Separating the Wheat from the Chaff

We did a lot of searching for information on sugar gliders in the past couple of months. There is a lot of information out on the web. The great thing about the web is that it allows you to access lots of information quickly. The bad thing about the web is that it allows you to access lots of information quickly, but not all of it is good information. There lies the rub.

One of the first sites we accessed was the Pocket Pets web site, AKA Perfect Pocket Pets, or PPP. This is the company that was selling sugar gliders locally in June and from whom our son purchased his. The web site is somewhat cartoonish (they call sugar gliders "sugar bears") and seem to be especially appealing to children or parents of children. The business model for PPP is to sell to impulse buyers at festivals, malls, etc., They are generally in an area for only a couple of days. There is a growing amount of evidence that some of the franchisees are dishonest with their customers. More to the point, many obtain their gliders from "mill breeders", and often sell immature or diseased gliders to people who are thinking they are getting a minimal care pet. The PP web site has a number of "special reports" on topics like cage setup, feeding, and bonding. Frankly some of the information in these "reports" is OK, but a lot of it isn't. The trouble is, a person who is new to this and hasn't had time to learn more about the topic can't possibly know the difference. To be fair I do have to say that our son had a good experience with PP, but he just might have been lucky. Molly has had no health issues and has bonded well. PP sends a daily email for a month after the purchase (I don't know what's in them), and let's you contact them if there's a problem. Unfortunately, there are numerous stories about owners who called and did not get the help they needed or got wrong advice to the detriment (or death) of their gliders. The bottom line is that if you are really interested in owning a glider, it's recommended that you do not purchase it at a home show, festival, fair, mall, or from a fly-by-night operator using a hotel room.

So how do you find the good information?

There are some very useful and informative web sites as well as a few discussion forums. One of the forums we've have spent a lot of time on and in our opinion is one of the better ones out there is Glider Central. There are forums on a variety of topics from bonding to health to diet and nutrition, and it's pretty active. We first posted a question about caring for our son's glider, and received quick and helpful advice. As one reads more and more, however, you realize that emotions ( and an owner's devotion to their gliders) sometimes gets in the way of objective advice. I'm sure this is not unique to glider owners - many dog, cat, and (insert-your-pet) owners are also passionate about their pets. "Myths" about what is good or bad for gliders are sometimes propagated, not out of any ill intent, but because one or more people honestly believe them to be factual. When someone states absolutes with no attribution ("'Blarney' will harm your gliders") it tends to perpetuate the myths and cause confusion. There are some areas that are controversial - the topic of diet will always get a lively discussion going. Sometimes you start to feel that the more you learn the less you really know. The folks on GC will be the first to tell you - do your research before you decide to get a sugar glider (or any pet for that matter). Learn all you can, from more than one source, question what you don't undertand, and try to keep straight differences of opinion from differences in facts.