Touring a SUGAR GLIDER Facility!

Hey you guys, it's Cavalier. So I am here at the Pet Glider. Wow, there are so many cages. I've never seen this many gliders in one place. All right, you guys. So I am here at the Pet Glider in Houston. Look behind me. This is, this is crazy. We're gonna see a lot of sugar gliders. So for the first video, we're mostly gonna be looking at the different colors that they offer. Basically just how they keep them in their cages and how they manage with all of these gliders. And then we'll look at supplies and cages that they sell. And this is Angel and she's gonna be giving us the tour. So let's look at some gliders. So the Pet Glider is one of the largest and most well-known glider facilities out there. And as of this video, currently has almost every color of glider available, as well as over 11 staff members that are constantly providing care and stimulation for the animals. The Pet Glider was originally founded by Priscilla Price, someone known as one of the foremost authorities in sugar glider husbandry over 19 years ago. I am going to be asking them questions about how they handle keeping that many gliders, including feeding, human interaction, caging, etc. If you can think of any questions that I may have missed after you watch the full video, please leave them in the comments or you can contact the Pet Glider on Instagram, Facebook, or on their website. Stay tuned for the second video that I filmed here, where I pick out my new pair of Shuggies and it will be up within a week of this one. Let's get started. So how did you guys decide what was big enough and how to keep up with this many sugar gliders? So the minimum recommended size is three feet tall and two and a half feet wide, which is this one up here. We have these size cages just for our purposes, only because we are a large facility and we need to keep track of all our gliders this way. Eventually, the goal is to actually switch over to these big cages. And so we're in the process of doing that. So right now we're focusing on the top, moving all the way back. And then once we covered all the tops, we're going to go back again and switch to the tall cages at the bottom. So you're talking about from like that cage over there to these. Oh, so it's like twice the size. Yeah, so we want to give our gliders the best. We want to spoil them. And so our recommended size is three feet. And so that's what we're hoping to go to. We keep breeding parrots, breeding trios in most of these cages. The rest of the cages you see are mostly offspring's cage mates, best friends. Okay. Oh gosh, super spoiled. So the ultimate, ultimate end goal is to actually end up with these cages. Oh wow, you might have to upgrade to a bigger place for that. So I guess these gliders, the ones available aren't even in those cages for that long anyways, probably. Yeah, so they're only there temporarily until we are able to get the bigger cages. They're on their way now. So that's what we're hoping to switch over to. So how do you keep up with this many gliders? How many people do you have working here? So about a staff of 10 people on site working here that keeps track of all these gliders. We do have vendors all over that, you know, sell our products, do our booking and flight and stuff like that. So this is Primavera. She's going to answer a couple more questions for us. How do you guys make sure that they're all healthy? And how do you make sure that they get socialization when you have this many gliders? So we have about three of us who cut nails, play with them, check on the babies. We also have someone who actually washes their cages. So every month they get their nails clipped and their cage washed. We also have so many breeding gliders that we do have to check on the babies. And that's what the cage washer does too because he'll let us know that, oh, there's a baby in this pouch. Okay, let's go check it to see how old the baby is and record it and put it in our system. Oh, and you have to check on them frequently. Yes, we do have to check on the babies frequently. To socialize them, we do have somebody that goes in there and plays with them and interacts with them because we want to make sure that our gliders are as teamed as possible. And I mean, the pet glider has a reputation for having like the friendliest gliders out of the bigger breeders. Yes, we do. Yes, and that's the point of it. We wanted to make sure that they get the experience of having a well-tamed sugar glider. And that was one of the things we talked about, about having somebody to go in there and interacting with them so they can have that, not bonding yet, but that step two bond. Then that's the other thing. You don't want to spend too much time with one glider so it bonds two. Yes, so we try not to. That's why we maybe five, 10 minutes, let them interact with humans because that's what we want them to do. And hold them every day and get them all out. Get them out. We don't want them to crab too much. So that's the part of that job will be to kind of get them used to humans. So when they do see humans, when we do show them to other people or when we show them, people say, oh, I want to see these gliders. They'll see how well-maintained they are. So