Sugar Glider or Small Animal Pouch Tutorial featuring Pebbles

I know I talk a lot about my little Cashew the Bichon, but I also have another little buddy named Pebbles!  :)  Pebbles is a Sugar Glider, and yes, he’s a boy.  :)  I know it’s weird that he’s named Pebbles, however, when I “adopted” him I was informed he was a girl.  After having him for a bout month I realized that in fact, Pebbles was a Mr Pebbles!  Yes, it’s true, I have a little boy named Pebbles.  Poor guy.  LOL  :)  I thought about changing his name, but he was responding to it, therefore I felt he was already confused enough with me calling him a girl for a month, that I should problem stick with “Pebbles.”  I’ve had Pebbles for about 6 years and he’s just the cutest little guy!  He’s a creature of habit, however I wish he wasn’t so scared of the “outside world” so I could leave him out of his cage more often.  In fact, I’m really the only one that’s held him just because I don’t know how he’ll react.

If you don’t know about Sugar Gliders, they are marsupials in the same general family as a Kangaroo/Koala Bear.  They are originally from the rainforests of Australia and Indonesia.  They are called “Sugar Gliders” because they like to eat almost anything that is sweet, especially fresh fruits and vegetables, and they have a gliding membrane (similar to a flying squirrel) that stretches from their wrist to their ankles, allowing them to glide – not fly – from tree to tree.  Sugar Gliders are NOT “rodents,” therefore they do not instinctively need to chew on things and are not destructive by nature.  They are proven to have several distinct advantages over other household pets such as hamsters, gerbils, ferrets, squirrels, etc. For example, when cared for properly, their life-span is typically 12-15 years – similar to many dogs or cats. They also have roughly the same intelligence as a dog, in that when trained properly they can learn their name, come when they’re called, etc.  A fully-grown Sugar Glider is about 5-7 inches in length (not including their tail) and weigh about 6 ounces.  They are extremely clean and VERY predictable little animals that are nocturnal by nature.

They LOVE pouches, especially my little Pebbles.  I had purchased I don’t know HOW many pouches in the last six years, but the other day I got to thinking, “Why don’t I just make them myself?!”  Duh.  LOL  :)  Therefore, I thought I would share the directions on how to make your own pouch!  :)  I had some extra fleece fabric, which is the best to use because it’s warm and very soft.

I started out with a rectangles of fleece (I used 7″x16″).  The picture you see below is two rectangles because I made two pouches.  :)

I folded the rectangles in half and sewed up the sides and then trimmed the edges. Do not sew along the top! you should have one edge open.

Next, I folded and pinned down the top side of the pouch so I could slip in two “cords” so the pouch could be hung on the side of Pebble’s cage.

And There we go! A finished glider pouch! Done in no more than 15 minutes!

source: http://www.sugargliderinfo.org and http://diaryofayoungteacher.blogspot.com/2012/01/diy-sugar-glider-pouch.html