Sugar Gliders are high energy animals and need a proper outlet to release that built up energy. This can be provided with a very large cage, a room to allow them to run daily, or a proper wheel.
It is important to get a Sugar Glider Safe Wheel, as most pet stores do not carry these.
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A safe wheel will...
- Be completely flat on the inside. Hamster/rat wheels have a bar in the middle which will cause spinal injuries if a glider hits it. Gliders tend to "hop" or bounce through the wheel instead of running flat along the bottom. You can't have anything protruding through the center of the wheel!
- Have no rotating bearing on the inside. Because of the way which they hop/run, gliders can get their tails snagged on any rotating bearing mechanism inside a wheel. Our wheels are designed with the bearing on the outside in order to prevent serious injuries.
- Have tracks/mesh for a glider to grab onto instead of a solid running surface.
- Not have a nail trimming paper covering the entire wheel. Since gliders like to grab onto tracks, it'll be painful for them to always be landing on the rough nail trimming paper.
- Be completely open in the front. A wheel with a cover can cause serious spinal injuries if a glider accidentally hits the cover when trying to jump in or out of the wheel. This can be especially dangerous because often times you will find more than 1 glider in the wheel at any 1 time!
- Be at least 12 inches in diameter or more. Since gliders are bouncy, they need more than enough room to run without bending their backs.
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Sugar Gliders wheels usually come in plastic or stainless steel tracks. Stainless steels wheels cost more than plastic, but they last longer. Plastic wheels run into the risk of being chewed by your babies.
The Pet Glider carries the Raptor Wheel. These wheels are completely handmade and designed with sugar glider safety as our #1 priority. Our wheels are 100% silent, easy to clean, and last a lifetime! This brand is the only wheel on the market that The Pet Glider verifies to be Sugar Glider safe.