does every glider, or at least the younger ones, get out for like five minutes every day or do you alternate? We alternate. They need to be with their moms and learn everything from the other gliders. But after that, you will notice that the babies crab more than the others just because they're not used to human contact yet because they're only babies. After two months, they'll start seeing us more and more often. The more they see us, the more they get used to human contact. We also have someone who actually washes their cages. The way we clean it is we use actual pressure washer. Pressure washer. Wow. But with us, we use a pressure washer. And the way we get the smell from coming out is half vinegar and half water. That's what I use too. Vinegar and water or we use the chlorhexidine and then mix. It just depends on the smell. Because honestly, it smells like good in here. It doesn't even smell like sugar gliders to me. Oh, I know. People who have sugar gliders, like this is not as bad as I would think it would be. Every cage gets washed once a month, just like how we advise you guys to wash every month. So with the cages, we will wash the cages, but we won't wash the toys or the pouches. We alternate. We alternate it so they won't get scared or they won't be like, oh my God, this is a new environment. And then over mark and pee everywhere. Yes, right. Because if you do that, then yes, you're right. They're going to want to mark their territory big time because they're like, nothing smells like me. So every cage has at least one pouch, a couple of toys and a Raptor wheel? So their main toy will be the wheel. That is their main toy. And that's what they will use the most. And that gives them the exercise and everything they need. So that's one of the main things you do have to put in there. And so I guess for your breeder cages, they have quite a bit more options. So our breeder cages will have more toys in there. But just like with any breeder, once the gliders get to producing ages, we pull them out and put them in another cage. And that's the ones we sell. And that's these. But you guys are currently upgrading these to that size. Yes, we are. That's awesome. Look at this little one. You want a worm, don't you? They're like, that's my treat. So used to getting worms. I remember last time I was here, she did that. Hey, so do they all get mealworms as treats? Yes, they do. Especially our breeding pairs and our mommies. So, oh, so most of them are used to taking treats from your hand. And yes, this one. Yes, she is a mom. There you go. Look at that little face. So yes, especially when they have babies, we do try to give them as many mealworms. Protein. Protein because they're going to need it more than the other sugar gliders. That sound. Is that a baby sneezing? Oh, good. So when I first came here, once before, I walked in here and it smelled really good, which is surprising. And if you look at the floors, they're pretty clean too. So you guys know how I am, that I really, really care about this kind of thing. I think these cages are adequate for, you know, housing a glider temporarily before you find it a home. But they did say that they're upgrading all of these. So these here that you see are temporary. And they're going to soon have all of their babies in those bigger cages, which is awesome. So how many colors of gliders do you guys have? We carry 13 different types of colors. Classics, white-faced blondes, caramels, lucistics, platinums, mosaics, piebalds. What am I missing? Black beauties, black-faced black beauties, ruby lucistics, ruby platinums, and then red gliders. Mosaics? Albinos. So do you guys have the Harley gliders? Melanistic? So we do not. Melanistics are not actually a trait that you want to do. Melanistics are from two black-faced black beauties, and they do not live long if they're produced because of health reasons. Yeah, I saw they have very sparse fur. Yeah, so very sparse furs, very thin tails. They don't really live very long, so we don't really breed for melanistics. We do have black-faced and black beauties that we can show. Cool, that's awesome. I think that's great. Okay, so what colors should we look at first? Um, I guess I'll do classics and mosaics first. So the first colors that you guys offer are the... These are classics, and then these are mosaics. So mosaics are different types of colors. You never get one of the same color. They are a variety of patterns on the glider. So that's why mosaics are very fun, very unique. Yeah, always looking different. This guy looks like he's wearing a scarf. So this one is actually dad. Oh, it's dad. That's dad. Is he neutered? He is neutered. He's adorable. Oh my gosh, so cute. And she's a white mosaic? Yes, she is. Wow, she really has barely any pattern at all. And are these babies? Yes, so these are their kids. So this one right here is a classic, and he's Marlon. He's my absolute favorite classic. He's super, super sweet. Oh, he's big. They really like that diet, don't they? Wow, they are super friendly. So these are all available. Dad and mom are obviously retired, ready to go to their homes. They'd be under the best friends section. Oh, so they're available too. Kimsa, I believe, Marlon, and then his