Calcium:Phosphorus Ratios of Selected Foods:

Remember: The chart below only gives you the ratio, not the amounts of calcium and phosphorus. In some cases, although the ratio looks good, the actual amount of calcium and phosphorus is small. The main thing you need to be concerned with is keeping the calcium:phosphorus ratio as near to 2:1 as possible, but if you are looking for amounts of calcium and/or phosphorus in each food, you will need to look up that information.

Apple 0.5:1 (low)
Banana 0.3:1 (low)
Beef, ground, extra lean, cooked 0.05:1 (very low)
Cantaloupe, trimmed 0.6:1 (low)
Carrot, raw 0.6:1 (low)
Cherries, pitted 1:1 (moderate)
Chicken, skinned, cooked 0.08:1 (very low)
Coconut, raw, shelled 0.12:1 (very low)
Corn, sweet, fresh, raw 0.03:1 (very low)
Egg, hardboiled, in shell 0.3:1 (low)
Fig, dried, uncooked 2.1:1 (very high)
Grape, seedless, peeled 1.4:1 (high)
Grapefruit, sections 1.3:1 (high)
Honeydew, cubed 0.56:1 (low)
Kiwi 0.65:1 (low)
Mango, peeled, seeded 1:1 (moderate)
Orange, trimmed sections 2:1 (very high)
Papaya, peeled, seeded 4.2:1 (very high)
Peach, peeled, pitted 0.45:1 (very low)
Peanut, raw 0.25:1 (very low)
Pear, with skin 1.1:1 (moderate)
Peas, green, sweet, raw, shelled 0.23:1 (very low)
Pineapple, diced 1:1 (moderate)
Plum, pitted 0.75:1 (low)
Prune, dried, pitted 0.6:1 (low)
Raisin, seedless 0.5:1 (low)
Raspberry, fresh, trimmed 1.75:1 (high)
Strawberry, fresh, trimmed 0.78:1 (low)
Sunflower seed, shelled, raw, dried 0.16:1 (very low)
Sweet Potato, raw 0.78:1 (low)
Tofu, raw, firm 1.1:1 (moderate)
Yogurt, plain 1.27:1 (moderate)
Wheat germ, ready to eat 0.04:1 (very low)

* Adapted from Sugar Gliders: A Complete Pet Owner’s Manual, by Caroline MacPherson, p. 74.

Fruits and vegetables: Sugar gliders like a wide range of fruits and vegetables, although their tastes tend to lean toward sweet varieties. Individual gliders will have likes and dislikes, so see what your glider(s) like, and balance that with what is nutritionally good for them.

Fresh fruits and vegetables should be given every evening. Be sure to change the combination every night, both to avoid sugar glider boredom and to assure your glider gets a variety of nutrients. Cut the fruit into chunks, but you don’t need to cut it into tiny pieces. Your glider will eat the fleshy part of the fruit and leave the peel.

Be sure to wash all the fruits and vegetables thoroughly to remove pesticide residues, or feed organic fruits and veggies. Some people peel their sugar gliders’ fruits and vegetables, both to remove surface pesticides as well as to lessen the chance of giardia contamination. Always wash your hands well after washing and/or peeling fruit and vegetables, for the same reasons.

Avoid feeding dried fruit and nut mixtures! These mixtures often contain added salt, sugar and preservatives/sulfites. In addition, nuts are very fatty and have a lot of phosphorus. Unfortunately, if allowed to, most sugar gliders will gorge themselves on nuts. This will lead to obesity and malnutrition. Too much phosphorus can interfere with calcium absorption.

Red meat, Poultry, Eggs and Tofu: These are sources of protein in the sugar glider diet. All meat and poultry should be cooked (but not fried) and cut into very little pieces. Do not feed meats that have been spiced or processed and especially do not feed any meat that has garlic, onions, chives or leeks in it! Chicken and other poultry should be skinless and boneless. The bones shatter too easily, and the skin contains way too much fat. Eggs can be hard-boiled and mashed/chopped. Some glider breeders occasionally use scrambled eggs, but try to keep the fat content as low as possible.

Remember that eggs and meats-off-the-bone are low in calcium and magnesium; at the same time, they are also high in phosphorus. Do not use them as the main source of protein in your sugar glider’s diet unless you also supplement his diet with calcium.

Some sugar glider owners use baby food, which provides a convenient form of pureed meat. But be sure to read the label carefully: No onions, garlic, chives or leeks should be present in the baby food! If it is present, do not use that particular baby food. Additionally, some baby foods contain a lot of sodium, which is unhealthy for sugar gliders (and babies, too).

Tofu is another one of those debated foods. Caroline MacPherson recommends it as a good source of protein, and it has a higher percentage of calcium than phosphorus. But there are some breeders who are opposed to soy products being given to sugar gliders. They cite research on other animals which shows tofu as having a negative effect on the digestive system. As yet, a negative effect on sugar gliders has not been proven. Other breeders object to tofu because it is a bean source of protein, not a meat or insect source of protein. Not all gliders take to tofu right away, and you may have to puree it with a fruit your glider likes, or add a little bit of honey.

(To be continued…)

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