As any who read my posts know, I have been having issues to find ANY vegetables that my gliders will eat.. Well, my sister made a suggestion and it works.. I just want to be sure the nutritional value is not compromised by me doing this cause the ate broccoli last night! Then I put in another piece this morning and they ate that up too! All I did was pour a cup or so of apple juice in a container then put some frozen broccoli in it. I covered it with the lid and left it in the fridge till the following night and will be working from it for about a week. What I worry about is if the apple juice will draw out the nutrients from the broccoli that I want them consuming.. Comments?

I dont think the apple juice will draw out any nutrients - but it is adding unnecessary sugar to their diet.

The Ca:Ph ratio of broccoli is 0:7.1. This means it has virtually no calcium and is high in phosphorus.

Sorry - had to step away from the computer for a minute.

Have you tried giving her some fresh greens? Like spinach or collard greens? There is a bag of fresh greens called Spring Mix that has baby greens and spinach in it. Most glider love it. You can sprinkle a little seseme seeds on top, which makes it even richer in calcium.

Thanks for the idea.. I have seen the spring mix in the store so I'll pick some up and try it. I just have no idea what else to do to get them to eat veggies.

I've gotten to the point where I pretty much mash up everything (that I want them to eat that refuse to eat) and mix it in with something they DO like. I can add any veggies to eggs and they'll clean the bowl. Have you tried fresh sugar snap peas? Mine also like the greens and garbanzo beans. They don't like cooked carrots but they like them raw...not that I blame them. LOL

rita i think you put the decimal in the wrong place there! or else we have very different info. broccoli has only a bit more ph. I just pointed that out since its the only veggie bri has gotten her gliders to eat i didnt want her to think she was doing something really bad!

raw broccoli is 1:1.4
cooked, boiled and drained w/o salt is 1:1.68

Did you try blending the veggies up a little? My gliders will not eat there fruit so what I do is stick whatever fruit that they will eat that night into the blender and blend it. Then I mash it into their food. They eat all of their fruit ever night since i started doing that :)

I don't remember who posted it but someone said their gliders liked the crinkle cut carrots so I got some and mine like them better than the ones in the mix, maybe they like the feel when they carry them, don't know but mine diffinately will eat them and I when I fix their dinner I have several too

not sure if it was you or not,but my babies eat them better if i drizzle a bit of honey on the food. i only do it sometimes to get them back into eating it again

I did give two ice cubes and mix the veggies into the cubes. I would put the fruit in a separate bowl. I have tried this the last couple of weeks. I only give one cube and still mix the veggies with it. Because there isn't alot of the mix they now will eat some of the fruit. I guess if u get hungry enough u will eat what is put on your plate.

Mine will also eat veggies in an egg omelet. I use spinach and then a mixture of other veggies or just spinach alone and they clean the plate, too! If egg is not their protein and I know they are having a less than favorite veggie, I will also put just a tiny dab of honey on it.

I just saw the post on sesame seeds being good the other day; mine like the spring mix also and I am gonna be getting some sesame seeds.

Hopefully you can figure out something that works :)

I have trouble with fruit; they are liking fruit less and less it seems. You can't really put fruit in an egg omelet and adding a dab of honey seems like sweetness overkill....anyone have any ideas on fruit? They will eat papaya and mango; and for over a month have refused most anything else, especially apples.

I do the same thing as I do with the veggies..for example, I went to the grocery yesterday and got a papaya and a container of pre-cut, fresh chunks of honeydew, canteloupe, watermelon, strawberries and red grapes. I empty the container into a big bowl, cut up the papaya and throw it in there, chop it all up together, put in back in the container and throw it in the freezer. It lasts me weeks and costs under $10. They eat it all every time...especially if I mix it in with some yogurt.

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Originally posted by Zahra

rita i think you put the decimal in the wrong place there!

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I have 4 different Ca:Ph charts and that was the first and only one I checked. I went back and checked the other 3 - and the first one was wayyyyy off from the other 3. I have now deleted that chart from my files.

Thank you for catching that, Zahra!

My two girls were the same way. Didn't want to eat veggies so I ended up feeding more fruits and it ended up they were getting too much sugar from the fruit and I had to take them to the vet cuz of runny poo. Anyway, I cut way back on the fruits and started adding veggies and like Thehyland said, if they get hungry they will eat anything. I now have them eating carrots, romaine lettuce, spinach, and green beans.
Everyone says that suggies are messy eater and I have to say that the only time my girls are really messy is when I give them something that they don't like. My husbands chair is nearest the cage and in the am he is very likely to find the food they didn't like splattered all over his chair [}:)

Isn't it funny how they do that?! I've had Dizzy swat a treat outta my hand because it wasn't what he wanted. Spoiled little goofball.

