What should you do about a sugar glider who is a picky eater and who refuses to eat the healthy food you serve him or her? First of all, you need to understand normal sugar glider behavior with regard to eating. You should expect to see some “leftovers” most nights. Sugar gliders typically eat part of what is offered, throw a part of what is offered around (hence the need for a “Critter Hut” or something similar to minimize your cleanup time) and ignore part of what is offered. This is normal sugar glider behavior. If you are expecting your sugar glider to lick his bowl clean like your dog does, forget it! That’s not how sugar gliders eat. Additionally, sugar gliders will sometimes eat very lightly for 2 or 3 days.

Another type of normal sugar glider eating behavior is to ignore something the first few times you put it in front of them. That doesn’t necessarily mean they don’t like it. Multiple offers of the food over a period of days may be necessary before a glider will try it.

When dealing with a picky eater, remember that if permitted, a sugar glider will pick out its favorite foods every night and ignore the rest. In that sense, they really are like children. It is up to you to provide variety so that your glider doesn’t eat the same thing every night.

If your sugar glider won’t eat its fruits or vegetables, try feeding a fruit or vegetable first, after you remove all other food from the cage. Feed the rest of his food an hour or two later. If this does not work, then feed only a fruit or veggie for one or two nights. A glider usually will not starve itself to death. After one or two nights, he will probably eat the item in question.

If your sugar glider won’t eat its protein, mix the food you want him to eat with something else you know he loves and can’t resist. You can try mixing protein with low-sugar apple juice, applesauce, yogurt, etc. Use only enough of the treat foods to get your sugar glider to eat the food you want it to eat. Don’t overdo the sugar especially. If you have a sugar glider who is refusing to eat his protein, you may have to try putting out only protein foods for a day or two, until your sugar glider is hungry enough to it it.

(To be continued…)

© 2006 SugarGliderAuthority.com. Excerpted from Sugar Gliders: The Ultimate Guide. All rights reserved. No portion of this website may be reproduced in whole or in part without the express written consent of the copyright owner.

There are certain foods that are “acceptable foods” for sugar gliders and certain foods that are considered “foods to avoid”. Within the “foods to avoid” category there may be certain foods that are OK in extremely limited quantities. The following list provides some general guidelines. I have noted foods that are debated by the sugar glider community.

Acceptable Foods
o apple
o avocado (some breeders put this on the “bad foods” list because of a toxin it)
o baby foods with no added salt or garlic or onion
o banana
o beef (well-cooked and cut up finely)
o blueberry
o cantaloupe
o carrot
o cherry (no pits)
o chicken (without skin)
o coconut
o cucumber
o eggs
o fig
o grape
o honey (sparingly)
o honeydew
o insects (only those raised as small animal food)
o kiwi
o mandarins
o mango
o mealworms (limit amount; they are high in fat)
o melon
o papaya
o peach
o pear
o pineapple
o pinky mice
o plum
o prune
o raisin
o raspberry
o squash
o strawberry
o sweet potato
o tofu (a debated food; see discussion above)
o wheat germ (Wheat germ is controversial because it has a great deal of phosphorus and a small amount of calcium. It does have good attributes, such as a high amount of protein, but if you feed it to your glider, it would be prudent to use only small amounts.)

Foods to Avoid

o Baby foods that contain onions or garlic
o canned foods (most contain added salt and sugar)
o cat food (see the discussion of the cat food debate)
o cheese
o chives
o chocolate
o coffee
o dog food
o fried foods
o garlic
o iceberg lettuce
o insects that are not raised as small animal food
o leeks
o milk (cow or goat’s milk)
o millet
o nuts (can only be given in very small quantities)
o onions
o peanuts (can cause aflatoxicosis)
o pits (from fruit)
o processed meat
o raw eggs
o raw meat
o rhubarb
o salt
o scallions
o soda
o sugar (granulated sugar or foods with added sugar)
o sunflower seeds (can only be given in very small quantities)
o tea

The above lists are not exhaustive! If you have a question about a particular food, ask your breeder, ask other sugar glider owners, etc. before you serve it to your glider! In addition, avoid making a habit of feeding your sugar glider table food. A glider’s nutritional needs are far different from yours.

