I'm restarting a conversation begun under another topic here. The original topic was located here. The question was whether direct sunlight can harm a glider's eyes. One of the articles said:

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Most mammals have a mixture of rods and cones in their retinas. Most mammals also experience a variety of light conditions, night, dawn, day and dusk. Therefore it makes sense to have a mechanism to control the amount of light that enters the eye. A way of ensuring as much light as possible reaches the retina under dull or dark conditions but capable of controlling the influx of light so that on bright day the sensitive retina does not get damaged by an excessive of light. This mechanism is called the 'iris', and it exists just outside of the lens. It is a circular sheet of muscle and through muscular control we can make its diametre larger or smaller and thus control the amount of light that enters the eye.

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That leads me to believe that a glider's eyes are fine being out in the daylight. Obviously, staring into the sun would be bad - but that would be bad for humans too.

Also, it seems to me that in the wild, gliders survived in daylight just fine. They sleep through the day, but I doubt that they never ever wake during the daytime...

Thoughts?

I'm not a professional so I can only speak from my personal experience, & on the things I have read. There are many myths about gliders & light...flashbulbs & blindness... and this topic, like the topic of diet, is one that comes up often & there are varying opinions.
Here are my thoughts on the topic...
Any creature staring directly into the sun for extended periods of time will eventually have some kind of damage to the eye, that only makes sense; However...I don't think the gliders would be prone to staring at the sun, so I feel they are no more susceptible to eye damage from the sun than we are. I take my gliders outside to play in the Arizona Ash tree in my backyard...I do it during the day because I'd have trouble keeping an eye on them at night. It's typically mid to late afternoon when I get home, so the Texas sun is high in the sky~My gliders don't seem to mind, & I've not noticed any change in their reflexes, depth perception, or "hand" eye coordination...all things I think would be indicative of damage to the eye.
PeeperKeeper is an Optometrist here in Austin, maybe she can shed a professional opinion on this...PeeperKeeper... are you out there?

Yes I think these things are right. I think from what I read if a glider were playing all day in direct sun It would probably effect the quality of vision over time. However you would have to force a glider to play all day in the sun and you'd have to be trying to hurt the animal. Though I said originally it will hurt a gliders eyes because if misinformed people might "make" a glider awake in the day to fit their schedule. (And I can imagine prolonged DIRECT exposure to sunlight could cause a decrease in vision capabilities/ quality.) I know people do this because a lady my mom works with makes her nocturnal hamster run in a ball all day so he will sleep at night so it fits her schedule. Crazy as it sounds (and she told me this!) I would not put it past someone to do it to a glider.

And unless you take many flash photos a day right in your gliders face he/ she will probaby be ok. However after reading the article on the rods in nocturnal animals eyes you should be aware that this causes a temporary "blindness" but goes away shortly, though I cant imagine it feels too good.

Im sure its ok if they sleep in a pouch in the light. As a matter of fact I always thought it was ok. I remember some forums saying you shouldnt let them be in light at all and I think thats crazy. Light is necessary to help manufacutre vitamins and for general health so being in the light will not kill them as some people say.

I think the only other thing of caution is remember if you turn on the lights suddenly when the gliders are out or take them outside on a bright day from a dark room their eyes might have trouble adjusting. This comes from the link I posted (under the forum on the mall lady) about cats and nocturnal animals in that their eyes do not adjust as quickly to changes in light. I have experienced this true because when I get up at night for a drink and turn the light on, if my bobcat is sitting in the room he shuts his eyes and blinks horribly and bumps in to things a bit. Not a pleasant experience I'm sure. I've also had to turn on the lights quickly in the middle of the night if I hear the gliders barking and they just sit real still, which makes me think they might be waiting for their eyes to adjust before moving? I would think if you plan on turning on the light or walking out into the sun from a dark room If the glider is out of his pouch it might be more pleasant if you do something to help him gradually adjust to the change.

My gliders are in my living room which is about 50% windows. It is a very bright room during the day time. My gliders will get up during the day for brief periods. Seems to me that if this light was bothering them, they would stay either in their pouch or nest box away from the light.