Other This can't be right, can it?

[Kipsie]

I know of a person that has a male sugar glider, and they've gotten a female sugar glider in the same cage. Now the female is pregnant, and they are against separating them because they'll get depressed without company. This person is -possibly- young, and from what I know, has only read books about breeding. Is it good to keep two gliders in the same cage, when both are able to mate with each other? I know nothing about gliders, and wanted to ask to make sure.

 

[ferndalezoo]

It's half right. They will absolutely get depressed without eachother, possibly to the point of death. It's not pretty. Ideally, they need to get the male neutered. Oh, and Sugar Gliders are marsupials. The female is only pregnant for a very short period of time. If it's been long enough that they know about it, she's not pregnant at all. She has a joey (or often twins) in her pouch right now.

 

[ferndalezoo]

I reread this too late to edit it, so for clarification: I am not at all pro-breeding, of sugar gliders or anything else. Sugar glider care, let alone breeding, is not something that should be undertaken by "young" people in my opinion. If the female already has joeys in the pouch, the male should be neutered ASAP so that he's "safe" to be with her when she would otherwise be "ready". The owner is right in not wanting to split them up, but that shouldn't be an excuse for indiscriminate breeding.

 

[Kipsie]

Oh, okay, thanks. I was reading up on gliders, and it said the male babies should be neutered too, right?

 

[ferndalezoo]

Just like with pigs, you can either have a same-gender colony, or you can neuter the males so they can live with females. The difference is that multiple males can live with females just fine, usually, whereas with cavies, you can't usually have more than one male with females, neutered or not. The owner of those gliders needs to be told to be sure to NOT separate the babies from mom until 8 weeks OOP (out of pouch, which is how you determine "age" for a joey, since you don't usually know when they were "born". Dad can stay with the family (once he's neutered) and he will help care for the baby/s.

 

[Kipsie]

I'll tell them once they reply to my message.
Sugar gliders are lucky with less than a month's pregnancy.