(To be continued…)

© 2006 SugarGliderAuthority.com. Excerpted from Sugar Gliders: The Ultimate Guide. All rights reserved. No portion of this website may be reproduced in whole or in part without the express written consent of the copyright owner.

Supplementation: It is a good idea to give your sugar glider a high-quality supplement, in addition to its food. Sugar gliders can sometimes inexplicably become finicky about their food, and a supplement is a good way to insure they are still getting proper nutrition. Sugar glider breeders and other experts usually supplement both with nectar-like products and vitamins and minerals.

When you are supplementing your sugar glider’s diet, remember, more is not necessarily better. Some vitamins, for example, can become toxic when given in large amounts. So follow the recommended amount on the label! Some commonly-used supplements are:

o The Pet Glider Complete Multivitamin, which contains a complete balanced mammal multivitamin and calcium, nectar, bee pollen, probiotics (“friendly” bacteria for your glider’s digestive system), acacia gum, and herbs.

o Glider Boost + Glider-Cal, which is made especially for sugar gliders.

o Vionate, which is a multivitamin in powdered form. Its calcium to phosphorus ratio is 2:1. This supplement can be sprinkled over your glider’s fruit.

o Rep-Cal Calcium, which was originally designed for reptiles. The Rep-Cal calcium that is both phosphorus and Vitamin D3 free is often preferred by sugar glider owners. It should be noted that there is currently some debate about whether supplementing with Vitamin D in sugar gliders who are healthy is a good idea. There have been reports of Vitamin D toxicity in some sugar gliders. Unlike diurnal creatures (such as humans), nocturnal animals absorb Vitamin D in their guts, not through exposure to sunlight. So it would be very easy to over-supplement with any form of Vitamin D. If you decide to give your sugar glider a supplement with added Vitamin D, avoid giving any other supplements that also contain added Vitamin D in any form.

o Gliderade, which is designed as a nectar substitute. Do not oversupplement with this of any other sweet supplement.

o Fruit-flavored powdered Gatorade can also be mixed to your glider’s taste. Gatorade has sucrose (a sugar) and electrolytes (important for keeping your sugar glider’s body chemistry in balance).

Staple foods: Certain foods are considered staples and you should leave them in your sugar glider’s food bowl all day. Those foods include:

o Sugar Glider dry pelleted diet, such as Premium Sugar Glider Diet or Glider Complete Diet by the Exotic Nutrition Pet Company. It is recommended that you soften any hard food you give your sugar glider, to avoid possibly causing Lumpy Jaw. Be aware that softened food will spoil more quickly, so you will need to put fresh food in your sugar glider’s bowl every day. A pellet food that is soft to begin with is Zookeeper’s Friend.

o Monkey Biscuits are also made by the Exotic Nutrition Pet Company. Many sugar gliders love to munch on them all day. Because they are also hard, it is a good idea to moisten them as well.

Regardless of which staple food you give your sugar glider, it is not recommended that you use them as the sole source of nutrition for your sugar glider! Your glider needs fresh food sources, as detailed above.

(To be continued…)

© 2006 SugarGliderAuthority.com. Excerpted from Sugar Gliders: The Ultimate Guide. All rights reserved. No portion of this website may be reproduced in whole or in part without the express written consent of the copyright owner.

Insects and Pinky Mice: Wild sugar gliders get most of their protein from insects and small vertebrates. Crickets, grasshoppers, moths, mealworms and earthworms are among their dietary staples.

Many sugar glider owners feed their gliders live insects, such as crickets or grasshoppers. Gliders are amazingly fast at catching their prey! But you should not overdo it when feeding insects to your glider. For example, mealworms are very high in fat, and a sugar glider who eats a lot of them will become obese. Additionally, their calcium to phosphorus content is skewed in favor of phosphorus. Many breeders feed crickets or mealworms only every other day. And other breeders avoid crickets because of the potential for aflatoxicosis.

