Why do people with sugar gliders not get flamed for breeding?

[BlackDog]

I don't know if anyone knows what a sugar glider is or even has one but if you do can you answer me this question.
I think I asked someone about it before and they said that sugar glider genetics are different than other average domesticated pet genetics and they have little to no healthy problems that can be passed on to offspring. Most of the health problems they can get are do to improper care or complications with pregnance or time before they become OOP. (OOP=Out Of Pouch) I don't even know if that true.

For those of you who don't know what sugar gliders are here is a link to a informational wesite with pretty much anything you ever wanted to know about SG's. They have a forum on there to if you have questions. The forum has a breeding and babies section.

www.glidercentral.com

[gaddylovesdogs]

Sugar gliders are amazing creatures, my sister used to work at a pet store and they had one or two.

[BlackDog]

Originally Posted by gaddylovesdogs

Sugar gliders are amazing creatures, my sister used to work at a pet store and they had one or two.

Yes, they are amazing. But usually you don't want to get the ones from pet stores. The ones from pet stores usually come directly from the wild. It makes taming them alot harder, as you would imagine. Even if they come from a breeder it probably wouldn't be a good one considering that good breeders scan potential buyers before letting their babies go to homes. In a pet store setting the breeder not only can't scan buyers, they aren't even around after they drop them off. I guess the only exception to that rule is if the breeder owns the store and has trained staff to evaluate buyers before sending them to new homes. But this is a exception more than a rule. I've only even heard of that being done once.

[TinyAlbinoDancer]

I bellieve it's because it's such an unfamiliar species to most. I don't know any statistics, but I would guess not a whole lot of people in the US own them, and those that do are still perfecting the art of meeting their basic needs (optimal housing, diet, care, ect..). So for anyone to be knowledgeable enough to *really* criticize other's breeding practices is probably pretty rare. I don't know much about sugies, but I'd guess they're more independent when it comes to actual breeding, pregnancy, birth, and rearing, as well. Not like dogs or animals without pouches.

[Barrett]

I LOVE to look at sugar gliders.. I entertained the idea of owning a pair a long time ago. Reading about how much exercise they need made me decide to wait for a few more years. My cats would be looking for a snack! Someday I may still go for it but not while I have cats in the house. Dachshunds are not good dogs to have with other pets either. I have my chinchilla but he has his own bedroom and 7' by 5' cage to run around in every night. The cats and wieners can't get near him.

[Cassiepeia]

The only thing that bothers me about having sugar gliders in capitivity is where did they come from originally?
It disgusts me to think they came from Australia. If it was indonesia or new guinea...then ok, they'd have different laws to us. But it's illegal to export native wildlife from Australia, so if they came from here then they were smuggled out.

Anyhoo..back to the question. I agree with TinyAlbinoDancer, perhaps it's because these little guys are so new in your country that people are still trying to work things out.
No-one knows enough about them or their health problems so no-one knows what to "flame" someone about and would rather take what the breeders say as fact. It could also be that the only people concerned with their welfare and breeding are the ones who are doing the breeding, or relying on those doing the breeding to supply their next pet.

Cass.

[GliderGal]

Actually, I think the forum you're referring to is www.sugarglider.net, which is titled GliderCENTRAL. You might also check out www.sugargliders.org, and there are several other good sugar glider forums.

[Kelly]

I don't think it's right for anyone to breed anything without the proper knowledge.

I am on a rat forum and believe me, people get flamed (well, at first they are gently nudged and educated on the overpopulation and work it takes to breed) for coming on and asking to about breeding. Most people wouldn't believe it, but rats are overpopulated too. There are such things as rat rescues (yeah, most poeple's eyes almost fall out of their heads when I tell them ALL my rats came from rescues).

So I agree, if people get flamed for irresponsibley breeding dogs, they should get as much for breeding critters as well. They have feelings and emotions just like dogs and cats do.