Sugar Glider Diet/Supplements?
Nick G asked:
I’ve been a glider owner for about a week now, and i want to know what the experienced glider owners use as far as calcium/protein supplement, daily diet, etc. I did a heck of a lot of research before i got her, so i think im doing alright (im feeding her apple, nuts, i let her lick honey off my finger as a treat, and mealworms so far)
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I’ve been a glider owner for about a week now, and i want to know what the experienced glider owners use as far as calcium/protein supplement, daily diet, etc. I did a heck of a lot of research before i got her, so i think im doing alright (im feeding her apple, nuts, i let her lick honey off my finger as a treat, and mealworms so far)
What advice can a pro give me? Where do you buy your stuff?
Thanks!
Nick
July 15th, 2009 at 4:17 am
I have a recipe from a pet shop that my glider loves I don’t have it on me but if you email me i will send it to you. congrats on your new friend they are amazing. i know i love mine.
July 16th, 2009 at 3:30 am
From my experience, a sugar glider will eat (and stay healthy on) a LOT of things you wouldn’t expect. The best advice I can give you for a healthy critter which will also make your life easier is BABY FOOD. Focus on fruits with some desserts and veggies thrown in. You should find that applesauce and other fruits with some custards/puddings thrown in will give your glider a great variety and will save you the trouble of constantly having to clean rotting fruit from his/her cage. Gliders will keep eating on rotten fruit–even if they have pooped or peed on it! Before it goes bad, the baby food will dry out on a saucer if spread thinly and they will have to stop eating on it until you can feed then again the next day.
Baby food on the finger is perfect for gaining the gliders trust and a variety of baby foods, in general, will form a solid nutritional base. Treat nuts (they LOVE pecans, walnuts, etc.) as treats. The same with mealworms and crickets (which are nasty and, in excess, made my critter begin to behave more aggressively.) I found that variety keeps your glider coming out of his pouch and interested in what you may have for him any time you approach his cage. My little buddy LOVED the veggies from my leftover Chinese food–especially carrots, celery and those little pickled baby corn.
NOTE: if you check the link below, you will see a pic of my sugar glider holding the baby corn–I showed the pic to many people, telling them it was a full-sized ear of corn and convinced them he was over 4 feet tall and lived in a huge cage in the backyard.
Another tip–don’t flinch or withdraw when the glider bites you or you will encourage them to bite. (It doesn’t hurt THAT bad.) If you stick with it and are patient, eventually you can finger wrestle with them once they trust you. Keeping them in their pouch in your shirt pocket is recommended by some people, but I found that a little unwieldy.
Good luck.
July 18th, 2009 at 11:11 pm
Hey there! So, one of the most common causes of death in gliders is improper diet (mainly calcium deficiency). It’s quite complicated, because certain fruits and veggies will allow calcium to be absorbed differently than others, causing an imbalance. There are a few “proven” diets out there, but they are pretty specific in what you can and can’t feed. It’s a bit of a chore, but it’s the best thing you can do for your new glider’s health.
The diet I feed is called BML - it’s got a mixture of egg, baby food, honey, and vitamin suppliments blended together with some other stuff, and a specific list of fruits and veggies you can feed them. Here is a link: . I get my vitamin suppliments (rep-cal herpative and non-phosphorous calcium) and entirelypets.com since they’re dirt cheap there, but they can be found in most pet stores or ordered through them for 3X the price I get over the net. All the other ingredients I get at the grocery store…
Another good diet is by Suncoast, . There are many others out there, but unfortunatly just feeding baby food, or a few fruits and honey aren’t enough. She may live a long life, but won’t be healthy.
Check out - it’s a forum you may have come across in your research already, but they have a diet database, and it’s also a good place to ask seasoned glider owners questions.
Until you get her on an approved diet, I’d recommend feeding some chicken baby food or some boiled egg in addition to some fruits (watermelon and cantelope are great because of the water content) and veggies (peas corn carrots green beans are what I feed mine). I buy frozen pre packaged veggies and let them thaw a bit before feedingn them, and the fruit I usually cut up and freeze as well to save time and money.
Good luck with your girl, you’re definitely on the right track!