Do not collect insects outdoors if there is even the slightest chance they have been in contact with insecticide. They may also have parasites that are unhealthy for your sugar glider. Instead, buy your insects from a pet store or supplier who raises them specifically as small animal food. Many sugar glider owners prefer to buy “gut-loaded” insects. “Gut-loaded” means that the insects are fed a diet that is nutritious for the animal who ultimately eats it. Remember, when your glider eats an insect, he is also ingesting what that insect eats. So why not use insects that are specially prepared to enhance your sugar glider’s nutrition?

Some sugar glider owners buy live crickets and/or mealworms. Crickets can be bought young, raised to majority (and gut-loaded) and then frozen. For more information on buying crickets and/or mealworms, go to wormman.com.

Also avoid catching small lizards outside and feeding them to your sugar glider. Many lizards carry the salmonella bacteria, which could possibly be transmitted to your glider.

Pinky mice can be bought at your local pet store. Pinky mice are baby mice that haven’t yet grown any fur. Many people don’t like to buy them, especially if they are vegetarians or simply don’t like the idea of buying baby mice. It’s up to you. If you buy them frozen, it is OK to feed them frozen to your sugar glider, without defrosting or microwaving them. This lessens the possibility of the meat spoiling overnight in your glider’s cage. You can also feed frozen juvenile or adult mice, which have a developed skeleton and therefore have higher calcium content. (Do not feed mice that you catch yourself! There is always a chance your little intruder has eaten warfarin or other deadly poisons!) One unpleasant thing about feeding frozen furry rodents, other than the fact that you are putting a mouse into your sugar glider’s cage, is the fact that you will have to remove the deceased critter’s pelt in the morning. Another worry is that mice can carry salmonella. It is for this reason that some sugar glider breeders do not recommend feeding pinkies or adult mice.

How much food should you feed your sugar glider? Most gliders will eat about 1/4 to 1/3 cup of food per day. The current recommended ratio of protein to fruits and vegetables is 40-50% protein (50% for breeding females) and 50% fruits and vegetables. This is another area of controversy, but some breeders feel that bone disease is more common in sugar gliders that only get a 25% protein-to-fruits/vegetables ratio. So, to play it safe, try to keep your glider’s food to about a 50/50 combination. That means if you give it 2 tablespoons of protein, then it should get about 2 tablespoons of finely-chopped fruit and vegetables. You will have to experiment a bit with your sugar glider. If you see it is getting obese, you need to cut back on its food. If it gobbles up everything in sight and licks its bowls clean, you may need to add a little more food until you find the right balance.

Some breeders have observed that their sugar gliders will occasionally eat very little for 2 or 3 nights, and then return to their normal feeding habits. If your glider gets fussy about its food, don’t be too concerned until it goes on for longer than that.

(To be continued…)

© 2006 SugarGliderAuthority.com. Excerpted from Sugar Gliders: The Ultimate Guide. All rights reserved. No portion of this website may be reproduced in whole or in part without the express written consent of the copyright owner.

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…)

© 2006 SugarGliderAuthority.com. Excerpted from Sugar Gliders: The Ultimate Guide. All rights reserved. No portion of this website may be reproduced in whole or in part without the express written consent of the copyright owner.

You will frequently see a discussion of the Calcium to Phosphorus ratio in sugar glider diets. What does this mean? In general, you want your sugar glider’s diet to have twice as much calcium as phosphorus, for a calcium to phosphorus ratio of 2:1. Phosphorus can interfere with calcium absorption, and sugar gliders have a great need for excellent calcium input and absorption.

Determining the actual calcium:phosphorus amount in food is not always easy. The best source to consult is a book, Bowes & Church’s Food Values of Portions Commonly Used (be sure to get the 17th edition). This huge book is a wonderful reference, as it compares thousands and thousands of foods on a by-weight basis. It’s also good for human dietary concerns (counting carbohydrates, fats, etc.). Another book is The Corinne T. Netzer Encyclopedia of Food Values.