I have had trouble getting my gliders to eat anything but the spring mix so I blended three sugar snap peas and 5 raspberries together with a tablespoon of banana yogurt-they ate it all.

Ya gotta outsmart the little sapsuckers!

There is a cookbook someone wrote with that same theme of hiding vegetables in foods to get children to eat them. A lot of the recipes had some sort of veggie puréed and then put into something that hides the flavor, like carrots in brownies or broccoli in pizza sauce.

I tried giving Tina fresh green beens last night, she went nuts for them. I can't seem to find in meats she likes though. The first night I gave her some ham slices which she ate okay. It seem she will eat the different meats (done on seperate nights Ham, shimp, cooked hamberger & ground turkey) or a least try it each night but she won't them on another night. How do I get more protien for her?

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Originally posted by sugarnanny

I don't remember who posted it but someone said their gliders liked the crinkle cut carrots so I got some and mine like them better than the ones in the mix, maybe they like the feel when they carry them, don't know but mine diffinately will eat them and I when I fix their dinner I have several too

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That was me, sugarnanny. It's the oddest thing isn't it? The always eat every bite of the crinkle cut ones but won't touch the cubes.

Sooo, I guess if you have picky little buggers, don't rule out even trying what might seem as the most seemingly unecessary variance......you just never know what might work!

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Originally posted by kyro298

I do the same thing as I do with the veggies..for example, I went to the grocery yesterday and got a papaya and a container of pre-cut, fresh chunks of honeydew, canteloupe, watermelon, strawberries and red grapes. I empty the container into a big bowl, cut up the papaya and throw it in there, chop it all up together, put in back in the container and throw it in the freezer. It lasts me weeks and costs under $10. They eat it all every time...especially if I mix it in with some yogurt.

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www.sugar-gliders.com/glidervet-53.htm

Might want to watch that. Better safe than sorry ...

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Originally posted by Rita

You can sprinkle a little seseme seeds on top, which makes it even richer in calcium.

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How often can they have sesame seeds? I'm always trying to get more calcium in them.

I give them seseme seeds every time they get fresh greens - which is about 3 times a week.

excellent! Thanks!

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Originally posted by ButtercupSaiyan

quote:

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Originally posted by kyro298

I do the same thing as I do with the veggies..for example, I went to the grocery yesterday and got a papaya and a container of pre-cut, fresh chunks of honeydew, canteloupe, watermelon, strawberries and red grapes. I empty the container into a big bowl, cut up the papaya and throw it in there, chop it all up together, put in back in the container and throw it in the freezer. It lasts me weeks and costs under $10. They eat it all every time...especially if I mix it in with some yogurt.

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www.sugar-gliders.com/glidervet-53.htm

Might want to watch that. Better safe than sorry ...

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Yes, I've seen these before and we've had quite a few discussions on here about it. Thank you, though...it's still good for other people to read it if they're interested. I personally don't like how vague they are about it so if anyone is interested in reading more about grapes, here's a VERY informative thread. If you're going to read it, though, read the whole thing:
http://www.sugarglider.com/glidergossip/topic.asp?ARCHIVE=true&TOPIC_ID=7961&whichpage=1

You guys have given me a lot of options here for new ways to get them to eat vegetables.. I have no problem with meats generally and absolutely no problem with fruits.. they love any fruit I put in their cage.. I have a day or two left of the apple juice soaked broccoli then will switch off if I don't just blend them in with something else and go that route.. Thanks for all the wonderful information. I have been needing it. :D

Success! I took the advice to blend their veggies with their fruit and BINGO! They are eating the blend. One whole, large cucumber with one and a quarter apple mixed together with about two tablespoons of apple juice and a little instant potatoes to thicken it up. Next time I won't use the apple juice as I found it was not needed. Possibly won't need the instant potatoes either, but I watched them eat it! I put the rest of it in the freezer last night in an ice cube tray. We'll see how they like that tonight. Thank you so much everyone!

Edited to add: Next time I will probably use string beans. I like to switch their veggies around. Variety is good..

Well, they have been on the frozen portions of the blended mix and eating every bit of it every night, so I am a very happy glider mom. Thanks for the idea you guys. :D

Yep, if I don't chop it all up together, it gets picked apart like crazy and most won't get eaten. I mix practically everything!