Sugar Glider (Petaurus breviceps)

Identification:

Grey above with a dark stripe running from between the eyes to the middle of the back. Cream to pale grey below, sometimes with a yellowish tinge. A very bushy tail, dark towards the end, sometimes tipped in white. Gliding membrane between the wrist and the foot.

Weight:

Approximately 130grams

Habitat:

Dry and wet sclerophyll forests with acacia understorey.

Nest Type:

Tree hollows

  

 

Biology:

Nocturnal and arboreal. Lives in small colonies comprising a number of adults and their young. Very territorial and aggressive to intruders. Conserves energy in very cold weather by huddling with others or when food is scarce by going into a torpor. Nests in tree hollows. Breeding season August to November. Usually produces two young, which remain in the pouch for 70 days and are left in the nest for a further 35 days, after which they begin to go foraging with the mother.

Native Diet:

Nectar, pollen, manna, honeydew, sap of acacias and eucalypts, invertebrates, seeds of casuarina.

Predators:

Cats, foxes, owls