OK so I have been thinking of making a cage for a while and I was just wondering what materials I should use.
I was thinking of making a plywood basevand using some sort of wire mesh like stucco but I wasn't sure whether these materials are harmful to sugar gliders.

A plywood frame sorry there was a typo

A plywood frame sorry there was a typo

Wood, especially plywood, is not recommended for glider cages because it is very difficult to clean. Sugar Gliders pee on EVERYTHING so the cage materials need to be completely washable. Wood absorbs the pee and will hold the odor.

Plywood in particular contains glue which might also be toxic to gliders - they will chew on any wood in the cage.

Wire like the material used under stucco is NOT glider safe. It is galvanized which means it is zinc coated and the zinc could be toxic to gliders over time. It is also a very rough material. Gliders rub their scent glands on the cage surfaces to mark it as their own. The galvanized metal wire has many very small but sharp points that could scratch the glider and become infected - which for gliders might be life threatening.

Most home made cages are constructed with a PVC pipe frame. The PVC pipe used for pluming and water lines is safe for gliders.

A plastic mesh with 1/2 inch square openings like hardware cloth is the material most use for the cages. It is sold in the garden section of Lowe's or Home Depot under the name Landware or Tenax brand mesh. It is a very sturdy black plastic material that can be attached to the PVC frame with zip ties (many, many zip ties).

OK thank you! I am just thinking about getting a pair of gliders and was curious to know if that was safe.I have been doing research for a week now and saw the PVC designs online but was looking for something that looked a little nicer, as my dad suggested using plywood and stucco. Anyway thanks for the very informative post and for taking your time with the answer. It was really helpful:)

Oh and I was just wondering how is the zinc toxic to gliders? Because there are several healing zinc creams so why is zinc toxic to gliders? Please don't take this as criticism, I am just curious.

The zinc on the metal can react with glider pee and the wire will eventually rust because of this.

Gliders also rub themselves on the surfaces of the cage - then groom themselves and ingest the zinc. The zinc and other chemicals use in galvanizing the wire is not the same as the small amounts used in topical products that contain zinc.