My Sugar Gliders

On December 28th my lil mama sugar glider presented us with two late Christmas presents....twin girls.  I was patiently awaiting their appearance as I watched mama's belly grow and grow.  Mamacita did a great job once again. 

When a glider female becomes pregnant she will carry the baby in her uterus for approximately 16 days.  At this time she will give birth and lick a trail from her cloaca to her pouch.  The baby or babies (the size of a grain of rice) will follow this trail and attach to a nipple which will expand in it's mouth.  One has to be careful handling Mama at this time as a baby can be accidentally unattached.  Here they will stay for around 9 weeks, before making their appearance to the rest of the world.  Normally there will be one or two babies.

These two joeys are just as beautiful as their mama and full of her spunk.  After they come out of pouch, Mamacita and daddy, Moose (he's a big boy,) both care for the joeys.  One will remain in the sleeping pouch to keep the babies warm while the other goes out to eat and take care of business.   Once in a while Mamacita will come over and demand some off time and I will grab the babies for a bit.  I leave them in the sleeping pouch and tuck it into my shirt as the babies must be kept warm.  They babies stay in the sleeping pouch for 4-6 weeks before they become curious and start to come out to nibble real food.  At around four weeks I start socializing them so they can be handled.  They come to see us humans as part of the colony, or as big, bald gliders.

Once they start to wander out I usually leave them alone for a few days so they don't think everytime they come out a big, bald, ugly glider (me) is going to reach in and grab them...lol.  By 7 weeks they are usually easy to handle and more outgoing.  Their personalities have already been formed and they usually have earned a nickname from me.  Past joeys have been named Noisy, Squirmy, Spaz (that babyboy was wild), Happy, etc.  Usually personality-related.  These are two are Crabby and Sweety.  At 8 weeks they are ready to go to a new home and all is quiet for a few months and we start over.

My pair are exceptional parents.  Mamacita rules the roost and keeps dad and joeys in line.  She is dominant and will protect the babies at all cost.  She also loves me and will let me steal them occasionally so long as I feed her treats...lol.  After her treat she will start pacing and I know it's time to give them back.  She goes right to the pouch and checks on them and everything is fine.  She either scolds dad to babysit or sings the joeys to sleep herself.

The joeys are nothing but pure joy to have around.  I hate seeing them go, but knowing she will give me another one or two always makes it easier.  I'm very lucky to be able to keep a breeding pair.  My pair will breed around 3 times per year and about 50% of the time I get two babies and 1 baby the other 50%.    I'm not sure what these two are doing as far as homes yet.  They  may be going to my daughter's father's house as he has been interested in them.  I told my daughter if he wants a couple he can have his pick at any time.  These two girls would be perfect.

So now you know a little more about my little babies....err....sugar gliders.  If you would like to see more of what they look like I have a photo essay on my profile page and I just recently put up some videos of the babies.