Sugar Glider Pictures - Information - Supplies

Sugar Glider Anatomy

Sugar Gliders are exquisitely evolved for free-ranging life in the rain forest of Australia (mostly in Tasmania).  They have very unique physical characteristics that need to be taken into consideration when making choices for housing, feeding.  The skeleton picture below shows how small and delicate the bones are, and this should also be taken into consideration when handling them.

BOY or GIRL Sugar Glider

The male and female are pretty easy to tell apart at a glance from the upper or under side.  The male has a slightly larger body, and slightly larger head.  On the upper side, the most prominent difference is that the male has a bald spot on his head and the female does not.

Rocky is male & Natasha is female

MALE Sugar Glider

From the under side, the male has a small slit near his throat that is usually surrounded in a light orange/yellow color on the fur.  This is where he has a scent gland that he uses to mark his territory as well as his mate. The bald spot on the head of the male is also a scent gland.

Below are some photographs of a Sugar Glider penis and testicles.  The penis is considered to be bifurcated.  Click on the photographs below for a larger view.

FEMALE Sugar Glider

From the under side, the female has a small opening in the lower stomach area  which is her pouch.  Within the pouch she has 4 nipples for her young to attach to.  This little girl has a baby joey in her pouch which is real obvious because of the bump on one side.  The patagium is a membrane that is along their sides and goes from the front paws to the back paws.  This piece of membrane stretches out for them to glide and allows for them to maneuver by way of loosening and tightening it as well as using their tail as a rudder.  Gliders have been known to glide up to 160 ft in the wild.

Here is a view of the underside of the female's tail.  Instead of there being three separate openings for excretion and reproduction, sugar gliders have only two openings. One is the Uro-Genital area and the other is the Rectum.

Sugar Glider Teeth

Sugar gliders have fixed teeth, incisors, molars, and premolars. These teeth do not continue to grow and are not replaced if lost.  Sugar glider teeth should be firmly anchored within the gingiva (gum). Sugar Glider teeth need something to chew and gnaw on. However, unlike hamsters and bunnies, Sugar Gliders will not chew on anything artificial because they prefer real branches. The best branches to use are wild apple, eucalyptus and sassafras, and oak is ok too. 
DO NOT USE ANYTHING THAT COULD HAVE PESTICIDES.
Sugar Gliders chew the bark off of trees in the wild searching for insects and sap/manna and this prevents dental decay and is beneficial to the overall health of their teeth.  They really enjoy chewing on the branches and it gives them something to do when you are away.  Sugar gliders should not have their teeth trimmed, and the molars or premolars should not be dremmeled.  Normal chewing of recommended dietary foods is good enough to keep their teeth clean and healthy.  Should a tooth fracture or a deep root abscess occur, an extraction and/or antibiotics might be necessary.  Gingiva should not be bright red where the teeth and gum line meet because this may indicate an infection.

Sugar Glider Eyes

Sugar gliders have large rounded eyes that are placed on the sides of their head so that they have a larger field of vision.  Their vision is extraordinary! They can glide up to 160 feet from tree to tree at night and catch a moth in flight just for a snack! In the wild, being nocturnal gives them a large margin of safety.  Under the cover of darkness, most predatory birds and reptiles would be asleep.  It's also a time when the worms come to the surface with the cooler night temperature, and the bugs come out.  This provides them with food that is not available during the day.  Another advantage of being nocturnal, is that by not having to deal with the extremely hot temperatures of a typical Australian day, it reduces their need to conserve water.

EYESHINE

This is a term for a phenomenon that haunts photographers, yet helps to easily spot a nocturnal animal in the dark.  Many nocturnal animals have eyes that are adapted to low light and this makes it easier to find them with a spotlight at night.  Light goes through the retina when it enters and part of this light is absorbed, while some of it is lost in the background tissues of the eyes. Many nocturnal animals have "tapetum" which is a mirror-like membrane behind the retina.  This reflects light back through the retina when light hits it.  This is what is called "red eye" in photographs of humans, and is many other colors depending on the animal.  A sugar glider tends to have a " blue" colored eyeshine. 

The nocturnal animal's eyes are mostly made of Rod cells.  These contain a sensitive chemical, Rhodopsin, which breaks down when electrical impulse transmissions to the brain as light reaches it.  The Rhodopsin is restored instantly by using Vitamin A so the vision is continuous.  Large Rod cells have more Rhodopsin, but fewer can be in a given area.  This means there is a significant reduction in visual details.