Sugar Glider
Scientific Name
Petaurus breviceps
Conservation Status
The IUCN red list considers the sugar glider to be a least concern species.
This animal can visit your location for a presentation.
This animal is not used for Wilbur’s Wildlife event displays.
This animal is on show during private zoo tours.
Our Animals
Four sugar gliders call Wilbur’s Wildlife home. Our original sugar glider and the one which attends most of our presentations is Harold a three year old who was raised around people from a young age making him comfortable with being handled.
Our other three sugar gliders arrived from a private breeder in mid 2018. They have since settled in and been named Ella, Mae and Beau. Mae lives with Harold and Ella and Beau live together giving us two potential breeding pairs. We are hopeful that in 2019 we will welcome our first baby sugar gliders.
During our private tours guests have the opportunity to visit one of our sugar glider pairs and give them a treat.
Appearance
The sugar glider measures 360mm for its full body length. 170mm of this is made up of the tail. Males are slightly larger than the females; they weigh 140 grams on average while females are generally 115g.
The most prolific sugar gliders are the blue-grey ones. In some rare cases yellow, tan and albino morphs can occur.
The belly, throat and chest are coloured cream. From the nose to halfway along the back is a black stripe. On the male this parts on the forehead and a patch of exposed skin is visible. This is the scent gland.
Between the fifth toe and the first finger these gliders have a membrane or patagium. This membrane is what the gliders use to fly through the air.
Lifespan
Typically the sugar glider will reach 9 years of age in the wild. In captivity the average age is 12 years. One glider is reported to have reached 17 years.
Diet
Throughout summer these animals will eat mostly insects as these are plentiful. Over winter they switch to a diet of the plentiful acacia trees. These gliders also take lizards, small birds, nectar, bird eggs, pollen and native fruits when they are available.
Habitat
Sugar gliders can be found in Australia, Papua New Guinea and some islands off the coast of these areas. In Australia they are found in the Northern Territory, Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria. The sugar glider has also been introduced into Tasmania.
The sugar glider prefers a habitat of open woodlands. They need an area where there are many tree hollows which they line with tree leaves.
Reproduction
Sugar gliders can breed at any time of the year. Depending on conditions they may breed up to twice a year in the wild.
The gestation period lasts 15 to 17 days after which twins will usually be born though there is a chance of a single young. They are born hairless and blind and spend the beginning of their life by climbing into the mothers pouch. The mother can become pregnant again while the joey is in the pouch. She will hold this joey till the other one leaves the pouch.
The joey spends its first 60 to 70 days attached to the nipple in the pouch. It will fall out of the pouch at some point still hairless and blind. After another 12 days the eyes are opened and the joey will have grown fur.
After 2 months the joey will be weaned and it becomes self-sufficient at 4 months of age. Males achieve sexual maturity between 4 and 12 months. Females come of age slightly later between 8 and 12 months.
Behaviour
Sugar gliders are best known for their gliding or volplaning. They use this mainly to move from tree to tree. They have the ability to travel 100 metres using this method.
The sugar glider is a social species. Their group size has been known to reach 7.
They are threatened mainly by native owls. Some kookaburras, quolls, goannas and snakes also pose a threat. The introduced feral cat will prey on the sugar glider.
Threats
Sugar gliders have no major threats. At this time the largest threat is deforestation which is reducing the amount of area in which they can live. Their large range reduces the effect of this issue.
How you can help
Ensure you recycle your paper in your recycling bin to reduce the need to cut down forests. Its important to also purchase recycled paper products at the shop to ensure that there is a demand for recycled paper.
When purchasing timber products look for products using sustainable timber. If making items out of timber at home, see if you can recycle timber you already have.
Planting trees will help to create tree hollows for the future.
Quick Facts
Sugar gliders have become a pest species following their introduction to Tasmania where they now pose a threat to the endangered swift parrot.
References
Salas, L., Dickman, C., Helgen, K., Winter, J., Ellis, M., Denny, M., Woinarski, J., Lunney, D., Oakwood, M., Menkhorst, P. & Strahan, R. 2016. Petaurus breviceps. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T16731A21959798. http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-2.RLTS.T16731A21959798.en. Downloaded on 04 January 2019.
Active Wild. (2019). Sugar Glider Facts For Kids: Information With Pictures & Video. [online] Available at: https://www.activewild.com/sugar-glider-facts/ [Accessed 4 Jan. 2019].