brother over here would be under cage mates for $2.39 right now, I believe. How often do you update the website availability? So we do put them on the website often, and we do go back and remove gliders that have been sold off the website as well. And then the prices vary from month to month. Sometimes we'll have specials running from like four months. Sometimes we'll switch it out every month. So it's always something to look forward to. Right now, our specials are $1.59 for the pair of best friends, which are three years or older. These are retired gliders just ready to go to the good home. And then we have cage mates who are five months to up to three years old. And these are gliders that are either siblings or gliders that are from different families, and we introduced them together. And so we would prefer them if they got sold together. And those will be $2.39 for the pair or trio shown. Do you guys usually neuter the males before? We do. So we neuter all of our males before they go to the good home or to their new home unless you are buying for breeding. If you're buying for breeding, then we will obviously not neuter males. So the importance of neutering is that intact males are a little bit more aggressive, a little bit territorial. And so you can't really house two intact males together. They will fight for territory. Neutered males are essentially the same as females. They don't have the hormones in there. They'll grow back the hairs on their heads. And so they'll set glen here on the chest and set glen on top of their heads. And so this is what they'll use to mark the females when they mate with them. And so once you neuter the males, they're pretty much the same as females. You can house them with other gliders if they've been neutered for a long time, which I want to say about five months or older or five months or more would be a safe time to introduce gliders. And because gliders need to be kept in pairs, it's very important that if you do have a male to get it neutered so you can keep it with other gliders, unless of course you're breeding, which then again, we'd recommend going through the database to get lineage on your gliders. So I've got Platinums and Criminos, a classic. Oh, I love Criminos. Criminos are cream colored gliders with red eyes. Why is he sniffing like that? This is Ashley. This is mommy. These are her kids. So this is mommy. Dad's somewhere back here. Oh, this is dad. Dad's a Platinum. So typically they start off at $4.99, a starting price. If you're buying, you know, as a pet or as breeding, breeding can go up to like $8.99 or more depending on the glider itself. So that's crabbing. That's usually when they're scared or when you leave them alone. That sounded like a little baby or younger glider. So I think I see one way back here. That is a huge glider. Oh my gosh. You're the one crabbing. So this one's a younger glider. So she's about four months old. Oh my gosh. Is this dad? No, that's son. So he's neutered. So neutered males are actually like, they get fat. Most neutered males, they tend to get fat. So lessen the amount of mealworms, I guess, right? Okay. So this is dad. So this one's albino and black beauty. So albinos right here. So a black beauty is just like a classic, but much darker. So they'll have like a very black stripe and then their overall body will be a darker shade of gray. So it was just two classics, really dark classics bred together until they became what's called a black beauty. So black beauties are just very, very, very dark classics. I like the albinos. They're cute. And the difference between an albino and a leucistic is the color of their eyes, right? Right. So albinos are all white with red eyes. Leucistics are all white with black eyes. Grumpy looking. So do you love sugar gliders? I do. They're very, very fun. Very smart, actually. Do you have any of your own? I do. I have four gliders of my own. So some albinos will have like a stripe on top of their head. Some will even have like a very, very faint marking on their back, as well as some coloring on the tip of their tails. So in order to determine if it's an albino or like a ruby blue or ruby plat, you want to look through the database and check out the genetics of the family line. That's why lineage is so important. So these are the ones that can create a melanistic, right? So this is a black face. You will get a melanistic if you do two black faces. It's not recommended that you do. It does come with health problems if you do that. You want to breed a black face to a black beauty, non-black face line. So if you get a black face and you get a black beauty, make sure that black beauty does not come from a black face line at all. That makes sense. I think it's really cool that you guys don't breed them because of the health issues. Right. And so you can tell the difference between a black face and a black beauty. Black faces have a lack of eye rings around their face. So it gives the illusion of having a full black face. You see how she's like completely dark, but she has no eye rings. And this one, he has eye rings. So that's what makes it kind of cool. I know there's a super, super dark one in here. So this one we're actually keeping. Maybe one day we can make an