any sugar glider owners? How are they?

Ive heard they stink, now I hate the smell of ferrets. I have a pretty sensitive nose, no sicky sweet smelly musk type animals.How are these little guys compared to ferrets?
Are they only friendly if you bond as babies or could I adopt an older sugar glider and it will still bond to me?

Ive already considered the chinchilla and still have that one on the back burner. The only thing that puts me off is the hay they need(Im horribly allergic to timothy hay). But I still wanting a small furry pet.

My daughter has been around a few friends with them. I was interested but got shut down real quick.

She told me that at night they make high pitched squealing noises. I have hyperacusis, a rare hearing disorder where I can not tolerate noise, even everyday noise.

Maybe they all don't do it, like dogs barking. But not worth the risk for me.

Best

My sister had some. They do smell awful. And, the ones she had were a breeding pair, and they were pretty aggressive too. She got them as adults.

If you want a small furry to love that doesn't smell as bad, I would really suggest getting a pair of female rats. If you use Aspen bedding and change their cage about once a week, you really can't tell that much. A rabbit might not be bad either. They don't smell nearly as bad as mice, ferrets or gliders. Rats are friendlier though.

I've kept sugar gliders. They are a very high maintenance animal, they have specific dietary requirements and do MUCH better in groups than alone. the smell is caused by a strong musk as well as they pee copiously (and the smell is awful) you do have a chance of bonding with an adult but its not easy and can take a long time.

As much as I loved my sugar gliders and as much research as I had done, I don't recommend them to people because they need so much attention and around the clock care/ supervision. Yes as far as noises they bark at night and when you do things they don't like they make a noise cause crabbing (sounds like a machine)

If you still want to give it a go, go to the sugar glider forum as their care can be much more complicated and you'll want a lot of help to get it right.

Good luck.

Sugar gliders i have heard are at the top of very high maintenance. I saw someone already mentioned rabbits and I would like to second that motion. I had a Silver Martin rabbit for a few years and it was the best!!! he was big, fat, cuddly, and never showed any kind of aggression or resistance. we even put him on a cat leash and walked/dragged him around. They can be a little smelly if you procrastinate on cleaning the cage, but then again every animal is like that.

If you decide to go with a rabbit, I can give some tips and tricks. if you are looking for something smaller I would go with a Black Bear Hamster.

When we got our daughter her first rabbit many years ago, I thought that it was the dumbest idea ever. Boy was I wrong! They are COOL pets! We ended up a handful over 8-10yrs, all house buns.

One trained himself to only relieve himself only in his cage. If we were outside with him, he would hop to the door asking to go to his cage. He wouldn't even poo or whiz outside!

They all cuddled on the couch while we watched a TV. They played with the dogs. Some would try to hump the cat.:rolleyes:

Bottom line, those buns really helped calm my very hyper kid. And taught responsibility about cleaning the cage twice a week as well as feeding.

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That sink picture is the best.

We had a sugar glider and ended up selling it after about a year. Ours never really bonded with us even though my wife carried it around in a pouch for awhile.

It is nocturnal so it sleeps all day and wants to play all night, barking loudly on and off, enough to wake you up from the other room.

It was happiest when we let it roam the house but it would pee on the floor, then my dog would pee on its pee. The last straw was my dog started peeing by the sugar gliders cage.

Ours never really bonded so it didn't like to be held, and would climb onto our back where we couldn't reach it then pee on our shirt, lol. It bit occasionally also.

Ours actually didn't stink though, go figure :)

I looked into sugar gliders but everything I read said they stink and will pee all over you. I've had gerbils, hamsters, ferrets, bunnies. By far, my favourite were the bunnies. I had an orange lionhead and a black one. They were super sweet and I would do it again in a heartbeat. I trained mine to use a litterbox and it made cleanup super easy! To keep the smell down, I just had to dump the box and replace.

Here's the tutorial I used.

http://www.sandiegorabbits.org/litte...etup-success-0

I can't wait until I can move out and get another bunny.

I had a sugar glider for many years. Yes they stink. The musk smell wasn't bad, it was the urine. No matter how clean you keep the cage, they pee and poop so much that it always smells. They also like to pee/poop while hanging on the side of the cage so best to have cardboard or something around it. My was bonded to me and when they like you guess what? They pee on you.. She was an awesome little animal and I kept her for her entire life but I would not get another. Chinchillas on the other hand have no musk/smells and are very clean animals. Never owned one personally but a good friend of mine is a breeder so I've been around them a lot.

we have gliders now, they don't have a strong smell, unless you got a intact male. we have had ours for almost 18 months now we went from 1 to currently 7 ( wife has 3 I got 4 . One of mine had it foot amputated with her first owner ( she had 7 now) they do require a lot of special food, time and a vet. I always suggest if you want to see a glider find a glider owner and ask to visit . explaining why. they not a oh I busy I can t play this week with you type of guys they need daily attention.

a few things to warn you they can't be trained ( litter wise), they can and do bite and will pee on you and rub themselves on you . ( this is a sign you have been accepted into the colony and they trying to make you smell more like them. ) they do bark and they crab if unhappy. the vet care is higher than a cat or dog. some area's they are illegal to own.

You sound like you're in the same boat as me... I wanted small furry interactive pets but had developed an allergy to hay (I had guinea pigs for about 1 year and had to rehome them due to the hay allergy). I would NOT get a rabbit or chin...as they need hay and your allergy will get worse over time and you would end up having to rehome it.... I would love to have a chin or rabbit if my allergy wasn't an issue.

I would suggest looking into female rats as others have said. They do smell unless you clean the cage frequently... Once a week should be fine, but if you want very very little odor, clean maybe twice a week. Also getting the largest cage possible with few rats will cut down on odor. They are very intelligent and can be very affectionate if you buy from a good breeder that socializes them and breeds for temperament. The downside is that they have a short lifespan... I've had some die at 1.5 years... right now my oldest is about 1.8 years old.

They can sort of be litter trained (poo mainly) but will pee in other areas. Having a good bedding layer (I use shredded apsen with either paper or pine pellets beneath) helps. Also feeding them a good diet helps too.. You can easily buy a good lab block online (I use native earth / harlan 2018) and you can supplement with everyday foods like sunflower seeds, veggies, etc.

Gliders are cool... I've seen some in person, but the extensive care / diet / vet requirements, as well as the peeing everywhere put me off of getting one.