The Mess & Odors of Pet Sugar Gliders

Video Transcript

"Hi my name is Elizabeth Cantu and I am speaking on behalf of Expert Village. Today we are talking about sugar gliders and I guess some of the more unpleasant things about sugar glider ownership and some of the things to take into consideration. These guys are some of the messiest creatures for being a cage bound pet. Most of their diet is liquid or fruits and vegetables and these guys tend to chew it up and then shake their head and fling it on any vertical surface within about a two foot radius of their cage. This means that walls, wallpaper, carpet, anything that you like within a two foot radius of that animal's cage is going to end up splattered with bits of food, urine, and whatever is splattering from the cage outward. They are not potty trainable so if they are left out of their cages they will urinate and defecate anywhere in your house. These guys also have a bit of an odor to them. This can be mostly avoided if you keep their cage clean. Generally this means changing their cage at least every couple of days. Do not use cedar shavings because they will just hold the smell instead of getting rid of it. Sometimes it masks it but mostly it just smells like cedar shavings plus sugar glider on top. A lot of the odor that these guys have actually comes from poor diet and over supplementation so if your sugar glider does have just an unbearable odor to it consider that it may be having an improper diet which is most often the cause for a foul smell from these animals."