all black glider that's actually healthy. So that's the goal. So we're taking the darkest black face and the darkest black beauty and putting them together. So we're going to keep him and we're actually retiring dad. So these are TPM's True Platinum. Mosaics. True Platinum Mosaics. So he's platinum colored and he has a separation on his back that gives us the mosaic look, as well as all white tail. Oh, and a white tip tail too. And so mom is actually another TPM. So she did have a platinum stripe on her back, but it's faded out because she's a little bit older now. And so these guys put together actually gave us Ruby Lou's, Ruby Platts. They also gave us a bunch of TPM's. Want some worms? Worms? Oh, that's a gruesome. Yeah, so platinums are more a silvery color and you can see it's the stripe from the top of his head all the way down with the gray body and then like a mostly, mostly dark tail. And then here's a leucistic. Oh, I love leucistics. I have a leucistic. Yeah, leucistics. All white. Clear ears, white tail, black eyes. What do you usually sell your platinums and leucistics for? Uh, typically starting off at $4.99. That was cute. And that's for pet homes? Yes. And that includes a neuter for males? So all of our prices already have the neutering price included. Excuse me. Right here. This is a red. Compared this to a classic. So that's the difference. So it's a type of morph. It's just a very strawberry colored glider. Wow, they're so cute. Yeah, super, super rare. It's dad. Dad's Cremino. Hey, buddies. Don't get my finger, but here. That was rude of him. He just took it from me. So the pet glider also has a super wide array of caging, toys, wheels, and pouches and all that. They're going to show us all the stuff they have. So our most popular ones would be the yogurt drops, of course. Also, the live male ones are the top seller. Yogurt drops will be second. All the fruits will probably be third. It just depends. Certain weeks we will ship more than others. But I mean, it all depends on who's buying. And then a lot of the times we do have a lot of people who buy the flowers. Oh, that's cool. This is dried flower. So this is a carnation. These are rose petals. So do you ship all of this? Yes, I do ship all of this. Our best sellers are the nutritional packs. I ship a lot of those. It could come in 180s or 360s. And it'll come with this. And then your vitamins, either a 180 or 360. And so this is like an add-on to the TPG diet, right? This is their snacks. I call it snacks. The TPG diet is a mixture of fresh fruits and veggies, applesauce, yogurt, oatmeal, orange juice, and then your protein, which can either be eggs or ground turkey, sometimes chicken. All that's mixed together and then frozen into little ice cube trays or little Ziploc bags, whatever's convenient for you. You feed them once a day, every day. And so this right here is just a snack for them. It's just an extra source of protein. It's not their main meal. You just put it in a bowl. You leave it out for them. Sometimes they'll eat it. Sometimes they won't. Okay. And so the essential part of the TPG diet is the vitamins, which you'll sprinkle on top of their food before you serve it to them. That has the calcium that they need. You never want to skip on that. It is made here. It is human grade, so all the ingredients are super good for them. You can also eat it yourself if you chose to. Wow, that's cool. So our vitamins are our number one product selling. So our diet is a little bit more work, but it is more balanced diet, I want to say. That way gliders aren't picking and choosing what they want to eat, right? So this diet was created by Priscilla herself. She talked to many veterinarians and compiled this diet like just for the gliders. And how many years has this been in use, this diet? So she has been using this diet for, I want to say almost 20 years. Wow, 20 years. Is this just like cleaning stuff here? It is. Odor remover. Both products, the Live Pet Free as well as the Healthy Habitat. Do you recommend glass bottles? We recommend glass bottles because gliders can chew on the plastic and it's better to be safe than sorry. Oh, I didn't think about they could chew on the plastic. So these are Raptor wheels. These wheels are made just for us. We have a guy that makes them for us. So these are completely flat on the back of glider safe. You don't want anything with a bar or a little bar in the middle of it. Gliders have really long tails and so when they run, they're actually kind of bouncing on it. And so you don't want their tails to get caught up in it, it'll cause injuries. And they are 100% silent. Oh my gosh, that's awesome. It does last you a lifetime, which is a good thing. It is pricier when you first get it, but compared to like a lifetime of like... Buying wheels. Yeah. The stainless steel, it is $84. The plastic ones are $64. It is free shipping if you choose to get one wheel. Oh, so this is the steel one. Yes. So you see the tracks, the steel tracks, and then this is a plastic track. So the only difference is that some gliders do chew plastic. That's why some people will get the stainless steel ones versus the plastic. All of our wheels come with like little nail trimming inserts on both sides. We