(Petaurus Breviceps)

A Sugar Glider is a small marsupial possum found in the tree tops of Australia, Tasmania, Indonesia, and Papua-New Guinea.  They are so named because they have a preference for sweet foods and a patagium (gliding membrane).  The gliding membrane is connected from the wrist to the ankle.  When not in use it is folded close to the body.  Sugar Gliders can glide 50 meters or 150 feet.  The tail is used as a rudder to guide them. Sugar gliders are arboreal, meaning they spend most of their time in trees.  In the wild, the Sugar Glider uses its sharp incisor teeth to gouge holes in Acacia and Eucalyptus trees to expose the sugary sap.  They also use their tongue to lap nectar from blossoms.  The Sugar Glider has 40 teeth and unlike rodents, Gliders teeth do not continue to grow.  Gliders are sap suckers by nature.  They will chew/suck the 'good stuff' out of their food and spit out the rest.
Sugar gliders are nocturnal animals, a fact indicated by their large, round eyes. 
A Sugar Gliders gestation period in uterus is approximately  16 days.  At the end of this time the mother gives birth to one or two joeys (three and four are rare). The joeys are only .007 ounces and measure barely .2 inches when born. They make their way to the pouch and attaches itself to a nipple. It stays in the pouch for 76 to 80 days. If the joey becomes unattached from the nipple it will die.  For this reason do not peek in the mother’s pouch.  When the joey is ready and comes out of the pouch, it is called the "OOP" date. This stands for "Out Of Pouch".  The joeys eyes are closed and it has only some fuzz.  At ten days the joey’s eyes will open.  When the eyes open it will be a good time to start to hold your new joey.  It will still need it’s mother and father for the next 6 to 8 weeks.

Sugar Gliders in the wild live about 5 to 7 years. In captivity, they live 12 to 15 years.