Question:
What should I feed my sugar glider?
cdeng90
2011-09-10 02:20:44 UTC
I have a male, 5 year old sugar glider and I have been feeding him fruits (tomatoes, grapes, watermelon) and a few crickets or meal worms every night. I dust the crickets with calcium powder. Is this enough for the glider or do I need to purchase pellets?
Six answers:
anonymous
2011-09-10 08:36:15 UTC
Yes,But you need to feed them variety of food.





1. A fresh protein source.



2. A fresh source of fruit and/or vegetables. The fruit and vegetable

servings should be sprinkled with a daily dose of vitamin and calcium

supplements to ensure adequate nutrition.



Both of the fresh components should be fed in the evening with uneaten portions removed in the morning.



3. A staple food available all day, everyday to make sure that adequate food amounts are offered. You will likely find that your sugar gliders will eat the fresh foods first and will nibble at the staple food throughout the day and night. It has been our observation, particularly with breeding animals, that they will wake up during the daylight hours for a snack. It's the sugar glider's version of what we call the "midnight snack".



Protein



Offered on a four day rotation with one item offered from the following list daily:



Gut loaded mealworms - Feed 10-12 small, 7-10 medium, or 3-5 large mealworms per glider



Gut loaded crickets - Feed 3-5 crickets per sugar glider



Boiled eggs (without shells) mixed with high protein/low sugar cereal (like corn flakes or Special K) and mixed with either honey or apple juice. One heaping tablespoon is offered per 2 sugar gliders.



Yogurt (blueberry or peach) - 1 heaping tablespoon is offered per 2 sugar gliders







June bugs and grasshoppers are also good insects to feed your sugar gliders.





Apples - Pears - Sweet Potatoes - Watermelon - Honeydew - Cantaloupe - Carrots - Kiwi - Mango - Oranges (only once a week and never to joeys) - Blueberries



Vitamin and Mineral Supplements



Vitamins and calcium should be given daily. I recommend Vionate as a well rounded vitamin designed for small animals. To supplement calcium levels, I recommend Rep-Cal Calcium, the phosphorus free without Vitamin D3 added version. Vionate already contains Vitamin D, so you don't need it in the calcium. The vitamins should be sprinkled on the offering of daily fruits or veggies. You will just add a pinch of both Vionate and Rep-Cal. Do not overdose the vitamins. Too many vitamins can be just as harmful as not giving them at all.



Dr. C's Top 10 Nutrition Tips



1. Fresh water should always be available.



2. Never add vitamins to the water supply.



3. Offer meals that are at least 40% protein for non-breeding gliders and 50% protein for breeding sugar gliders.



4. Supplement proteins with a variety of fresh fruits & vegetables.



5. Keep a high quality staple diet in the cage at all times



6. Feed fresh portions of fruit and veggies in the evening and remove any foods that can spoil in the morning.



7. Avoid preservatives and pesticides in the diet.



8. Avoid excessive fat in the diet - meat products should be lean.



9. Maintain positive Calcium/Phosphorus ratios.



10. Gut load your bugs before feeding to the sugar gliders.





The Most Frequently Asked Food Question!



What is your recommendation on Leadbeater's formula?



The original Leadbeater's formula was, as I understand it, was developed by the Taronga Zoo as just part of a rather extensive feeding schedule for captive sugar gliders. Here is the total Taronga Zoo diet as published in one of my veterinary handbooks.



3 grams apple

3 grams banana/corn

1.5 grams dog kibble

1 teaspoon Fly pupae

3 grams blueberries / kiwi fruit

2 teaspoon Leadbeater's mixture **

4 grams orange with skin

2 grams pear

3 grams sweet potato



On Wednesdays: feed day old chick when available

or large mealworms.



** Leadbeater's mixture

150 milliliters warm water

150 milliliters honey

1 shelled hard boiled egg

25 grams high protein baby cereal

1 teaspoon vitamin supplement (Vionate)



Mix water and honey, blend egg in separate container, add water/honey mix, vitamin powder, and baby cereal, blending each until smooth. Keep unused portion refrigerated.
wickersham
2016-10-31 09:09:14 UTC
Calcium For Sugar Gliders
Donavan McGuire
2011-09-10 09:57:04 UTC
2 jars of chicken baby food(2.5oz) or 2 large eggs

5-6 oz of apple juice

2 tablespoons Wambaroo protein supplement

4 tablespoons mixed baby cereal

Mix all of this together and freeze in ice cube trays

Then add 1 tablespoon of fruit

And 1 tablespoon veggies

3x/week feed 2 tablespoons of yogurt along with daily food

The other 2 days put 2 tablespoons of nectar

Feed 1/2 cube per glider so you would have to cut the frozen cube in 1/2

You can get the Wambaroo supplement from www.sugar-glider-store.com

If you don't want to order it, then, if you are near Red Oak, Tx you can go to www.hartlandsugargliders.com for more info on what Hartland Sugar Gliders is. The address for Hartland Sugar Gliders is 136 Park Crest Drive, Red Oak, TX
anonymous
2016-02-29 04:17:16 UTC
beckham you an idiot.. Sugar Gliders need a mixture of fruit and vegetables (berries) They also need live food too such as crickets. Just google sugar glider pet care and you will find loads of breeder websites which gives you the info.. I dont think you can get sugar glider pellets like you can for other small animals..
?
2017-03-10 10:24:08 UTC
I definitely prefer fruit and vegetables more. I don't like all the acid generally in most fruits.
Ruth
2017-02-19 11:52:03 UTC
Fruits are developed from the ovary in the base of the flower, and contain the seeds of the plant.


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