don't cover the whole wheel only because gliders do like to like grip onto the wheels when they run. And so you don't want them to be gripping on nothing but the tracks all the time. And plus it's easier for when they poop and pee. It falls through the little openings and stuff. So this is our Queensland cage. This is the biggest cage size we offer like at our store. Everything you see in it is a bundle itself. So the bundle right here starts off at $5.99. Free shipping, of course. Oh, free shipping. Comes with all of the toys you see. The little sleeping pouch, the little wheel, the nutritional pack at the bottom, treats, as well as a water bottle and the stand, of course. So all of our toys are actually made here. We have a toy maker who makes all the toys for us. Oh, that sounds fun. So we have cork toys, we have eucalyptus, and then we have fleece. And so the thing with cork or the benefit of cork is that they help wear down your glider's nails. And it's also fun for them to chew at as well. And so things like this, like the little cork clogs, they like to go in there, hang out because they like to hide into things. Eucalyptus, they love to chew on the branches. They love the smell of eucalyptus. And then the fleece toys, they like anything soft and warm. So they'll like rub themselves on it. The cool thing with these vines is that they are reset toys. So you can actually pull on the leaves. What? Yeah. So you'll pull on the leaves and it's fun for the gliders. And then you just have to insert it back. I kind of want one of those. I might get one of these. I just feel like, how do you wash that without it going everywhere? You actually, you can just throw it in the washing machine just fine. Oh, that's a gourd. Yeah. So they love things like coconut spores that they can go and hang out. All of our, or most of our gourds and coconuts will come with like little cups that you can throw treats in there. Cute. Everything you see is on the website. If there's something here that you see that it's not on the website, contact us and then we will like send it out to you. Glider pods. These are easy to clean. It's plastic. So you just get like baby wipes and you wipe it down. Oh, yeah. And there are pulleys on it as well. At the bottom. Yeah. Wow. That's so cool. These are so fun. These as well. So toys that they can pull or the little plastic rings. Yeah. They'll actually wrap their tails around it and then take it back into their pouch. So if you have a toy that's close enough to their sleeping pouch, they'll try to pull it into their pouch. And so sometimes you'll see it sticking out like this. I might get one of these too. I like all of these. These are cool. And these are like foraging toys, right? Yes. Gliders are like things that make noise. So if you have this, you'll hear it at night. Just a bunch of shaking. Oh, ball pits. Yeah. So bonding pouches or pouches with a zipper and a mesh on it is the safest way to travel with your gliders as well as the best way to bond with them. So these are our most popular ones. Simple one. You have your gliders in here. You'll wear it inside your shirt and they'll just smell you and hear your voice all day. So, oh, so you recommend wearing it inside your shirt? You can wear it inside. You can wear it outside. Inside is probably better. That way you're not like, they're not bouncing all over the place when you're doing things. So we carry different types of bonding pouches. We'll have the tote. We'll have, it looks like a seat cushion. Seat cushion. Kind of looks like a purse. Yeah. So these actually are, it's a whole mesh all around. And then there, there's like a little plastic thing, insert at the bottom for easy cleaning. Yes. And so you toss this in the washing machine and these two, you can just wipe down. So all of our cage sets come with, because with the sleeping pouch, you'll need clips to hang it up on the cage. Also comes with a little bridge. The little fleece vine. That's cool. So all of them do come with cage clips, so you don't have to worry about that. And that's the four piece cage set? So these are open environment pouches. These are mostly used for crabby gliders or gliders who are pouch protective. So it's wide and open like this. So they can actually peek out and see what's happening. Unlike, you know, something like this, where it's mostly just hidden and they have to crawl out to see what's happening. Oh, I see. So pouch protective gliders prefer open ones. So that way they can check out before they like, you know, freak out. Well, I hope you guys enjoyed this tour of the Pet Gliders facility in Houston, Texas. My experience there was a positive one. I personally believe that there's always room for everyone to grow and change and learn when it comes to animals. And I will probably always have that mindset, but I did have a great experience visiting the Pet Glider and everything that I saw was expertly made and discussed. Check out their website at thepetglider.com Follow them on Instagram and Facebook at The Pet Glider and follow me on my social medias at Cattleya. Next weekend, I will be uploading the part two of this series where I pick out my new pair of lineage mosaic sugar gliders. Stay tuned and thanks for watching.