Sugar Glider
(Petaurus breviceps)

Sugar Gliders are small possums native to many areas of Australia and New Guinea.  Mostly active at night, these possums measure around 6-7 inches total length and weigh only 3-5 oz.  (90-150 grams.)  They are very adept at climbing trees, using their tiny nails to grip tightly as they scurry up and down a trunk.  If they wish to visit another tree, they glide, thrusting off from a tree trunk with powerful hind limbs, spreading out its arms and legs to show the skin membranes that connect them and which become like sails enabling the opossum to "fly" at distances reaching 55 yards!  They tend to sleep during the day, hiding in tree hollows.  Their diet in the wild consists of lapping up sap from Acacia and Eucalyptus trees:  They bite into the tree with their tiny but sharp incisors and lick up the liquid sap as it drips out.  They also enjoy insects and fresh fruit and veggies.  They have scent glands on their foreheads and chests, which they use to mark territories.  Like all possums and kangaroos, females have a pouch (albeit a very small one) in which they may carry up to two young, who stay in the pouch for around 70 days.  After leaving the pouch, the babies will stay in a nest hidden in a tree hollow for another 1-2 months, dependent on their mother to return and feed them.  The offspring usually must leave the family unit around 7-10 months of age and obtain their own territory.  Sugar Gliders may live up to 15 years in captivity.  Although not currently endangered, in Australia, gliders are protected by law and cannot be kept by individuals, which is also the law in Georgia.