Breeding Your Sugar Glider

By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Mike_Brennen]Mike Brennen
Your first step as a committed breeder is to understand the correct way to care for a sugar glider mother and her litter so that it leads to healthy, long-living offspring. You should also have a basic knowledge of it's origins, natural instincts, living requirements and behavior. The sugar glider is a species of mammal which originates from Australia, a descendant of the kangaroo and koala. these tiny animals have gained popularity in the United States as a domestic pet and sparked a trend of new breeders.
Sugar gliders are naturally playful animals. Their name indicates their purpose as mammals who are known for jumping and flying, thus the name "glider". for this reason it is mandatory that you choose a cage of specific dimensions to allow enough space for your glider to jump and glide. At minimum, a cage measuring 18 by 36 inches is needed to house a sugar glider. Pick an assortment of toys and climbing devices to decorate the cage interior and provide entertainment as your glider plays inside. When rest time comes, have a comfortable nesting box prepared for your glider to allow for adequate sleep, nesting and reproduction. The only thing you will need to replacement inside the cage is the nesting box. As gliders sometimes decide to mark outside their box with urine, it will need to be replaced multiple times during it's life. Although multiple replacements are sometimes necessary, consider the nesting box a central piece of your glider's life for the important purpose it serves in providing a space for nesting, rest and most importantly, reproduction.
The natural mating and reproduction process between male and female sugar gliders is seldom, only mating once or twice a year. In captivity however, two sugar gliders are known to mate and reproduce at a more consistent rate. As the mother glider carries her fetus for 15 to 17 days, the breeder must supply the mother glider with a significant amount of protein to insure her and the baby remain healthy. The period in which the baby sugar glider fetus grows inside their mother requires increased nutritional needs to insure a strong mother who will eventually deliver a healthy newborn. Upon birth, baby joey gliders, or "joeys" will appear hairless and blind, about one or two babies in a single litter. This fragile state at birth will require baby joeys to enter back into their mother's pouch for protection and nursing to supplement their growth from newborn to independent youngsters.
The development process of the baby joey glider inside it's mother's pouch is the final stage between it coming into your care once it is fully weaned away from it's mother. At four months of age, baby gliders become fully matured and ready to live independent of their parents, a period which is ideal for it to be placed within the presence of it's future owner. The truth is, a young glider's eyes aren't fully opened until 12 to 14 days of emergence from it's mother's pouch. Once the mother allows it's young to be exposed to human contact and bonding upon leaving the pouch, this is the best time for the young, developed glider to begin bonding with a human owner. The crucial period in choosing your sugar glider as it becomes independent from it's mother will insure you form a proper bond with it, making the young glider an ideal pet.
As long as you follow the necessary steps in breeding your sugar glider through it's natural developmental process through reproduction, birth, nutrition and growth it will prove to be a rewarding process of nurturing life to be proud of.
Mike Brennen is a sugar glider expert. For more great tips on [http://thesugarglidersolution.com/sugar-glider-breeding/]sugar glider breeding, visit [http://thesugarglidersolution.com/]http://thesugarglidersolution.com/sugar-glider-breeding/.
Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?Breeding-Your-Sugar-Glider&id=6556669] Breeding Your Sugar Glider