![]() The young first leaves the pouch after 70 days, and after about 111 days, they leave the nest and become independent shortly thereafter. Sugar gliders usually have a litter size of 1-2, each of which weigh about 0.19 grams at birth. They build their nests in the branches of eucalyptus trees inside their territory. ![]() Sugar gliders can live in forests of all types, given that there is an adequate food supply. Like all arboreal, nocturnal marsupials, Sugar Gliders are active at night, and shelter in tree hollows lined with leafy twigs during the day. Sadly,Sugar Gliders predate upon the nests of the Swift parrot and is a serious threat to the parrot's survival They are opportunistic feeders and can be carnivorous, preying mostly on lizards and small birds, and they eat many other foods when available, such as nectar, acacia seeds, bird eggs, pollen, fungi and native fruits. In summer they are primarily insectivorous and in the winter when insects (and other arthropods) are scarce, they are mostly exudativorous (that means they feed on acacia gum, eucalyptus sap, manna, honeydew or lerp). Sugar Gliders are omnivorous with a wide variety of foods in their diet. Gliding serves as an efficient method of moving around the forest and they very rarely venture down to the forest floor. The eyes of the sugar glider are set far apart, allowing them to triangulate the distance between launch and landing location during gliding. It’s large eyes help it to see at night, and it’s ears swivel to help locate prey in the dark. The Sugar Glider has evolved to suit it’s nocturnal life. Land clearance mainly for agriculture is a threat through many parts of its range and It is susceptible to bushfires, but populations appear to be stable. Sugar gliders are characterised by their gliding membrane, known as the patagium, which extends from their forelegs to hindlegs. These opposable toes are clawless, and bend in a way that they can touch all the other digits, like a human thumb, allowing the sugar glider to firmly grasp branches. Each foot on the sugar glider has five digits, with an opposable toe on each hind foot. Its belly, throat, and chest are cream in colour. A black stripe is seen from its nose to midway on its back. The fur coat on the sugar glider is thick, soft, and is usually blue-grey although some have been known to be yellow, tan or (rarely) albino. Males and females weigh just 140 grams and 115 grams respectively. The length from the nose to the tip of the tail is about 24 to 30 cm and half that length is tail. The sugar glider is a type of possum that has a squirrel-like body with a long, partially prehensile tail. They have a broad habitat niche, inhabiting rainforests and coconut plantations in New Guinea and rainforests, wet or dry sclerophyll forest and acacia scrub in Australia preferring habitats with Eucalypt and Acacia species. Honey Gliders, of which there are seven subspecies, range throughout much of northern, eastern and southern Australia, including the island of Tasmania and throughout the Indonesian Islands.
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