Hi everyone,

First off, I just wanted to say I'm so happy that this forum exists. I have spent a lot of time reading a lot of the post since I got my gliders 2.5 months ago.
I do have a question that seems common but I cannot get a clear answer for. I got 2 older gliders (one is 2.5 years old and the other is 1.5) like I said about 2.5 months ago. They are doing great except they do not eat their veggies! I have offered them every veggie at the grocery store, I have tried veggie relishes, I have tried putting honey on them, I have tried offering only veggies every other night, I have even tried putting HPW on their veggies and I have tried frozen veggies. Despite all of this, my girls absolutely refuse to eat their veggies. They love their fruit and HPW, I give them vitamins and calcium supplements...what is the long term consequence of not eating veggies for gliders and is there any unconventional way to get these girls to eat their veggies? Apparently, the previous owner claimed that they used to eat their frozen veggies each night.

Thanks for any advice.

D

How much fruits and HPW are you giving them?

What is suggested...3 tablespoons of HPW for two gliders. I have even tried reducing the amount of the HPW when giving them the veggies to encourage them to eat the veggies. It seems they rather go hungry. Fruits = 1 tablespoon.

What vitamins and calcium supplement are you feeding them? On Original HPW, you shouldn't need any supplements.

Have you varied how you chop them - big pieces(almost whole), bite sized, or pureed?

What types of veggies have you tried?

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Dorina</i>
<br />What is suggested...3 tablespoons of HPW for two gliders. I have even tried reducing the amount of the HPW when giving them the veggies to encourage them to eat the veggies. It seems they rather go hungry. Fruits = 1 tablespoon.
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The recipe calls for "1.5 TEAspoons of HPW per glider" - so that is a total of 1 tablespoon...I bet they just don't have enough room after 3 TBS to eat veggies...

None of the HPW's require additional vitamins or Calcium.

Also, with the HPW'S you can add Green Juice. Many do as a way to get some Veggie nutrients into them.

Oh dear god, your right...how the heck did I miss that? I have been putting the HPW into the an ice cube tray and giving them a cube a night.
If I reduce the HPW to 1.5 TEASPOONS/glider and they still do not eat the veggies as I suspect this might be the case...I have cut the HPW in half before and still they did not eat their veggies.
I sprinkle a bit of the Rep-cal calcium powder and sprinkle of the Rep-cal vitamins every other night since they didn't eat their veggies. I read on a lot of sites to feed them these supplements regardless of the HPW diet..should I not be doing this?
I have tried every approved veggie (to much to list)../I have cut into different sized pieces and have tried blending it...Nothing!

JazzNZoeysmom - do you have a good green juice recipe?

Thanks for all the feedback thus far...

Try putting honey on them. Just a dab of sweet to convince them to start, and mine tend to go for anything.

I buy mine.....

Green juice is sold in the organic juice section of most grocery stores already mixed.

I would not supplement the fruit/veggies - it is very easy to add too much which can be worse than not enough.

It might be time to consider changing diets because veggies are an important part if you have tried reducing the amount(and also said you offered only veggies certain nights, which go untouched). The HPW might just be too irresistible for them...

Some people on here puree their fruits and veggies so that their gliders can't pick and choose. I just give Luna her f/v washed and whole, but she's good about eating everything. I mean, there are usually leftovers, but she always eats all her reeps and some of all the different kinds of f/v's she got that night.

Thanks for all the advice! I will now start feeding the appropriate amount of HPW, add in a bit of green juice and I will give them veggies again. I will see if this works. I did try switching them to the BML diet when I got them and they refused to eat that food for 2 nights...so here is hoping this works. I will also cut out the vitamins/calcium supplements. I just hope I haven't done any permanent damage already!

One last question...how much green juice should I add to the HPW?

D

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Dorina</i>
<br />Thanks for all the advice! I will now start feeding the appropriate amount of HPW, add in a bit of green juice and I will give them veggies again. I will see if this works. I did try switching them to the BML diet when I got them and they refused to eat that food for 2 nights...so here is hoping this works. I will also cut out the vitamins/calcium supplements. I just hope I haven't done any permanent damage already!

