Cleaning is easy if the cage has wire a bottom and a catch tray beneath. Once or twice a week is usually sufficient. Place newspaper and a small amount of pine or aspen--not cedar--shavings on the tray to help absorb moisture.

Add a food cup and a water bottle or dish to the cage. Your pets will appreciate a cage outfitted with climbing and gnawing branches, hanging knotted ropes and a nestbox. The nestbox could be made of various materials and household items. A small bird nestbox with a removable top works fine.

Sugar gliders enjoy building a bed in their nest. Make drainage holes in the bottom of the nest if it is not of absorbent material like wood. Place small amounts of hay, paper, quilt batting and leaves in the bottom of the cage; the sugar gliders will spend hours shredding these items and taking them to their nests. Do not use paper with colored ink as some inks can be toxic.

Your pets will need chewing objects to help wear down their long incisors. In the wild, these teeth wear when the sugar gliders chew the bark off trees, mostly eucalyptus, to eat the sap that drips from the wounded tree. To simulate this environment, offer your pets nontoxic branches, such as willow, thornless rose and aspen. Make sure the plant has not been treated with any chemicals, such as fertilizer or pesticides.

Author(s): Pat Storer

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