There are many different diets available for your sugar
glider, each diet has it's ups and downs. It really is controversial as
to what the best diet is for a sugar glider in captivity. Although any
diet you choose, keep the following in mind:
- A healthy diet is VERY important, serious
health conditions will arise if your glider is not feed properly.
- Keep a positive calcium to phosphorous ratio,
use calcium supplements that are non-phosphorous.
- A sugar gliders diet should consist of a
protein source, vitamins, fruits and vegetables.
- Use vitamin supplements when necessary, but
don't over do it, too many vitamins can be just as harmful as not
enough.
- Start out by feeding about 3-4 tablespoons of
food per night, per glider. If they eat it all the first night add a
little more the next night until they leave only a little bit.
Remember a sugar gliders stomach is about the same size of your
thumbnail, and only holds less than a tablespoon of food/water.
- Often times breeders will offer pregnant or
lactating mothers extra protein. Before doing this, be sure it fits
into your current diet plan.
- Never add vitamins to your gliders water.
- Always follow the directions of your chosen
diet.
- Fresh water and a high quality staple food
must be available at all times.
- Feed you glider a varied diet within your
chosen diet plan. This will
prevent food boredom, and ensures a balanced diet. Example, feed
various fruits, juices, vegetables, etc.
- Cat food or pellet base diets are not
recommended. Sugar gliders are sap suckers, by feeding large amounts
of hard food can lead to an infection in the jaw known as “lumpy
jaw”.
- Do not mix diets. Each diet is balanced with
the right amount of vitamins and minerals. Mixing diets can affect
these balances resulting in either too much, or not enough of
something.
- Give the diet a chance before deciding your
gliders don't like it. Sugar Gliders can be like 2 year olds, and
have similar eating patterns. One week they will go without touching
any fruit, the next that is all they will eat.
Here Are A few examples of what
other sugar glider owners are feeding their gliders:
Back to Basics BML
/
Judie's Modified
Leadbeaters
/ Darcy's Diet
The
ExoticDiet / PML Diet
Back to Basics Leadbeaters Diet
Plan
The Modified Leadbeaters Diet Plan below, is one of
the oldest and most proven diets currently in use. Please do not modify
this diet in any way. Note that the Back to Basics plan has a specific
list of fruits and veggies to be fed, as well as a time that mealworms
should be fed.
Presentation: Start
out by feeding (per 1 glider):
- 1 Tablespoon of the BML mix
- 1 Tablespoon of fruits (apples, grapes,
watermelon, cantaloupe, melon, frozen pitted cherries and
blueberries)
- 1 Tablespoon of veggies (corn, peas, carrots
and green beans)
- Feed 10-12 small, 7-10 medium, or 3-5 large
mealworms in the morning.
If they eat it all the first night add a little more
the next night until they leave only a little bit.
Back to Basics BML Ingredients:
- 1/2 Cup of Honey (Do not use honey comb, raw
or unfiltered)
- 4 oz bottle of premixed Gerber juice with
yogurt, (comes in mixed fruit or banana found near the baby food
isle) Some places this product can’t be found, in that case, mix in
2 oz of plain yogurt and 2 oz of mixed fruit juice.(100% juice no
additives)
- 1/4 cup Wheat Germ
- 1 Teaspoon of vitamin supplement (Rep-Cal
HERPTIVITE is recommended)
- 2 teaspoons Calcium Supplement non-phosphorus
with Vit. D3 (Rep-Cal)
- 2 2 1/2 oz jar of Chicken baby food
- 1 Egg boiled or scrambled (no shell)
- 1/4 cup of apple juice
- 1/2 cup of dry baby cereal
Directions: Put honey, egg, Gerber juice
into the blender, blend until ingredients are mixed well. Add the rest
of the ingredients, blend well for 5 mins. Pour into ice cube trays and freeze
immediately.
* It will freeze to the same consistency as ice cream. 1 cube is about 2
tablespoons, this recipe should feed one glider for about a month.
Modified Leadbeaters
Diet Plan (Judie's Version)
Judies Modified Leadbeaters Diet Plan below
was modified by a long time and respected breeder due to some of her
gliders rejecting the basic mixture. Please follow this diet plan
exactly. Avoid supplementing or modifying ingredients. Please note that
there is not a specific list of fruits/veggies with this diet as their
is with the Back to Basics BML plan. Variety is important, but do not
overfeed items high in phosphorous such as corn.
Presentation: Start
out by feeding (per 1 glider):
- 1 Tablespoon of the BML mix
- 1 Tablespoon of fruits
- 1 Tablespoon of veggies
- Feed 10-12 small, 7-10 medium, or 3-5 large
mealworms
Other insects gliders enjoy are crickets, june bugs, moths, and
grasshoppers. Never feed roaches, lightening bugs, or any bug
caught outside or in an area where it could have insecticide on it
If they eat it all the first night add a little more
the next night until they leave only a little bit.
BML Ingredients: (a.k.a. Judie’s
Version)
- 1/2 cup Honey (Do Not Use honeycomb, raw or
unfiltered honey)
- 1 Egg Hard Boiled w/shell (if your blender
doesn't break the shell down, don't use it)
- 1 oz of Apple Juice (100% juice- no
additives)
- 1 oz of CranApple or CranCherry Juice
- 4 oz bottle of premixed Gerber juice with
yogurt, (comes in mixed fruit or banana found near the baby food
isle) Some places this product can’t be found, in that case, mix in
2 oz of plain yogurt and 2 oz of mixed fruit juice.(100% juice no
additives)
- 1 Teaspoon of vitamin supplement (Rep-Cal
HERPTIVITE is recommended)
- 2 teaspoons Calcium Supplement non-phosphorus
with Vit. D3 (Rep-Cal)
- 2 2 1/2 oz jar of Chicken baby food
- 1 Small Jar of Stage 2 Sweet Potato
- 1/4 cup Wheat Germ
- 1/2 cup dry baby cereal (Mixed or Oatmeal)
Directions: Put honey, egg (with
shell on) and apple juice into the blender, blend until ingredients are
mixed well. Next, add the chicken baby food, and sweet potato, blend.
