Responsibility of Owning a Sugar Glider

Snickers (First day) 8 wks oop

How do you know if you can handle this great commitment to taking care of a sugar glider?
I bought my first sugar glider last year when I was on vacation in Myrtle Beach.  It was the most random thing in the world.  I am with my boyfriend Keith, walking through a random mall, looking to buy brass knuckles and swords (what, you don't do that on vacation?).  All of a sudden, we pass a pet store and there's a huge sign, "Home of the Sugar Glider."  At that point, I honestly had no clue what it was, but Keith did and he wanted to see them.  We go inside the store, The Spoiled Pet, ask the guy working in the pet store, and OMG.. I fell in love.  How could you not fall in love with a baby sugar, they are so gosh darn adorable!  I talked to the shop guy for the longest time, learning everything I could about this amazing creature.  I wanted one, I knew it right there that my life, as I know it, would not go on if I didn't buy it!  But, Keith, who is less impulsive and more realistic than I, convinced me it would be a better idea to go back and think about it before making any rash decisions.  I listened to him, but I was not happy about it at all!  All day I thought about them, I could not even enjoy being on vacation anymore!  We went back to the vacation house, I went online, and I stayed up all night learning everything I possibly could about sugar gliders, and I mean EVERYTHING.  I read the good and the bad about having them as pets.  I barely slept, Keith thought I was a maniac!  I was so heartbroken that I did not come back with one.  I had to go back the next day, I had to.  And I did.  That is when I met Snickers.  The love of my life (sorry Keith)!  Everyone thought I was crazy, but I could not help it.  He amazed me, I loved him so much.  I did not even want anyone else holding him because I didn't want to let him go.  I have come a long way since that day (besides me not wanting to let him go, he's sitting in my shirt as I type), and now I have four.  I don't know everything, but I try my best to learn and know everything about them.

Oggie 

So, this brings me back to my question, how do you know if you can handle the commitment?  A very smart man told me once, if you know all the bad things about a situation and still want to put yourself in that position, then it is the right thing to do.  I agree, if you have done research and know what owning a sugar glider entails... and you are fine with it, then it just might be the right pet for you.  I brought Snickers into work with me one day, and of course all my co-workers fell in love (again, how could you not?).  One woman loved him so much, she decided right there that she wanted one.  I explained to her the pros and cons and what it entails, and she still wanted one.  Fast forward just a few months later to today... she hates it.  She went and found someone who was selling theirs and she bought a female.  She did not listen to me about caring for one and how it was a lot of work.  She fell in love with the baby part.  Just like kittens and puppies, sugar gliders grow up too.  Now she has an adult female that she doesn't want.  Guess who might be taking it off her hands... If you guessed me, you are correct.  So now I may have 5 in just a few short weeks.  I made her take a week or two to think about it and make sure it was the right decision.  It is so unfair to these animals to get used to one way of life and then have to change everything.  They get depressed very easily.  I am forced to weigh the good and bad though, because her sugar glider is all alone, and that might even be worse.  They are colony creatures, they really need to have a mate!  I adopted my second very shortly after I got home from vacation, Oggie.  The two of them bonded very quickly, and now they are inseparable.

Oggie

Snickers (8 weeks oop)

The point of this post is that you must recognize the responsibility of owning a sugar glider, or any animal in that case. You can't throw them in a cage with some food and expect them to be happy, I would not do that to any animal!  You have to understand that they live 10-15 years and picture where you will be in that time of your life and if you will still be able to take care of it.  I heard of one person who bought one, got accepted to go away to college, and couldn't bring it.  This animal will love you and be attached to you, and then all of a sudden taken away.  Imagine how that feels.  You must take everything into consideration before making the decision to own one.  Just google sugar gliders and there is a plethora of information out there to learn about the pros and cons to ownership.