Do not harness or leash your sugar gliders.
This entry includes a photo of gliders in a bonding tent and a video where you can see gliders play in a safe room.
The following photos show the surgical repair of patagium by a veterinarian in a rescued glider resulting in permanent damage to the gliding membrane. This injury is old and almost fully healed. You can see where the patagium was damaged and needed to be reattached to the body.
(This glider does not belong to NSSG. Photos used with permission.)
No harness or leash, collar is safe for sugar gliders.
Large commercial companies easily found online currently sell sugar glider leashes to the public. Do not assume, simply because a commercial company looks "professional" or states they are "approved by veterinarians" that all of the products are safe for sugar gliders. Consider one product may meet the minimum standards of care for sugar gliders and is approved by a veterinarian. For-profit commercial companies, unfortunately, are in the pet business for profit alone.
Reputable breeders and approved vendors (AVs) are well aware of this fact, and therefore readily manufacture and provide safe products to the public.
There are sugar glider conferences nation-wide. In addition to rich education, numerous suppliers attend these conferences with many products available directly. Additionally, there are many vendors and breeders who carry safe supplies for sugar gliders avaliable online. Visit our Resources page for a collection of safe and recommended sugar glider vendors.
With a harness or leash, the lines entangle limbs, the gliding membrane, and are significantly threatening to spinal health and structure.
Safe and meaningful bonding practices can lead any glider parent to maintain close interaction and recall with their gliders without the use of leashes or harnesses.
Leashes are never necessary and are never safe, regardless of who is selling the leash or how it is made.
If a glider parent needs to leash their glider for safety– perhaps in a large room or vehicle– the glider should be kept in a travel carrier or in a safe bonding pouch (or tent if in a large room) until there is a stronger relationship to allow more freedom.
Glider playrooms are a canvas for creating memories both in gliders and with a bonding relationship. GliderNursery has a short film documenting only a few minutes of enrichment time in a playroom. Check out an example glider playroom in this video: https://youtu.be/1w1i5E6ZxDg
When your glider is bonded, they will return to you and can be retrieved very easily. Many glider parents know their gliders well enough at this point to understand where their gliders are going and what they're going to do.
Keep in mind, most accidents and injuries in gliders result from free-roaming in the home, either from the escape from an enclosure or left running around.
The normal home is not a safe place for gliders to play. It is simple and safe to use a play tent with enrichment inside or develop a spare room into a glider-proof playroom. There are many marvelous resources for safe enrichment available for your gliders.
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