Mammals
Sugar Glider
Petaurus breviceps · also called sugar glider
The sugar glider is a tiny, wide-eyed marsupial that has taken up the same trade as the flying squirrel on the other side of the world — living in the treetops and travelling between them on a stretched-out flap of skin.
Overview
Sugar gliders live in the forests and woodlands of eastern and northern Australia, and closely related species occur in New Guinea and nearby islands. They are nocturnal and highly arboreal, sleeping by day in a leaf-lined nest in a tree hollow and emerging at night to feed. They are also very social: a colony of up to seven adults and their young shares a nest and a territory, and the dominant male marks every member with scent from glands on his head and chest so the whole group carries one communal smell.
Gliding
The sugar glider’s defining feature is the patagium, a membrane of skin and fur running from the fifth finger of each hand to the first toe of each foot. Spread in the air, it works as a rectangular wing, letting the animal glide 30 to 50 metres between trees at about a 3:1 glide ratio while steering with its limbs and its long, bushy tail, which acts as a rudder and air brake. Gliding lets it cross gaps, escape ground predators, and forage efficiently over a wide area.
Diet
Sugar gliders are sap and nectar specialists for much of the year, gouging bark to tap the sugary sap of eucalypts and wattles and lapping nectar, pollen, and insect honeydew. In the warmer months they eat more insects and spiders. Their reliance on tree sap and hollows ties them tightly to mature, undisturbed forest.
Reproduction and torpor
Females carry one or two young in the pouch for around 70 days, after which the joeys move to the nest and are cared for by the group. On cold days or when food is short, sugar gliders enter torpor, letting their body temperature fall and their metabolism slow for several hours to conserve energy.
Status
The sugar glider is Least Concern and common in Australia, though local populations decline where old-growth forest with hollow-bearing trees is cleared or fragmented, and feral cats take a toll. Its bigger story is the pet trade: sugar gliders (often actually one of the New Guinea species) are bred and sold worldwide as “pocket pets,” a role for which their social needs, night activity, diet, and long lifespan make them frequently unsuitable.
Sugar Glider: common questions
How does a sugar glider glide?
When it launches from a branch, a sugar glider spreads its limbs, stretching a thin, furred membrane called the patagium that runs from the outside of each wrist to each ankle. The membrane turns the animal into a small square wing, and it planes forward at roughly three metres of distance for every metre of drop, steering by shifting its limbs and flicking its long tail as a rudder. It flares the membrane just before landing to brake, hits the target trunk with all four feet, and immediately scrambles around to the far side. Glides of 30 to 50 metres are routine, and much longer ones have been recorded from tall trees.
What do sugar gliders eat, and why are they called "sugar" gliders?
The name comes from their strong preference for sweet foods — the sap and gum that ooze from wounds in eucalyptus and acacia trees, plus nectar, pollen, and honeydew (the sugary excretion of sap-sucking insects). They gouge notches in bark with their lower incisors to start the sap flowing. In summer they switch to eating more insects and spiders for protein. In captivity, feeding them a diet too high in sugar and fat and too low in calcium and protein causes serious health problems.
Do sugar gliders make good pets?
They are widely kept, but they are demanding and often a poor choice. They are highly social and become stressed and self-harming if kept alone, they are nocturnal and noisy at night, they need a large aviary-style enclosure with room to glide, they have a specialised diet, they scent-mark, and they can live 12 to 15 years. Many are surrendered or die young from poor care. They are also banned or restricted in several countries and US states.
Are sugar gliders and flying squirrels related?
No — they are a classic example of convergent evolution. The sugar glider is a marsupial (it raises its young in a pouch), most closely related to possums and kangaroos, while the flying squirrel is a placental rodent. Living the same nocturnal, tree-gliding, sap- and nut-eating lifestyle on different continents has given the two animals remarkably similar bodies, including the gliding membrane and the flattened tail.