In the wilds of its native habitat, the Sugar Glider Sugar Bear is a tree dwelling creature, often living in groups of ten to fifteen. It is active at night when it hunts for small vertebrae's and insect. It feeds on the sweet sap of certain species of eucalyptus, acacia and gum trees. The Sugar Glider Sugar Bear is named for its preference for sweet foods and its ability to glide through the air like a flying squirrel.
It lives in groups of up to seven adults, plus the current season's young, all sharing a nest and defending their territory, an example of helping at the nest. Adult males mark the territory with saliva and with a scent produced by glands on the forehead and chest, and also mark members of the group with this scent. Visitors which lack the appropriate scent marking are expelled swiftly, even violently. The dominant male mates more frequently with the female of the group than the other males. When an adult member of the group dies, it is normally replaced by one of the group's own offspring if female, but by an outsider if male.
In the more south, breeding starts in mid-winter. In the north, there seems to be no particular breeding season. Two young per female is typical; they remain in the pouch for about seventy days, and once leaving it stays inside the nest for another forty or fifty days, then begin to look for food, usually under the care of the mother. The young are normally ejected from the group territory at seven to ten months of age. Sometimes they form new groups if an area is vacant, but competition for area is fierce and not many survive the first months of independent life. In captivity, they may live up to fifteen years.
