Tree branches:

Including branches in your sugar glider’s cage will provide it something to sit on and glide or jump to/from! Attach the branches with glider-safe ties or straps. Don’t use wire twist-ties! Use a type of wood that is rated as safe for small birds, such as apple, aspen, cottonwood and willow. Many breeders prefer manzanita branches above all others. Make sure the branches have not been sprayed with pesticides. If you use a tree branch from your yard, you may want to place it in a freezer for a day or two, in order to kill any bugs in/on it.

Do not use branches from pine trees, cedar trees, fir trees or redwood trees. They all produce a sticky sap that can be quite difficult to remove from your glider’s fur. And the sap may in fact be poisonous.

Your sugar glider will have a good time stripping the bark from the branches! Once a branch is stripped and/or soiled, replace it with a new one.

Other climbing and frolicking toys:

Climbing robes, perches, ladders, bird bells, etc. are also enjoyed by sugar gliders. Check your pet store’s parrot and hamster toys. Be sure that anything you buy is sturdy enough to take the wear from an active sugar glider!

Nesting boxes or a sleeping pouch:

A nesting box is a very important part of your sugar glider’s environment! Remember, they are nocturnal and need a warm, safe place to curl up and sleep during the day. Nesting boxes can be made of wood, wicker (like a finch nest) or plastic. The hole in the nesting box should be at least 1.5 inches (3.75 cm) in diameter. If you are using the nesting box for breeding, make sure the hole is up high enough, or on top of the box, so that the babies can’t fall out. If you really want to keep your glider happy, provide more than one nesting box or sleeping pouch.

As an alternative, you can put a cloth sleeping pouch with a slit in it in the cage, and tie it to the side of the cage; sort of like a sugar glider sleeping bag! These sleeping pouches are very popular with sugar glider owners. Sleeping pouches can be washed when necessary. Be sure to clip any hanging threads inside the sleeping pouch. A hanging thread can get wrapped around your glider’s paw and cause a lot of damage.

It is not absolutely necessary that your sugar glider’s nesting box have bedding in it. You can, however, add plain shredded paper (NO newsprint or magazine print), strips of fleece material or aspen wood shavings.

Never use cedar wood shavings, as the volatile oils in them are toxic to sugar gliders and many other small animals. As a precaution, try to avoid pine shavings because they have volatile resins that can be toxic to gliders.

If your sugar glider eats its nesting material, remove the nesting material, because the sugar glider could wind up with an impacted digestive system. You can put a piece soft fabric in the nesting box in place of shredded wood, paper, etc.

Litter versus bedding material:

One of the facts of sugar glider life is that gliders cannot be litter trained. So an actual litter box is not going to change their nature. However, gliders’ stools are small and quickly dry to hardness, like mouse poop. They usually urinate while on the wire of their cage or on one of their branches. So your best bet is to line the bottom of their cage with absorbent material, such as wood shavings (NOT cedar shavings, however) or even unscented cat litter. Ideally, you want your sugar glider’s absorbent bedding to be unreachable by the glider. If you can find a cage with a slide-out tray and a layer of wire over the tray, that will work best. If you construct your own cage, put a wire layer over the bedding to prevent the sugar gliders from walking around in their own waste.

Food and water containers:

The first principle of feeding and watering sugar gliders is to place the food and water high up in the cage. Gliders feel comfortable eating up high, because they are tree-dwellers. For a food container, you can use anything from a heavy “crock” type pet food dish that can’t be tipped over to bird dishes that clip onto the wire. Be sure to dump out and clean the food dishes every day, in order to prevent food from spoiling and making your glider sick.

For a water container, you can also use a heavy “crock” type pet food dish, or a sipper-type of water bottle. Water bottles work nicely because your sugar glider can’t pee and poop in them, as they might in a dish. However, until you are sure your glider has gotten “the hang” of sipping from a water bottle, also include some water in an open dish.

Toys:

Sugar gliders love playing with bird toys. Make sure that the toys do not have small parts that can easily be bitten or pulled off. They also love to hide in PVC pipe! You can give your sugar glider a chew bone, but do not use poultry bones, or pork or lamb bones.

An important note about hamster wheels: Some people think gliders and wire hamster wheels are a natural combination. However, they can cause injuries to sugar gliders. Tails can get caught in the wire wheels, and if one glider jumps on the wheel while another spins it, the first glider’s legs or paws may get caught in the wheel. Use a solid wheel, such as Wodent Wheels from Transoniq. Another benefit of the solid wheels is that you can put fine-grade sandpaper in the wheel to keep your sugar glider’s nails trimmed. There are specialty products designed to fit inside the Wodent Wheel so that it automatically trims your glider’s nails as he runs on the wheel. I recommend the 8″ Wodent Wheel for joeys and the 11″ Wodent Wheel for adult suggies.