That's adorable. I've always wanted a flying squirrel. I used to have Sugar Gliders, but from what I understand the Flyers are a bit easier to tame and their diet is a bit less diffucult to deal with. I WILL get one, one of these days...
And unlike sugargliders which have a high mortality rate in captivity, flying squirrels can go up to three times their "natural" lifespan in captivity as opposed to what they do in the wild.
Seems flyers are predisposed to rickets. They don't get the calcium in their diet to overcome their natural deficiencies. In the wild they tend to die around fives years old. Kept as pets and given a calcium suppliment they've been known to live well over ten years.
Word of warning though, flying squirrels tend to bond to ONE owner.
(- A neighbor had one as a pet when I was growing up. I did a bit of research on them over the years. I'd love a japanese dwarf flying squirrel. Those things are adorable. -)
Sugar Gliders only have a high mortality rate in captivity because their diet is SO specific and picky and most people don't know/don't bother to put the work into it. My mom has a glider right now who's something like 10 years old.
And yeah, flyers are just like gliders in the whole bonding to one owner thing. I hear that the flyers are even a bit more sociable than gliders, so that's a bonus.
rickets is usually down to vitamin d problems, vitamin d being essential in processing calcium. many animals produce vitamin d in their bodies from exposure to sunlight, so rickets are a pretty common problem in indoor animals. a lot of chimps in zoos suffer from it if not given vitmin d supplements, and milk in Canada often contains added vitamin d to avoid rickets in people in winter. i wonder if that's the problem with the flying sqirrels...
From everything I've read, it's something that is common with them in the wild. Something about their diet not having enough calcium or vitamin d to compensate for their nocturnal cycle.
I wonder if it's actually metabolic bone disease that the flyers are prone to? Gliders are very prone to that, as are reptiles if they don't have enough UVB light. They need very specific amounts of calcium, vitamin D, and phosphorus in order to properly metabolize the calcium. It sounds very similar.
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And unlike sugargliders which have a high mortality rate in captivity, flying squirrels can go up to three times their "natural" lifespan in captivity as opposed to what they do in the wild.
Seems flyers are predisposed to rickets. They don't get the calcium in their diet to overcome their natural deficiencies. In the wild they tend to die around fives years old. Kept as pets and given a calcium suppliment they've been known to live well over ten years.
Word of warning though, flying squirrels tend to bond to ONE owner.
(- A neighbor had one as a pet when I was growing up. I did a bit of research on them over the years. I'd love a japanese dwarf flying squirrel. Those things are adorable. -)
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And yeah, flyers are just like gliders in the whole bonding to one owner thing. I hear that the flyers are even a bit more sociable than gliders, so that's a bonus.
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Heh, flying squirrels are a LOT more sociable than sugargliders. And they chatter, not hiss.
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From everything I've read, it's something that is common with them in the wild. Something about their diet not having enough calcium or vitamin d to compensate for their nocturnal cycle.
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I did not know that gliders were prone to that too. But yeah, pretty much what they require.
And since they tend to be a bit heavier than gliders, better to anchor your lamps as those are what they tend to like landing on.