One last question...how much green juice should I add to the HPW?

D
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1tbsp.

Mine dont always eat thier veggies either. I have had luck with making a fruit/veggie mix and 'marinating' it over night. Chop your stuff up, mix in something sweet and tasty - honey, apple juice, yogurt, rose water etc. I try to use some liquid in there so the veggies soak it all up.
The mix will last a couple days and mine seem to be more prone to eating the veggies in those mixes.

Question about the Green Machine juice - I drink it myself and thought about giving it to my babies, but saw that that there's garlic in it - is that a potential problem?

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by scarlett379</i>
<br />Question about the Green Machine juice - I drink it myself and thought about giving it to my babies, but saw that that there's garlic in it - is that a potential problem?
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I saw the same thing when I bought it for my boys and also asked the same question. There is a such a small amount of garlic in the drink that it would not be enough to potentially harm them. Here is my thread where it was answered. :}


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Crazed_girl, thanks for this, I just went out and bought a bottle and was thinking the exact same thing regarding the garlic. Hopefully, my girls will like it and thus boost their veggie intake!

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Dorina</i>
<br />Crazed_girl, thanks for this, I just went out and bought a bottle and was thinking the exact same thing regarding the garlic. Hopefully, my girls will like it and thus boost their veggie intake!
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You're welcome! There are a few other brands out there..so if they do not like one you can try another. Hopefully they will like that and then start getting back into their veggies again. JazznZoeysMom posted a picture of the other types. My boys are picky about both their f and v. I also use the HPW original. :}

Yes, these girls are extremely picky...but I love them for it
Actually, another quick question...with this green juice, are you feeding them a tablespoon mixed with the HPW each night or is it an occasional treat? Also, if you give them a tablespoon of this green juice, are you cutting out the veggie portion to try and maintain the the Ca:P ratio? I guess I'm wondering if this gets them back into eating veggies, do I eventually phase out the green juice or alternate it with the veggies?

That is a question I can not really answer. Hopefully someone else here can..what I can say is that I only mix about a half a tablespoon in with their HPW on those special nights and then cut back a little on their veggies that I would feed for the evening. Just wondering if you have tried leafy greens like Bok choy or Collard Greens. My boys love Collard Greens. I have a branch in their cage that I rip the greens and place on there like leaves. By morning there are no greens left! Bok Choy they are less enthusiastic about but still eat.

Ok great thanks for the advice. I haven't tried collard greens as my grocery store doesn't seem to have it...I will try looking elsewhere. Bok choy they do not like...I have noticed that they really only get enthusiastic about juicy items that are sweet, which makes sense. So the only veggie that they actually will eat a little bit of is red pepper.

If you have an Asian Market around you go there. They have such a wide variety of F/V. I normally go there for my abnormal f/v. Yes! Red and Orange peppers are a favorite of mine too! And Mushrooms! -thinks- They can have Kale too..I haven't tried this yet.

Hello :)

I like to feed my gliders frozen spinach because of the high vitamin and mineral content with no fat. But they don't like the spinach. So I drizzle a very small amount of honey over the spinach and then I sprinkle a bit of nectar on top of that. Sometimes they still won't eat it but they usually go for it. I have also mashed up fresh banana and mixed it in with their veggies and that works really well.

Something else you can try is blending bananas and mango or papaya with spinach (or other veggie). Blend to a puree, then dice up small pieces of the fruit to mix in. Sprinkle with nectar and/or drizzle with honey. This should work. You can also blend a little bit of apple juice with the mix.

Hope this helps!!

Thanks for the puree advice! I think this may be a way to go. My girls ate up all of their green juice which was mixed with their HPW last night!!! Can I continue to feed them this green juice as a main source of veggies nightly? The solid veggie portion was left untouched as always! Or is this something that should be only used as an occasional treat? I can try to "juice" different veggies and making my own green juice and sneak it into them via the HPW but am I still maintaining the proper Ca:P ratio this way if I give them a tablespoon of "green juice" and a tablespoon of fresh fruit nightly?