White Sugar Glider

Sugar gliders come in a variety of colors, from black and gray to white. White sugar gliders are especially striking due to their contrasting details, such as the deep black eyes, dark markings on the face and around the nose area, and darker accents that cover their hands and feet. Depending on the specific sugar glider’s genetics, they may have different shades of white ranging from crisp snow white to a creamy ivory shade. There are many different varieties of white sugar gliders and a few of them are featured below.

Leucistic Sugar Glider

Leucistic sugar gliders have interesting genetics that can be used to reproduce another leucistic glider with the same recessive genes and be integrated with other recessive characteristics and encourage those traits. Their fur is solid white without any stripes, facial bars, or head triangles. They will have black eyes and pink noses and toes.

Platinum Sugar Glider

The platinum sugar glider is a stunning variation of sugar gliders. These rare sugar gliders have pure white coats completely without or with very light markings or accents. They usually have black eyes but can sometimes have black/brown or brown eyes. Ruby Platinum Sugar Gliders are rare. They are solid white with red eyes. They are some of the most interesting-looking sugar gliders out there.

Cremeino Sugar Glider

Cremeino sugar gliders have a cream colored body or reddish crème colored fur. They have brown to red dorsal stripe/markings, and deep ruby eyes. Cremeinos were bred selectively; this color does not appear in the wild and it is a recessive gene.

Albino Sugar Glider

Sugar gliders with a lack of pigmentation are called albino sugar gliders. The rare albino sugar glider has pure white fur with red eyes and little to no markings. These gliders will contain a completely white body, red eyes and feature little/faint to no markings at all. An albino sugar glider is considered a rare color variation and is recessive, which means that you are only likely to have an albino sugar glider baby with both the mother and the father being albinos and carrying the gene. It makes them much more expensive than most other types available on the market.

What Is the Difference?

It is important to know the difference between albino sugar gliders and white sugar gliders. While both colors have a lack of pigmentation, albinos will typically contain little/faint to no markings, while white sugar gliders may feature small dark markings on their faces or around the nose area. Additionally, albino sugar gliders are considered more rare and more expensive than other color variations. Knowing the differences can help guide you in making an informed decision when it comes to sugar glider adoption and how to best take care of them. Albino sugar gliders are very sensitive to direct sunlight and should never be exposed to it.

Are White Sugar Gliders Especially Sensitive to Direct Sunlight?

As sugar gliders are nocturnal; so we know they naturally are not out in direct sunlight during the day and that also means they don’t need direct sunlight. They don’t really have pupils that can constrict and adjust to bright light the way ours do, and direct sunlight would bother them. In fact, it actually hurts their sensitive eyes, and this is especially true for Albino Sugar Gliders.

There are different opinions in the vet community about sugar gliders’ need for UVB rays for vitamin D absorption. All animals need UVB lighting to help with their metabolism when digesting food and they get it from both natural sun- and moonlight. The thing is that they do not know if sugar gliders get the UVB rays they need during the day while they are sleeping when they for example would be shaded from direct sunlight by the tree shrubs or some kind of tree hollowness, or if they have adapted and get enough at night through the moonlight. It might also be a combination of the two.

As long as some sun is getting in through your window I imagine that they will be fine. Like you were told above, they either need to have some natural light or you need to put them on a light/dark cycle with lamps, otherwise it messes up their sleep/wake cycle if light levels are the same all the time.

For domestic sugar gliders, it is recommended to have the room they are in during the day lit either by indirect natural sunlight or a lamp. This ensures their natural cycle of waking and sleeping stays balanced as it would in nature. If it was dark in their room all the time, it would completely throw that off.

If you are concerned about your gliders not getting enough UVB ray exposure for their vitamin D absorbation, then you need to look into another source and possibly consult with your vet or someone else with authority in the field.