4 joeys is an average, Gliders can actually have more than that! That’s a lot of Sugar Gliders, it’s no wonder they’re starting to appear in rescue centres already.
© Shropshire Exotics 04/11/07
