MSPCA: 44 sugar gliders surrendered to animal shelter need homes for the holidays

BOSTON (WJAR) - A record-breaking number of sugar gliders has been surrendered to an animal shelter in Massachusetts.

Now, 44 of them are in need a loving home.

“It’s by far the largest ever surrender of Sugar Gliders -- tiny ‘gliding’ marsupials that can slip through the air like flying squirrels -- that the MSPCA-Angell has ever seen, and now the organization’s adoption centers in Jamaica Plain and Methuen, where 44 of them are taking shelter, have issued a call for experienced adopters to take one (or some) home for the Holidays,” according to a press release from the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals-Angell in Boston.

The release also noted that there are 27 males and 17 females, which were surrendered from a home in Hampshire County.

The “previous owner became overwhelmed as the animals began to reproduce and turned to the MSPCA for help.”

MSPCA said most of the sugar gliders about a year or so old, while there is one 13-year-old. They were described as friendly, social, and healthy.

“They’ll make wonderful pets for people who have experience with small mammal care,” according to the release.

Mike Keiley, who is the director of adoption centers and programs at the MSPCA-Angell, said some of the females might be pregnant, so they will be held back until they give birth. Then, the shelter will help find homes for the new arrivals.

Keiley said adopters are needed now more than ever.

“Sugar gliders are extremely social animals and can make great pets -- but they are exotic animals and need specialized care,” he said, also noting that they are “playful and curious animals who love to hang out with others of their own kind, as well as with people. And because they’re marsupials, they have a natural affinity for pouches -- or shirt pockets, or fabric pouches that can be made or bought at pet stores.”

He also said sugar sliders are omnivores, so they enjoy cooked eggs or commercially available sugar glider-specific pellets, as well as green leafy vegetables and fruit.

The animals are currently split between the organization’s Jamaica Plain and Methuen adoption centers.

To learn more, email the Boston adoption center at adoption@mspca.org or methuen@mspca.org.