Once you have the calcium and phosphorus amounts for each food, calculating the ratio is easy:

Calcium amount divided by phosphorus amount = calcium:phosphorus ratio

Example 1: 250 mg. of calcium ÷ 115 mg. of phosphorus = 2.17. The calcium:phosphorus ratio is 2.17:1. This is would be a very desirable ratio.

Example 2: 109 mg. of calcium ÷ 76 mg. of phosphorus = 1.43. The calcium:phosphorus ratio is 1.43:1. This is not as good, but the ratio is still better than 1:1 and thus desirable.

Example 3: 250 mg. of calcium ÷ 350 mg. of phosphorus = 0.71. The calcium:phosphorus ratio is 0.71:1. This is a bad result and represents an example where the ratio is leaning towards being inverse. In other words, instead of there being a higher percentage of calcium relative to phosphorus, there is actually a higher percentage of phosphorus relative to calcium.

Notice that when you do the division and come up with a number, the ratio is expressed as that mathematical result relative to the number 1. So the result is always xxx:1. You don’t need to worry about what comes after the colon; it’s always 1.

Right about now, you are probably pulling your hair out, wondering how the heck you’re going to do all that math just to feed your precious sugar glider properly! Hang on, there is good news, and a little bad news.

The good news is that if you Google the term “calcium:phosphorus ratio foods” (or something similar), you will find that there are some websites that have the ratio already calculated for a bunch of foods. One site, the Iguana Den, has a page with the calcium:phosphorus ratio calculated for many vegetables and grains as well as a page with the ratio calculate for many fruits. Another site deals with guinea pigs, and it has an Excel spreadsheet you can download. In each case, just remember that there may be fruits or vegetables that are not good for sugar gliders, so always keep the list of “bad foods” in mind.

Still more good news is that commercial sugar glider foods usually tell you what the calcium:phosphorus ratio of their food is. But remember, no one is suggesting that you make any commercial glider foods the sole diet of your sugar glider!

And even more good news is that most sugar glider owners and breeders supplement their gliders’ diet with calcium, to tip the balance in favor of calcium. (I will talk more about supplementation in an upcoming post).

The really good news is that I have calculated some calcium:phosphorus ratios of some common glider foods for you, and I will list those food in the next blog entry. Note: The table 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.

The bad news is that sometimes you’re still going to have to look up and calculate the ratios of one or more foods you are feeding your glider, especially if it is something you feed him more than just occasionally. That’s when you’ll need to turn to the books I’ve suggested or other sources of nutritional information.

(To be continued…)

© 2006 SugarGliderAuthority.com. Excerpted from Sugar Gliders: The Ultimate Guide. All rights reserved. No portion of this website may be reproduced in whole or in part without the express written consent of the copyright owner.

This post is about what I call the Great Cat Food Debate, or Cat Food Wars, among suggie owners and breeders.

There is a great deal of debate about whether sugar gliders should ever be fed cat food. Some long-time sugar glider breeders feed high-quality (high protein) dry cat food as part of their gliders’ diet, while other breeders wouldn’t dream of giving cat food to their gliders. Caroline MacPherson, author of Sugar Gliders, A Complete Pet Owner’s Manual, says:

“The protein component of a glider’s diet is satisfied primarily by dry cat food although there is some concern amongst animal nutritionists that the use of cat food may impact negatively upon the long term health of gliders. However, I have been using a good quality dry cat food for 4 1/2 yrs now and have had very few problems and my gliders breed very well. I am presently using Science Diet…. Cat food manufacturers deliberately balance their feed so that the amount of calcium to phosphorus is roughly 1:1.” (She says this on her website.)

But other folks are adamant. They say, “NEVER, NEVER, NEVER use cat food for any reason. Ever.” They tie dry cat food to medical ailments such as intestinal blockage and lumpy jaw, both serious health issues.

