Nocturnal playmates: Sugar gliders and hedgehogs keep Polk resident Donna Shivler awake at night

Donna Shivler is an animal lover, but don’t expect to see a cat or dog running around her house.

Do expect to see her disentangling a clingy critter from her hair or a spiky little thing nosing around in her hand.

Shivler owns and breeds sugar gliders and hedgehogs; two exotic, nocturnal animals she has come to love.

She started with a single sugar glider whose owners didn’t mind getting rid of the cranky animal that always bit them.

Shivler renamed the 7-year-old rescue Stitch and spent an entire night researching the animal. That’s how she began to learn the mistakes Stitch’s former owners had made, such as feeding her a poor diet and keeping her in a small cage. These mistakes are common, due to a wealth of misinformation about them on the Internet, Shivler said.

Sugar gliders are small marsupials with large eyes, grasping toes and soft fur. They can glide 8 to 10 feet through the air. They give birth to babies the size of rice grains that then spend nine to 10 weeks developing in the mother’s pouch, like kangaroos. They’re still tiny when they come out, and Shivler keeps them another eight weeks to make sure they develop into healthy, social young gliders.

After two years, Shivler got Stitch to stop biting. By that time, she was already building her sugar glider family and breeding them.

“Everybody who came over was just fascinated, so I told my husband I was going to breed them,” she says. “I breed them because I love them, and I love the babies.”

The tiny creatures, which fit in the palm of your hand even when grown, make a wide range of noises and emit a light, ferret-like smell from their scent glands. They are also playful, crave daily interaction and can form strong bonds with humans.

Healthy sugar gliders live 12 to 14 years on average, while hedgehogs live about 4 to 6 years.

Unlike sugar gliders, it wasn't love at first sight with the hedgehogs for Shivler. Her sons owned hedgehogs, but she kept away from the animals.

“I was scared to death of them because to me they looked like a ball of needles. And I don’t like needles,” she says, with a laugh. “But once I finally held one, I fell in love.”

Hedgehogs can be grumpy and timid, especially around strangers, and they are much less social than sugar gliders. But they make good, healthy, low-maintenance pets, she says, and she spends a lot of time holding them so they become accustomed to humans.

The socialization process for both animals can make a big difference.

Connie Wilburn, who now owns two of Shivler’s sugar gliders, bought her first glider from a different breeder.

“When we brought that glider home, it was as wild as could be,” she says. “It took months to get our first glider to where we could even hold her ... I’ve never had that from Donna.”

Wilburn also appreciates that Shivler worked on a payment plan with her, readily answers her questions and concerns about her pets, and taught her how to make bedding and toys for their cages.

As of early October, Shivler had sold 190 sugar gliders since 2004 and 275 hedgehogs. She has a U.S. Department of Agriculture breeders license. The animals sell for $250 to $1,500, depending on the colors.

The cost of their cages, food, toys and upkeep can be expensive, she said, but her business does well overall.

Most of her customers are from Florida, and at one point she had a storefront on Combee Road. She found she was spending too much time at the store, though, so she has moved her business back into her home for now.

She spends time with each customer — and even takes phone calls from pet owners who are not customers — making sure they understand the animal’s behaviors and needs.

“When you come over, the first thing I try to do is talk you out of a sugar glider,” she says, “because if I can talk you out of one, then I probably did you a favor and my babies a favor.”

Sugar gliders can’t be potty-trained and can be loud at night.

Hedgehogs are pretty quiet but do need daily cage-cleaning.

Shivler makes toys for her sugar gliders out of plastic and sleeping pouches and climbing surfaces from fleece.

In early October, she had 31 sugar gliders and 19 hedgehogs that were hers; 12 babies that were reserved by customers; and two hedgehogs and three sugar gliders for sale.

Although they have caused some funny moments — like the time she thought her store had been robbed but security cameras showed an escaped sugar glider knocking things off counters — they have also allowed her to do something she is passionate about and, in a way, to realize her childhood dream of owning a pet store.

What makes Shivler an impressive breeder, Wilburn says, is how far her devotion extends beyond the business side.

“It’s not just about the money. She really, really cares about the animals. They’re like part of her family.”