Add the fruit juice, yogurt juice, and vitamin supplement, blend well.
Add the wheat germ and baby cereal, blend well. Pour into ice cube
trays, or in a bowl and freeze.
* It will freeze to the same consistency as ice cream. 1 cube is about 2
tablespoons, this recipe should feed one glider for about a month.
Darcy's Diet (Ensure)
Presentation:
Feed about a tablespoon of protein source per glider. Such as
insects, mealworms, chicken or duck meat, crickets, wax worms, or egg.
Also feed nightly chopped fruits and vegetables. Use various fruits &
veggies, emphasis on variety and moderation. (No large amounts of any
one thing.)
Daily Staple:
Zookeeper’s Secret is offered daily as a staple.
Enrichment
Supplement: Nekton brand nectar is offered nightly. A
multivitamin and protein supplement originally developed for birds. It
has a calcium phosphorus ratio of 1:1, therefore it can not be relied
upon for a calcium supplement. (similar to glider-aid)
Daily Vitamin/Mineral
Supplement: Mix one can of Ensure (8 ozs) with 380 mg
(3/8 teaspoons) calcium carbonate (human grade, available at most
pharmacies)
2-3 tablespoons Ensure* supplement (NEVER CHOCOLATE) with calcium
per glider in a bowl. (If you try putting it in a bottle the calcium
will clog the tube.).
Optional: 1/4 tsp
acacia gum
This diet is especially useful for gliders who are malnutrition or
recovering from illness. It is based on using Ensure plus calcium as the
nutritional supplement.
*Sustagen is the European equivalent
The Sugar Glider
Exotic Diet (The Pet Glider Diet)
Ingredients:
-
25 oz unsweetened
applesauce
-
4 oz Dannon
non-fat plain yogurt
-
3 oz concentrated
calcium fortified orange juice, no water added
-
3/4 c Old
Fashioned Oats (NO QUICK COOKING OATS)
-
1 T fresh ground
flax seed or wheat germ, refrigerated
Directions: In
a large bowl, mix the applesauce, oats, yogurt, wheat germ and orange
juice. Divide into three equal portions. To portion one, add: 3 small or
medium eggs, scrambled. To portion two, add: 3/4 lb unseasoned,
unsalted, broiled shredded chicken. Leave the third portion plain for
the nights you feed mealworms or yogurt.
Freeze flat in quart size freezer bags (1/2" or less thick).
In a separate bowl, chop up:
3/4 cups various fruits
3/4 cups various vegetables
You may also choose to use pre-cute frozen fruits or vegetables.
Combine and freeze in bags.
Presentation:
- Offer the basic mixture fresh the
first two nights, then freeze the remaining following the directions
above.
- Break off a frozen piece of the
basic mix. Pull out the chopped fruits and vegetables from your
freezer, trying to keep it one part fruits to one part vegetables.
- If you choose to use pre-cut frozen
fruits and vegetables, do not use vegetables which have a high ratio
of corn.
- Feed at least 4-6 fresh fruits and
veggies each day; don’t feed the same combination of this mixture
three days in a row.
- Offer UNSEASONED, UNSALTED broiled
chicken (1 tsp per glider), eggs, or mealworms (3-6 giant) four or
five nights out of the week for extra protein. If your glider has a
tendency to be overweight, offer less mealworms. Mealworms are high
in fat, so only offer them three times per week.
- Offer fresh water at all times, and
Gatorade may be given 3-4 times a week. Use fruit flavored Gatorade,
and mix the granular kind to you glider’s tastes. The flavored fruit
mix encourages your glider to drink more liquid. It contains
electrolytes, and also contains some sucrose, a nectar substitute,
both very important to them.
- Always
sprinkle vitamins, on top, never mix them in and never freeze
them. If you sprinkle them on top the gliders will eat them first
with some food because they taste good.
PML Diet
Mix Ingredients:
- 1 & 3/4 cup of water (bottled preferred)
- 1 & 3/4 cup - of honey (honey amount can be lessoned to 1 & 1/2 cup if
using Australian honey)
- 2 boiled shelled eggs
- 1 ounce (30 grams) - of Wombaroo High Protein Supplement
According to Pockets: “I change my amount of Wombaroo HPS I offer
according to season - but you do not have to. I use 1 less egg in my PML
than is recommended in Oz, as my research has shown a problem with
captive possums - possible cholesterol problems from providing to many
egg yolks resulting in fatty tumors.”
Instructions:
- Warm water for 2 minutes in microwave before mixing in the honey (do
not make water hot as it can destroy the vitamins in the WHPS). Mix
until dissolved
- Place eggs and warm blended honey/water into blender, blend 1 minute
- Add 1 ounce (30 grams) of Wombaroo High Protein Supplement & blend
again for 1 minute
- Place in freezer-safe dish & freeze.
Presentation:
- Pockets Modified Leadbeater's (PML) mix nightly; 1 glider portion is
3/4 -1 tbs
- 1 tablespoon insectivore fare per glider (zookeeper secret)
- 1-2 tablespoons fruit/veggie mix per glider
- Tiny portion of Neocalglucon weekly (a type of calcium)
*Note Please talk to your vet before starting your sugar gliders on any
diet.
|