How can a new sugar glider owner decide who is right? Remember, cats are carnivores, while sugar gliders are omnivores. So it makes sense that cat food might not be appropriate for sugar gliders. And remember, too, that there’s a lot of cheap, junky cat food on the market, filled with grain fillers, meat by-products and ash that aren’t very nutritious for sugar gliders (or cats, for that matter) and might actually cause digestive system impaction.

If you are new to sugar gliders, it is advisable to stay away from cat food until you are experienced enough and knowledgeable enough to make up your own mind about cat food. It’s my opinion that cat food does not belong in the sugar glider diet. Sugar gliders’ nutritional needs are now known to be way more complex than it was thought when MacPherson originally wrote her book.

But in all events, you definitely should avoid the temptation to feed your glider nothing but cat food, no matter how convenient it is. Feeding an all-cat-food diet to your sugar glider will lead to health problems down the road. Meanwhile, read all you can, and ask questions of other sugar glider owners.

(To be continued…)

© 2006 SugarGliderAuthority.com. Excerpted from Sugar Gliders: The Ultimate Guide. All rights reserved. No portion of this website may be reproduced in whole or in part without the express written consent of the copyright owner.

The topic of sugar glider nutrition is extremely important. Ideally, in order to thrive, your glider would get a balanced diet that mimics the mix of food and nutrients he or she would get in the wild. However, there has not been a lot of research on the optimal glider diet, and most people do not live where they can reproduce the diet available to sugar gliders in Australia. And recently, some sugar glider experts have increased the recommended protein percentage from about 25% to about 40-50% (50% for breeding females especially).

There is no agreement on one single diet that is perfect for sugar gliders. So the golden rule is to provide a rotating variety of foods with the proper nutritional balance and follow the stream of new information as it arrives (join sugar glider forums, read newsletters, etc.).

A corollary of the golden rule is to avoid giving junk food. Just because sugar gliders love sweet stuff does not mean you should ever give them candy or other sweets! You should never feed them raw sugar, sugar substitutes, candy or chocolate.

Another rule for new sugar glider owners: if you’re not sure if a food is nutritious for your sugar glider, don’t feed it that food. Research the food and ask other sugar glider owners for their opinions. Then draw your own conclusions and introduce any new food slowly.

The bad news is that you can’t just go out to the pet store and buy a commercial chow and assume your glider will thrive. In that sense, they are not as easy to take care of as dogs and cats are. The good news is that there is lots of information on glider nutrition available, and certain requirements area well-known and agreed-upon.

In the wild, the sugar glider diet consists of insects and arachnids (spiders), nectar, pollen, tree sap and gums (from eucalyptus and acacia trees), manna, and honeydew. Protein is supplied primarily through the consumption of insects, moths, beetles, pollen and occasional small birds and other vertebrates. Their diet varies with the seasons. During the spring and summer months, gliders are mostly insectivorous, and during the winter months, they eat gum from the eucalyptus and acacia trees, as well as sap and sugar from the trees and sap-sucking insects.

The basic diet for sugar gliders follows this simple plan: Protein Source + Fruits & Vegetables + a Nutritional Supplement + fresh water.

In captivity, sugar gliders are fed mostly fruits, vegetables, meat, eggs, insects and sometimes rodents and dairy products. There is some discussion about whether sugar gliders are lactose-intolerant, although their “mother’s milk” does have lactose in it. Most breeders recommend that you do not feed cow’s milk or goat’s milk to your sugar glider. Many of them, however, feed yogurt to their sugar gliders with no problem. The general rule about dairy products is this: feed small amounts of dairy products to start. If your glider gets diarrhea or other symptoms from it, then stop. Most breeders recommend that you avoid giving cheese to your sugar glider, because it may cause intestinal binding.

(To be continued…)

© 2006 SugarGliderAuthority.com. Excerpted from Sugar Gliders: The Ultimate Guide. All rights reserved. No portion of this website may be reproduced in whole or in part without the express written consent of the copyright owner.