"Well, I didn’t plan on breeding them, but here we go."
An intact male with a female is all it takes.
"I thought they would need to be older, apparently not!"
Sugar gliders can breed as early as 3 months old.
An exotic veterinarian should not charge more than $150.00. In an emergency, sugar glider advocates (found on our Resources page) can help you find a veterinarian who is comfortable neutering gliders and can do so for an affordable rate.
Even if you personally will not have females, an intact male that is not a breeding glider for a breeding program is a significant risk to other sugar gliders.
Please do what is best for ALL sugar gliders. Help protect them and their future.
A birth for a too young female can be traumatic as well as a defective birth. Overall it shortens their lifespan. COI is another serious issue.
"COI?"
Coefficient of Inbreeding
A great way to know if a so-called "breeder" is legitimate, or someone exploiting animals and scamming people for money, is to ask them: What is the COI?
If they can not answer, that person is not a legitimate breeder; the gliders are not safe to breed, and they should not be breeding.
You can contact your local animal control departments to report suspected mill breeders, or people claiming to be a rescue and "re-homing" those gliders for free or for money, which is a violation of law.
In many cases, backyard breeding gliders do not receive adequate care, and more often than not there are multiple breeding pairs. 4 or more breeding females requires a federal license, whether they are in one colony or housed separately.
Reputable breeders go through hoops as high as quidditch goals to ensure a genetically healthy pet sugar glider population.
Many are too closely related to breed. Always check COI before breeding, neuter all gliders who's COI is more than "low" to avoid healthcare and behavioral deficiencies. The "low"- "medium"-"high" scale can be found on The Pet Glider Pedigree.
"Yeah, I am in the middle of a move and once I get settled I have an exotic vet lined up to snip him.
I got them from different breeders so I hope low chance on incest."
This narrative happens far to often. Keep intact males separate at all costs. There are no exceptions, and no excuses that allow forgiveness.
No actual breeder will authorize serendipitous breeding or give out animals without a contract.
An actual, legitimate breeder is a person with a reputation for raising healthy animals in a recognized breeding program and is knowledgeable about those animals, their biology, their care, and their future.
Even from different people or breeders, gliders can still be closely related or even siblings or cousins, etc. Many breeders stock from the same sources. Gliders' relatives are frequently the same, even from different breeders.
Breeding animals' lineage should also be known before breeding, you can check their lineage to determine how closely related they are, and what their coefficient of inbreeding is, which is how inbred the joeys are. You can contact the breeder for this.
It takes 8 generations of unique (distinguished/unrelated) lineage to be not "closely" inbred. After 8 generations of healthy breeding out of an animal with higher COI, the odds of health defect are statistically not significant.
Lineage can also list health problems that have popped up in previous generations of animals after they bred, such as early deaths or organ failure. Generally this is listed on their lineage information and subsequent animals' owners are informed and choose not to breed after that. It's all part of insuring genetic diversity and that no unhealthy inherited traits are passed down the lines.
Sometimes mistake or 'oops' joeys happen. Please I advise you to keep these joeys or rehome them for little or no fees. Making money off oops gliders does encourage others to breed their animals in hopes of turning a profit. Be careful of giving away animals, because people unable to support them may ask to take them.
Gliders never make a profit.
Unless you are wanting oops joeys for yourself, please, please keep them separate until neuter. Oops breeding is a breach of adoption contract aside from being risky, illegitimate and unprofessional- as an owner, or a person claiming to be a breeder.
Breeding "accidentally" is careless, reckless, and dangerous. And, it is unnecessary.
If you want more gliders, do what is best for the animals. Adopt from a reputable breeder, or if you are near a licensed rescue center, you might see if you can foster sugar gliders.
A female may become pregnant within a few moments of being with an intact male.
If you notice mating, hear fighting, or have before, she may have already given birth from the initial mating. Usually the first mating seen is not the first mating to happen.
Do reputable sugar glider breeders see their animals mate? Rarely.
If any mating is seen, watch for bumps in her pouch over the next month, feed increased fat and calcium foods to support her lactation. If they're not part of a breeding program, keep separate until neuter even if she is pregnant. This prevents her from becoming pregnant with even more babies.
Use 2 or more food dishes with equal amounts of food when they are put together again to help the female get the nutrition she requires for supporting joeys.
Female can still conceive again during this time, dad will be just as effective as a father or companion after his neuter.
Neutered fathers and other family members are the same excellent joey caretakers. Many say neutered males are the best gliders in general.
Plan for more neuters if the joeys are male, it is safe to neuter at 8-12 weeks.
Plan for another colony with females. They can, and will eventually, challenge other females for dominance and this often does not end well.
Sometimes it continues at lengths and when this happens, separation is recommended to avoid escalation and worse injuries.
Dad may fight with or kill sons out of territorial dispute after 12 weeks, joeys can impregnate mom/sister during this time, also. Normally males leave the family but cannot do so in a contained environment, it is normal for there to be rivalry with coming age. This decreases with neuter.
With the father already being mature, it can take 3 mo after the joeys are born for his testosterone to return to normal, he may fight with male joeys once they begin producing mating hormones (beginning at 3 months old). Hence, male joeys are neutered by 12 weeks or separated into their own colony as part of a breeding program or until they are neutered.
Delays in neuters due to "life or financial circumstances" are no excuse.
There is no reason at all to have an intact male with a female if this, at any point, will ever or could ever be an issue.
"The time I need money for gliders is the time I stop with gliders." - 20+ years reputable breeder
If you have a pregnancy, it's in their best interest if you research a breeding diet for the female, all about the reproductive cycle and what to expect once joeys are visibly in-pouch. There's a lot to know 😁
There is still a LOT to know anyways, and always with breeding programs centered in building lines and learning about inheritance in their unique ancestry.
Sugar gliders never pay for themselves.
Can you please please please drop this line into the sugar glider thread every day, and into all sugar glider discord servers, because you are completely right about that.
None of the glider community seems to understand that. [Outside of reputable educators and breeders]
They are always breeding their gliders and then, when their glider population explodes, they sell their joeys for cheap on craigslist as cool pets for some uninformed parents to get for their little kids. They don't care about the gliders quality of life and the population explosion causes the cages to become so nasty that they aren't kept clean enough.
The constant demand for more food for the ever growing glider population is a resource drain on any family members who, tragically, are stuck living with these glider owners.
So please, tell the whole glider world that "breeding gliders does NOT pay for itself or even turn a profit" like they claim it does, because they never pay back all the money it cost to feed [and care for] those gliders."
I'm careful not to home my joeys in any situation where they'll contribute to mess like that. I've been called so many names for having joeys over $200 or not letting them breed. Sorry folks, they ARE worth it. Stop bybing.
Why Sugar Gliders Cost So Much Money https://northernsuggies.wixsite.com/nightskysugargliders/blog/why-do-sugar-gliders-cost-so-much-money