Sugar gliders are in my opinion mini flying squirrels! but they are a small marsupial possum very clean critters, fun to watch, very easy to take care of. they do best in pairs unless one spends a lot of time with them. They bond to your body scent. they can be trained to stay on you or in your pocket etc. kids just love them. when I am out with them in my bonding pouch they ask questions look at them and touch them and I explain what they are and it becomes educational for them.

What are you feeding the little guys? The ones I used to know were messy with their fruit.

Thanks for the help on the sugar glider folks, you've been a helpful lot, you have.

For any of y'all who don't know what a sugar glider is, here's a link. Oh,and by the way, read to the end, they're not legal everywhere. Yup, real helpful y'all have been.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugar_glider

And here's more information on them. Including what to feed them, as one person here asked.

http://mynasga.org/

Good references.

The way the people I knew fed them--a diet that has done very well--but which is also what kept me from adopting any. I meant: have you found a less messy way to do it? They give them lots of variety in fruit along with nutrition gel stuff that they make in big sheets and then cut up and some bugs once in a while but I don't remember what kind. They also would get nectar. It gets messy and the gliders pick up fruit and it gets all over and is sticky. The little guys seemed really happy with the variety of colors and textures in their foods, though. This was all under the guidance of up-to-date nutritionists and exotics vets and continuously being worked with to be improved.

Are you doing mostly pellets--I've heard that those are getting better? How do you keep them from getting fruit everywhere?

I feed my gliders a well pelleted diet with fruits and vegies (sometimes jars of baby food will help) they get a nector mix (2 strawberry banana yogurts, 1 can of strawberry banana kerns nector, 3 tablespoons of their nector powder and mix together it makes about a 1/4 gallon of mix which lasts about 1 week. I don't give them the loaded crickets or pinkies <frozen baby mice> I boil chicken or turkey and give them. they also have their water bowl!

Oh my gliders are very tame! I put my hand in cage they jump right onto it and lick me and wont let go until I go and pick them up and place them in the pouch! it takes time to build the trust! it took my guys 2 months of constantly sticking arm in cage with treat and luring them! I let them roam in house in a critter ball or I go in a tent with them and let them crawl all over me!

Oh I forgot to mention on gliders they do not require baths, they eat a nectoraide that I prepare, baby food, fruits and vegies, a good pelleted mix, boiled chicken, boiled turkey. Feel free to send me a msg if you would like more information on the care of gliders! I do have to mention they cannot be litter box trained they go where they please! but there is a trick I learned to make them go before I begin playing with them and they are good for hours! they have a few different sounds there is a crabbing sound when they are frightened, there is a pffft or sneeze sound which is where they are cleaning themselves, there is the barking where they bark like a tiny dog which is them calling you for attention. then there is this cute what sounds like a purr where they shuffle around and get comfy in their cage! they can live up to 15 yrs with good healthy eating and vet check ups!

G'day from the home of the Sugar Glider.
I came across this thread in regard to Guinea Pigs and would like to add to the discussion.
I have been performing with guinea pigs for many years.
In the same way that Mike mentioned that he introduced guinea pigs because some of the "rabbit production devices" were to small - this was also my reason.
I have taken a significant interest in the squeaky little rodents and they have become an important part of many of my shows.
The performing ones are very much hand tamed and enjoy interacting with the audience by being patted under supervision after the show.
My performing guinea pigs are all long haired white albino and look amazing. It took a while to get the breeding right but I crossed short haired white with long haired mostly white and ended up with the right combination - I now sell and/or give away the babies in my local area with a proviso that I can borrow them back if needed for breeding in the future.
I have developed an entertaining way of incorporating the guinea pigs into a show that also includes the production of a rabbit.
A volunteer is asked if they know what a rabbit looks like (and they mostly do) but they accidentally help me to produce the guinea pig (if the guinea pig is backwards when produced I am able to indicate that it is a nice fluffy bunny "but it has no head" and then I find that the head is at the other end and that it is not a rabbit.
I find that in the end the Rabbit and the guinea pig are happy to sit together on the table.
Sometimes the guinea pig will do the show on it's own.
They have worked well for me and I intend to keep them in the show.

There are some interesting training videos on you tube where people have trained animals including rabbits and guinea pigs to navigate obstacle courses utilizing 'clicker training". I am considering training a rabbit to jump through a hoop as part of it's performance.

Bob Latta (aka Troppo Bob)

I just got a GP for my daughter tonight. It's only 3 weeks old now so it's too young to use in my show, but I do plan on using it in another 6 to 7 months or so. I'd be interested too in what production items would work well for this...

Hi Christopher

Not a production, but Viking's version of Loyd's Guinea Pig Chest is a lot of fun.

Julie

Thanks Julie! I went to the Viking website but they do have this listed. I called them and left a message! I remember Harry Anderson doing a bit with this years ago. Most recently, I think Farrell Dillion does a version tho I don't know if his box is the same as the viking one you spoke of!

Christopher

Glad to see others indeed are using G. Pigs - most are truly wonderful pets to work with.

I like the idea of a White G. Pig

Sadly, Viking no longer makes this product and from what George told me, there are no future plans to continue it. Anyone have one they might want to sell?

Many dealers used to carry this. You may want to check around and see if anyone still has one in inventory such as Hank Lee or Daytona.

Thanks Rev...

It looks like that both dealers have this in stock now...

I now own two female GPs who are each 3 months old. Their names are Izzy and Ozzy. Izzy is all white with two black spots around her eyes (like a Panda) and Ozzy is 3 different shades of tan. Both are very sweet and as I'm learning VERY FAST! I won't even start to use them in my show until they're a year old as I want them both to get used to me and feel comfortable. Having much fun with the little buggers...

Guinea pigs are soo cute! I had two of them for 10 yrs never thought about them as being part of magic shows! great idea!

Im getting ready to list a Viking Guinea Pig Box on the for sale section of the Café