Sugar Gliders

Sugar Gliders are small opossums native to Australia and Papua New Guinea. These little marsupials can make good pets, but they are rather difficult to keep.

Sugar Gliders need to eat: commercial food in both nectar and pellet forms (expensive, but at least they don't eat much), fruits and vegetables, and insects. Many people find it difficult to feed all these different foods to a Sugar Glider every day.

Sugar Gliders can be kept in a large bird cage. They should have their water in a bottle on the side of their cage. They can have bird toys to play with.

A Sugar Glider will form a strong bond with its owner. They love to be carried around for hours in a pocket or bag. They need attention every day.

Sugar Gliders are hard to care for, but for a dedicated owner they can be wonderful, adorable pets.

Exotic Pets Part Four - Short-tail Opposum

When the average person thinks of Opossums, they think the large, ugly, and mean Virginia Opossum lying dead in the road or hanging from a tree branch by its tail (this, by the way, is a myth). The Short-tailed Opossum is not large. Or ugly. Or mean.

You probably already know of another pet Opossum: the Sugar Glider, though perhaps (unless you have read this blog for a long time) you did not know that they were Opossums.

Before I right any more, I'd better show you what a Short-tailed Opossum looks like:

Cute, right? I thought so.

The type of Short-tailed Opossum most likely to be found in the pet trade is the one in the picture: the Gray Short-tailed Opossum, Monodelphis domestica. Domestica!? Yes, these are domesticated, not to be pets, but to experiment on.

One of these guys will set you back about a hundred dollars. They can live in a cage ( a rat sized one would work) or an aquarium.

Short-tailed Opossums are not hard to keep, and they can become tame. 

Exotic Pets - Part 1 Intoduction

Some people say that exotic pets are animals that are not domesticated, and some people use the term to denote all non-mammal animals kept as pets. I don't entirely agree with either view point. Some animals may have been bred in captivity long enough to be considered domesticated, but are still often considered exotic pets.

For example, scientists have domesticated the Silver Fox. Some companies are selling Silver Fox pups as pets. But that does not mean that they are ranked alongside guinea pigs and housecats as household pets, so I would consider a pet Silver Fox and exotic pet. In the same way, according to Wikipedia African Pygmy Hedgehogs are domesticated, but in my opinion they are still exotic pets. Some people might beg to differ with this, though.

I would personally divide exotic pets into two categories.


Type one exotics that I know of consist of the following: hedgehogs, sugar glider, pet prairie dogs (yes, it's true!), pet flying squirrels, medium sized birds, small- medium reptiles,  short-tailed opossums, pygmy mice, and spiny mice.

These exotic pets are relatively easy to find, are a lot cheaper (under $300), do not need huge caging/ pen and supplies, and are normally legal and do not usually require a permit (but NOT always! Always check your local laws before getting an exotic pet!)

Type two exotics are such animals like wallabies, kinkajous coatimundis, genets, large exotic birds, (small wild cats), large reptiles, and marmosets (TINY monkeys). Basically they are the reverse of the type one exotics, but still could possibly make a good pet for a specialized owner.

I will try to write about most of these animals in the posts to come.