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Why Are My Sugar Gliders Fighting?

Sugar gliders are known for being adorable and cute. However, their appearance can sometimes be deceiving as they can also be strangely aggressive in a way that their owners don’t quite understand.

Owners of more than one sugar glider can become worried and alarmed if they see their sugar glider brawling and hear the noise of two sugar gliders in combat. Why does this happen and how can a sugar glider owner stop this behavior?

Hopefully, we can answer that question here so that you can put your mind at ease.

If you house two or more sugar gliders within the same area, you have to realize that there is a chance that they will fight. However, not every instance of fighting is something to become worried about. Some sugar gliders will wrestle together to burn energy or to establish dominance over each other without the intention of causing harm, but how can you tell the difference?

When wrestling turns into genuine fighting, what should you do, as an owner, to minimize this problem? Sugar glider behavior can be tricky to figure out, especially for new owners, so let’s dive into the meat of the matter.

Why Sugar Gliders Fight In The First Place?

Sugar gliders are a lot like people in the way that they can sometimes live amicably with other sugar gliders, but not every prospective roommate is perfect. Even with non-solitary sugar gliders, space can become an issue. In addition to disagreeing temperaments, sugar gliders could fight because they don’t have enough space or have become stressed. Even if your sugar gliders have never shown aggression toward each other before, they can begin fighting under these circumstances, so it’s important to practice the highest quality of sugar glider care possible.

Playfighting vs Actual Fighting: Know The Difference

Sugar gliders can wrestle when a more aggressive sugar glider tries to bite at each other. Through a practice known as “appeasement,” the other sugar glider may appear to disregard the aggressor and thus indicate their surrender before a wrestling match breaks out. However, if it does not back down, that’s when problems can start, and begin by engaging each other.

When sugar gliders wrestle, you will often see them trying to overpower one another. Sometimes, though, neither sugar glider wants to give up and that’s when things can turn into a real fight. Fighting between sugar gliders is just the same as other animals fighting, they become more aggressive and potentially harmful as the fighting continues. When no sugar glider admits defeat in a wrestling match, you’ll hear and see things coming from their enclosure that indicates that a fight is happening, such as more intense biting and louder squeaking.

What To Do When Your Sugar Gliders Fight

The fastest way to put an end to sugar gliders fighting is to physically separate them immediately. However, this can become nasty and you should do this with caution. Two sugar gliders that are riled up could accidentally injure their owner when they reach their hands into the enclosure to pull them apart.

Try wearing gloves when doing this which will help to prevent your risk of being scratched or bitten by your sugar gliders. If you don’t feel comfortable enough to reach with your hands while your sugar gliders are fighting, a spritz of water from a spray bottle could motivate them to come apart. After that, you can pick up one sugar glider to separate them safely.

Cohabitating sugar gliders may need some cooling off time, just like humans need some time after getting into an altercation with another person. This “time out” should be a period of at least a full day, with a gradual reintroduction. When you reintroduce the sugar gliders, you should monitor their behavior very closely a few days after.

If they don’t interact with each other only to fight, then it’s strongly recommended to permanently separate them.

Preventing Sugar Gliders From Fighting

While you cannot control the personalities and relationships of your two sugar gliders, there are some things that you can do to minimize the risk of fighting between these small creatures.

Try keeping these tips in mind when preparing to have cohabitating sugar gliders but remember: Following all of this advice doesn’t guarantee a peaceful sharing of space.

Remember that It’s not a failure on the part of the owner if their sugar gliders simply won’t get along.

Keep The Cage Clean
Make sure to keep your sugar gliders area clean to avoid a build-up of smells that can stress out your sugar gliders.

Try Changing The Layout
Remember that a pair of sugar gliders require more space to move around compared to only keeping a single sugar glider, so their main living area should be upsized from what you would normally use for a single sugar glider. If an aggressive sugar glider feels very closed-in and confined, this can cause stress, resulting in fighting behaviors.

Try creating a larger area and adding new toys and elements, to help to keep your sugar gliders entertained and ensure that they have their own space.

Could Food Be The Problem?

If you think that food may be involved, be sure to put their food in different locations within their enclosure, place some food high and some low so they have to do a little foraging for their meal. Consider using hanging bird cups which can work well and can be moved around to different places each night.

Permanent Separation May Be Necessary

Unfortunately, the only way to guarantee that your sugar gliders won’t fight with each other is to keep them separated on a permanent basis and never introduce them to the same enclosure at any time.

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