Sleeves hanging out while eating some dried fruit.
Missy Kesterke with two of their sugar gliders.
Ben and Xander Kesterke stand in front of their sugar glider cage. Cages can cost up to $250.
Each glider eats two tablespoons of salad and one tablespoon of liquid Complete food per day. The salad takes about an hour and a half to make and lasts about a month (frozen). It costs around $30 per month. The liquid costs about $45 per month and feeds between seven to nine gliders.
A sugar glider rests in the fuzzy interior of a purse. The gliders have makeshift homes made from slippers and other nest-like items.
SEELEY LAKE - At 10 o'clock at night, one member of the Kesterke family mixes together fruits and vegetables to make a healthy "sugar glider salad." The nightly snack is for their small lovable pets, their sugar gliders. They often, like their human counterparts, prefer to eat the fruit over the veggies.
When they aren't asleep during the day, these small mammals jump around their cage, take an occasional field trip to explore the house or even spend time with the family in a group tent.
"They are a pet that involves a little more commitment than the typical pet," said Missy Kesterke. "Originally, the intent was to breed a few batches of Joey's every year and sell them but we got attached and we weren't able to really let him go."
The Kesterke family lives with eight sugar gliders on the second floor of their family home. The gliders, native to Australia and Papua New Guinea, are a legal exotic animal, one with growing popularity for their companionship characteristics.
Not to be mistaken with the North American Flying Squirrel, the sugar gliders were originally taken from Australia and bred in Indonesia. Sugar gliders are marsupials, like kangaroos or Koalas, and the flying squirrel is a placental mammal, more closely related to cats or elephants.
From their home countries, the sugar gliders have been sold and bred around the world, including the United States. Though some states outlawed the ownership of the pets, they are legal in Montana and regulated by the US Department of Agriculture.
When Missy's oldest son turned 18, he discovered the sugar gliders online. After sending cute videos to his mom, the family finally decided to invest in three sugar gliders. The family found that the sugar gliders needed a lot of work to be comfortable with humans.
"It took us months of sitting with them in a tent every night for an hour and a half, all of us took turns," Missy said. "They could just leap and explore and get to know us but not get away and get hurt."
The gliders, now living comfortably with the humans of the house, like to play with the Kesterke family and jump around the house when they are let out of their cage. The family sometimes sets them into the bathroom to play. They have talked about dedicating a room in their home to the marsupials.
The small pets crave love and affection from the family. For the six siblings in the Kesterke family, the group contributes time to make sure they are loved. Missy said because they become so bonded to their family, it is hard on them to be rehomed. Also when the family travels, lining up someone that knows their special requirements is essential.
Sugar gliders are a rare pet to have in western Montana. Missy said she knows of one breeder each in Missoula and Bozeman, but also remembered a friend drove all the way to Texas to purchase some. Glider prices range from $200 to $800 each.
Despite the difficulties involved like taming and the gliders' specialized diet, the Kesterke's love the new addition to their lives. While the kids are learning through homeschooling, they often have a glider to keep them company.
"I've read that they're ranked number three on the companion pet for therapy animals, because of their intelligence and their intensity, it's there," Missy said. "Once you learn their language that's really more like relating with another human."
The most recent addition, a baby named Ash, is the tamest out of the bunch. Older ones, like a male named Blackfoot, can get moody at times. But overall, Missy said they are fun and loving creatures.
The sugar gliders are a long-term investment for the family. An average adult glider lives up to 15 years. Though many of her kids will be out of the house by then, there's still plenty of time to enjoy their time with the little animals.
"These guys are a little different in that they're very long living, Missy said. "And so we have guinea pigs too, but they live three to five years, and so they are a different kind of pet than these guys who are actually more like children almost because their needs are more."
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