Sugar glider x [mammal species] mixed enclosure?

Carlosarty

Carlosarty

Active Member
I made this thread to bust the popular “Sugar glider co-hab = bad idea” rumor, or not. It’s still an interesting idea to see if there have been any cases where a sugar glider & another mammal species roaming around in the same enclosure worked out well.

Not only just a thread but also helps zoo owners and pet owners (including me)
 
The following mixes have worked. They have also worked free-roaming in places like Budapest Zoo and Randers Tropical Zoo:
  • Bettongs (Brush-tailed, rufous, etc.): Saitama Children's Zoo, Wilhelma, Los Angeles Zoo, etc.
  • Long-Nosed Potoroo: Northumberland Country Zoo
  • Common Brush-tailed Possum: Wilhelma
  • Southern Hairy-nosed Wombat - Los Angeles Zoo & Botanical Gardens
  • Black Flying Fox: Caversham Wildlife Park
  • Cuscus: Zoo Zahrada Jihlava
 
MOG2012 said:
The following mixes have worked. They have also worked free-roaming in places like Budapest Zoo and Randers Tropical Zoo:
  • Bettongs (Brush-tailed, rufous, etc.): Saitama Children's Zoo, Wilhelma, Los Angeles Zoo, etc.
  • Long-Nosed Potoroo: Northumberland Country Zoo
  • Common Brush-tailed Possum: Wilhelma
  • Southern Hairy-nosed Wombat - Los Angeles Zoo & Botanical Gardens
  • Black Flying Fox: Caversham Wildlife Park
  • Cuscus: Zoo Zahrada Jihlava
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Interesting, I know striped possums aren't very common in captivity but I am surprised nobody has tried sugar glider x striped possum despite they coexist lots in the wild and didn't cause any issues like beef with or killing these
 
Carlosarty said:
I made this thread to bust the popular “Sugar glider co-hab = bad idea” rumor, or not.
Click to expand...
Is this a "popular" rumour? I've never heard of it before. Lots of zoos mix them with other mammals. Is it just a pet owner thing?
 
Chlidonias said:
Is this a "popular" rumour? I've never heard of it before. Lots of zoos mix them with other mammals. Is it just a pet owner thing?
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Yeah, It’s common that sugar glider owner’s mind will come to say if you ask the same question like this
 
fwiw I think the logistics of two animals cohabiting in a zoo setting vs in a private pet setting are.... very different. zoos simply have resources- in terms of space, habitat setup equipment, landscaping, veterinary management, dietary management- that pet owners. just don't have access to.

anyway here's a thread someone made about this in 2011 that you might find helpful. in a pet setting i think you would likely struggle to sufficiently meet the needs of both animals in one enclosure.
 
filovirus said:
fwiw I think the logistics of two animals cohabiting in a zoo setting vs in a private pet setting are.... very different. zoos simply have resources- in terms of space, habitat setup equipment, landscaping, veterinary management, dietary management- that pet owners. Just don't have access to.

Anyway here's a thread someone made about this in 2011 that you might find helpful. In a pet setting I think you would likely struggle to sufficiently meet the needs of both animals in one enclosure.
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Yes, but there are many available large aviaries for at least $400-1000 which I will buy first and we do have more space in the yard. The two species will be kept in separate indoor cages when the weather isn't right in this case
 
I find this is quite similar to how pet owners keep Leopard Geckos quite differently to how some zoos keep them. You'll often find Leopard Geckos being housed together in zoos and I remember seeing a picture on ZC of them being housed with a similarly sized lizard in one zoo, while the general consensus in the reptile-keeping community is that they are solitary animals that will not benefit from any form of cohabitation (somewhat ignoring the fact that they're often found huddled together in the wild).

The thing to keep in mind when following discourse like this is that firstly, these anti cohab rules were probably established to stop newer owners from mixing their gliders with, say, a cat. It's to prevent people from making rash decisions without further research, though they will often devolve into unquestionable dogma that communities will follow blindly.

Secondly, as @filovirus pointed out, zoos are much better equipped for cohabitation as they can provide plenty of space for both species, as well as areas for one species to hide from the other if there ever was a confrontation. There are keepers that continually monitor the animals for stress and wounds and temporary holding areas if one or several individuals prove more aggressive in a mixed setting.

I can't contribute much on successful sugar glider mixes, except for a baffling one in Surabaya Zoo consisting of Sugar Gliders, African Pygmy Hedgehogs and a Javan Pangolin.
 
Kuranda Koala Gardens mixes Squirrel Glider, Mahogany Glider and a bettong species (either Rufous or Northern, I don't recall which).
 
Yes, I am aware that zoos managed to do better with mix-exhibit but I asked this because I plan to have more exotic pets but I am looking for reasonable species to co-hab with gliders indoor
 
Mixing sugar gliders with African pygmy hedgehogs seems to be the go-to in Indonesian zoos, such as in Taman Safari Bogor and as previously mentioned by @Mossman Joe, Surabaya Zoo.

These are two commonly seen and kept exotic pets, I assume this is where most (if not all) Indonesian zoos acquire them from. Those two facilities gave a decently-large enclosure for the mix, added with the fact that the two most likely will never interact much due to their different roaming space (I.e terrestrial and arboreal).
 
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