How Do Sugar Gliders Get Their Food in the Wild?

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Sugar gliders have been becoming rather popular pets over the last several years. It’s easy to see why since they’re so cute.

You likely love your pet sugar glider very much. Feeding it is simple, and it’s something that can help you bond with the pet.

How do sugar gliders get their food in the wild, though? What do they eat, and how do they seek out food?

Keep reading to learn about sugar gliders and how they eat in the wild. It’ll give you a better understanding of what they do daily to eat and stay healthy.

What Do Sugar Gliders Eat in the Wild?

Wild sugar gliders eat all sorts of things. They’re known to eat small vertebrates, insects, and even sap.

Sugar gliders love the sap that comes from some types of eucalyptus trees. They also eat the sap that comes from certain gum trees and acacia.

Since sugar gliders are nocturnal animals, they sleep throughout the day. When the sun goes down, they start going around looking for food.

The gliding abilities of sugar gliders play a role in hunting for food. These animals leap and glide around looking for food.

When they spot food, they grab it and then go to a safe location to eat. Sugar gliders are omnivores that eat what they can find, and their diets will change a bit depending on the season.

Sometimes they’ll eat fruit when they’re able to find it. Fruit won’t always be available depending on what time of the year it is, though.

You’ll even sometimes see sugar gliders eating small reptiles in the wild. Sugar gliders don’t necessarily have the luxury of being picky eaters.

Whatever is available to them is what they will try to eat. They always use their gliding abilities to procure food as safely as possible.

Sugar Gliders Try to Avoid the Ground

Generally, sugar gliders try to avoid the ground for safety purposes. These marsupials can walk on the ground if they need to, but it’s dangerous.

These animals are better off jumping from tree to tree in search of fruit and other types of food. They only go to the ground if they must.

Sometimes they will have to go to the ground to search for food. It’s just better for them to search for food that can be found in the trees.

On the ground, sugar gliders are much more vulnerable. Predator attacks are more likely to be successful on the ground, and the sugar glider will have limited options to escape.

So they spend a lot of time in trees looking for food and just staying safe. It’s not as if sugar gliders can’t walk or crawl around, though.

Where Can Sugar Gliders Be Found in the Wild?

Sugar gliders are marsupials that are native to Indonesia, Australia, and Papua New Guinea. They’re small animals that are incredibly cute, but they’re capable of interesting feats.

These little animals glide around from tree to tree. Seeing them in action can be a lot of fun.

If you’d like the chance to spot sugar gliders in their natural habitat, you’ll have to visit either Indonesia, Australia, or Papua New Guinea someday.

They can be found living in tropical forests. Sometimes sugar gliders will also live in cooler forests with more temperate climates, though.

They’re known to nest in hollow sections of trees. When nesting in trees, they might nest with up to ten other adult sugar gliders.

How Do Sugar Gliders Glide?

Gliding is the most interesting aspect of sugar gliders. They’re capable of gliding in much the same way that flying squirrels are.

Sugar gliders are capable of gliding distances of up to 150 feet. They can cover a lot of ground by getting up high in the air and then gliding as far as they can go.

To glide, these marsupials make use of a special membrane. They have a pair of gliding membranes known as patagia that extend from the forelegs to the hind legs.

This thin skin membrane is covered with fur. It allows the sugar glider to glide through the air by extending its legs.

What the membrane does to make this possible is quite simple. It increases the surface area of the sugar glider so that it can glide in a controlled fashion.

Sugar gliders can only glide by jumping from trees or other high locations. These marsupials are known to jump from one tree to another using their impressive gliding abilities.

What Do You Feed Pet Sugar Gliders?

Pet sugar gliders are going to eat different things than wild sugar gliders. You don’t have to replicate the diet of a wild sugar glider completely when caring for these marsupials at home.

Typically, people will feed their sugar gliders different things. It’s normal to give them nutritional pellets such as omnivore pellets.

You’ll also feed sugar gliders fruits and vegetables from time to time. These animals need protein as well, and that’s why many people choose to give their sugar gliders insects.

Insects are a great source of protein. If you don’t want to feed them bugs, it’s fine to give them boiled chicken or turkey.

These animals need a balanced diet that contains equal amounts of protein, veggies, and fruits. If you need advice, it’s wise to speak to an exotic veterinarian about the care needs of sugar gliders.

They can help you to better understand what you must do to keep sugar gliders in good health. It’ll be beneficial when you’re trying to have the best experience possible.

How Long Do Sugar Gliders Live?

When you buy a pet sugar glider, how long should you expect it to live? These animals can live for many years, but they don’t always live for a long time in captivity if they’re not cared for properly.

The average lifespan of sugar gliders is said to be between ten and twelve years. However, sugar gliders are considered to be geriatric once they reach the age of five.

So the sugar glider will be youthful until it’s around five years old. Then, sometime between the ages of five and seven, the sugar glider will start to show signs of age.

How long pet sugar gliders will live depends largely on how well they’re cared for. Sometimes pet owners make mistakes, and the sugar gliders die much sooner than they should.

Knowing this, it’s important to focus on caring for them optimally. Feed the sugar gliders well, and do your best to keep them away from harmful chemicals and other things that could threaten their lives.

On average, pet sugar gliders live longer than wild sugar gliders. Most owners learn how to care for their pets well enough that they’ll live well beyond the age of ten.

A pet sugar glider has the potential to live for fifteen years if you do an excellent job caring for it. Wild sugar gliders often don’t make it to ten because of predators and other types of danger.

Are Sugar Gliders Easy to Care For?

Sugar gliders aren’t the easiest pet to care for overall. While it is simple enough to learn the basics of caring for these animals, it can be a lot of work.

You need to pay attention to many things when caring for these pets. It’s necessary to give them a lot of attention, too.

Sugar gliders need to be fed a special diet. It isn’t as simple as putting some dry dog food in a bowl and calling it good.

Also, sugar gliders need large enclosures so they can glide and move around. They won’t be happy if you try to keep them in small cages.

To add to this, you need to play with the sugar gliders to bond with them and keep them in good spirits. You’ll likely need to use an indoor tent or a closed-off spare room as a playroom for the gliders.

You should only buy these pets if you’re ready for the responsibility. It’ll be a bit too much for some people, but don’t let that discourage you if you’re truly interested.

Sugar Gliders Shouldn’t Be Housed Alone

Another thing to note about sugar gliders is that they live in communities in the wild. They’re social creatures, and you learned that they nest with up to ten other adults.

You don’t need to keep up to ten sugar gliders as pets, though. However, it’s best to keep sugar gliders in pairs or small groups.

One sugar glider being kept by itself is going to get quite lonely. You’ll have a tough time keeping the sugar glider happy and healthy if you don’t have at least two of them.

Enthusiasts say that you should never keep a sugar glider by itself. It could be dangerous to do so, and you don’t want your pet to suffer.

Final Thoughts

Now you know that sugar gliders use their gliding abilities to get food in the wild. You also learned about what to feed them as pets, how long they live, and various other important pieces of information.

If you’d like to buy sugar gliders soon, remember to buy at least two. Also, only buy these pets if you feel that you’re prepared to put in the work to care for them properly.

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