Advice please

[Reilly122602]

well.. I am getting a sugar glider or 2 here in a week or so. I have done some research. just looking for any advice. the do's and dont's.
also if you wouldnt mind telling me your glider(s) diet. So I can get an ideal :)


Thanks

[kissesfrogs]

I have had Pebbles for 4 years, and she is constantly surprising me. She is great, but I tell you they can really push your buttons, but on the whole they are SO much fun. Congrats on the choice to have a glider!
Ok, so you want some info.hmmmmm,...lets see. Well, first off, I try to really minimize the pelleted diet, I use it as about 15 to 20% of her diet. I use a brand new type of pelleted food from a small company here in NV. I dont know if they ship or not, I'll find out. But, I give fresh fruits, veggies, meal worms, and waz worms as a treat. The wax worms make her CRAZY! All she has to do is eat one and she squeels with glee! But, I really stick to no-man made food, I think it is so much more benefical for them.
I also provide about 2 hours worth of out of cage playtime every day whenever I have time. Someone on her said that they rigged branches hanging from their ceiling in the bathroom, and I did the same thing. Pebbles LOVES it! Ive NEVER seen her so happy. When I try to out her back she does that lovely glider scream, but agrees to come along most of the time.
She HATES my cats. I dont know whether its their smell or what, but she is SO afraid of them. She isnt afraid of any of my other pets, just the cats.
She WAS NOT hand tame when I got her. I had to work with her day in and day out for almost three months, but now shes a love bug. At first she flung herself out of my hands, clawed, whatever she could to get away. I thought there was no hope, boy was I wrong! They are such fun. She loves hanging off my apron when Im needing bread dough or doing chores. She loves to be in the apron pocket with just her head hanging out. She also loves to scale my wallpaper. I have this god awful bamboo wallpaper that is all woven together, and whenever I cant find her, she is usually scurrying down the wall like a cockroach in the light.
Just be SO careful. We lost her behind the fridge once and it was SO scary. Luckily when I started crying and stopped calling her, her curiosity got the better of her and she came out. It couldve ended badly, Im glad shes ok.
Anyways, thats all the tidbits I have right now. Maybe some of it helped??

Raelle and "Pebbles"

[Reilly122602]

thanks for the info.
How much/often do you feed the crickets,mealwarms,waxworms? I heard they enjoy the can-o-crickets?
I dont see how those are horrible stanky! Lol

And as for the mealworms, waxworms. Do you feed fresh from the pet store?

Also what kind of pellets does everyone reccomend?

[glidErnest]

Pellets for the most part are fed most effectively as a side itme and not the main source of nutrition. If you do decide to use pellets, use ones that are moist or soak them with a bit of aple juice so that they are more easily consumed by the gliders. Some pellets that are used with the best success are Zookeepers secret AKA Insectivore Fare, and some of the Exotic Nutrition.com pellets. Usually pellets also are fed with fruit and veggies and bugs, also with some pellets such as Zookeepers secret, some additional protein sources are fed. go to sugar-gliders.com for info on the diet they use which includes a pelleted food.

Feeding insects is important, but it is important not to overdo it on the insects since they are very high in phosphorous so they can upset the balance of a diet when fed too much. Crickets are not an insect that I would feed very often. They can conatin aflatoxins which can build up to toxic levels when fed often. Live superworms, or mealworms are a good regular insect to feed. Waxworms are good too, but they can make a glider fat!

Diet is very important with gliders! check out a few proven diets that are used with great success. BML is one and thepetglider.com has an excellent diet plan. Doing a web search on either will get you plenty of info.

Check out other active glider forums like WSGN and GliderCentral to do some research and ask questions. Plenty of people will be ready to help!

[Kristal007]

If you do decide to feed pellets just make sure they are moist. Soaked with apple juice or water. However if you soak them they most be replaced daily, if not they will spoil. A good moist pellet food is insectivorefaire, aka zoo keepers secret. That is made moist and you would not have replace daily. If your glider gets a dry pellet food they could get lumpy jaw, which is a growth underneath their skin, and their jaws can swell up. What happens is the dry food impacts the salivary gland and the the salivary gland becomes infected. If you are going to feed your gliders BML, then it is recommended that no food be kept in the cage all day like zoo keepers secret. BML is a proven diet and should be feed with fruits, veggies, and mealies/crickets. many gliders have done great on this diet. The recipe for this diet can be found at many website, and the recipe should be followed to a 'T'.

[Shahoa]

I have 2 gliders, a cinnamon male and a female that I was told is a cinnamon but I dont know if she is she looks quite grey next to my male. I feed BML, with fruits and veggies on the side. I dont feed mine crickets, to much aflotoxins like glidErnest said. I feed them a couple mealies ea. each night. Also a good website to go to for TONS of info is www.sugarglider.net it has soooo much information, and everyone there is really nice.(it is a all sugar glider message board.)

[BigSuggieAddict]

I am opn the same page as SHAHOA.
I give my gliders BML along with fresh fruits, veggies, and different sources of protein like boiled chicken or mealworms.

BML:
1/2 cup honey
1 hard boiled egg (some ppl include the shell, but i dont)
1/4 cup apple juice
Blend
2 oz yogurt
2 oz organic fruit juice
1 teaspoon rep cal herptivite
blend
2 teaspoons rec cal calcium
2 2.5 oz jars of chicken baby food
1/4 cup wheatgerm
1/2 cup dry baby cereal

this all blended very well and poured into ice cube trays in the freezer will last atleast a month. 1 cube a night with fruits/veggies/mealies should do.
Hope this helps! :D