I have about a 6 month old female glider, and yesterday I just got a male Joey just weaned from momma. I have just gotten into gliders in the past 6 months. I have always been confused about the best diet to fed them. I have talked to several vets and several breeders and everyone tells me something different. I currently feed my gliders exotic nutritions "glider compelte" pellet diet, instant HPW powder form, exotic nutrition glider-cal, baby gerber graduates turkey, chicken, and meat sticks, fresh fruits mixed into the instant HPW when I freeze it, and gerber rice cereal. What do yall feed your gliders? Is there another diet I should try or something I can add to my current diet to make it nutritionally better for them? Also, I have been reading that I need to feed my baby glider a varied diet, so what exactly should I feed him till he gets big enough to eat the adult diet? I have an idea, but I just want to make sure I'm doing the best I can for my gliders. Anything will help. Thank you

There are, as you've seen, many opinions on diet. Some good, some not. There are however, several 'approved' diets that have been used for many many years and produced very healthy and happy gliders.

Pitch the pellets. They do nothing but fill up their tiny bellies with 'food' that they are not able to metabolize into anything of use. This will prevent them from getting the proper amount of the better foods. The 'glider cal' is also dangerous in that the amounts given are inexact and can either be too little, or too much to the point of overdose. The Gliderpedia tab at the top of this page has a diet section with details on many of the approved diets. None are specifically "better" than another, but they have been meticulously researched for the right combinations of ingredients to provide what a glider needs. Candy also has her feeding plan on her website gliderkids. It's best to browse through, pick a diet that suits your personal needs (availability of the ingredients, time needed to prepare and store, etc.).

http://www.suzsugargliders.com/handraisingajoey.htm This is Suzs site regarding joey care. It begins with newly OOP rejected joey care and moves through the different stages of what they will need. Depending on the age of your joey you will be able to find the section that applies.

If you have more questions about either of these two topics (or any others!) please feel free to load up the forum with questions. There are MANY knowledgeable people here who are more than happy to help.

What glider diet would you recommend? Should I make changes to my current diet or switch my diet altogether?

If your joey is really weaned, he should be at least 8 weeks Out Of Pouch, in which case, he is able to eat the same food as the adults. If he is not, follow Suz instructions to care for him.

A reputable breeder would never give away a joey that is less than 8 weeks OOP, if this joey happens to be younger, I would recommend for you to stay away from the people you got him other. If on the other hand, they are responsible breeders, then you may want to ask them what they fed the joey while it was in their care, and try to feed him a similar diet while slowly transitioning him to the diet you want to feed.

Pellets should only be used as a snack in the morning in case they wake up during daytime hungry, but otherwise it should not be part of their main diet. I am not very familiar with exotic nutrition's diet, and as such I cannot give any recommendation regarding it. Instead, I will encourage you to try some of the other diets listed below:

www.sugarglider.com/gliderpedia/index.asp?Diet

BML is good because the ingredients should be fairly easy to obtain, but you must make sure to follow it as instructed, without trying to replace a single ingredients, especially calcium supplements and vitamins, since it would throw off the balance.

There are may different HPWs. There is the HPW created by Peggy, produced here in USA, which you can find here:

www.critterlove.com/food--sides.html

And more information about it here:

www.critterlove.com/diet-info.html

Then, there is the pampered glider's HPW which is imported from Australia that can be bought here:

www.thepamperedglider.com/supplements.htm

Both of these are different and of course, they are not the same as the HPW from exotic nutrition. Again, do your best to follow the instructions on how to feed it.

Then, Candy, a member here, came up with her own diet, which you can find here:

www.gliderkids-diet.com/

Besides that, you need to offer a wide variety of fresh or frozen fruits and veggies. Just stay clear of onions (they are toxic for them as well as chocolate), not well cooked lima beans (again toxic), fatty fruits and veggies (like avocados, they can have it as a rare treat), corn (they don't digest it well, but can be a treat once a month), too many citric fruits (it can give them diarrhea), garlic, and rhubarb.

The other thing to have in mind is that the recommended Calcium to Phosphorus ratio is 2:1 for gliders, so when offering fruits and veggies try not too offer things that are too high in phosphorus. Don't try to keep it exactly at 2:1, that is impossible, but it can be helpful specially for diets like the HPWs that don't content too much calcium in them. Here is a list of fruits and veggies with their Ca:P ratios:

www.gliderkids-diet.com/FruitVegLIST2011.pdf

Besides all of these, gliders love bugs. And if you choose to feed BML, mealies or crickets are part of their daily diet. If not, is always a good idea to have some to offer as a treat, and it is much entertaining seeing them chasing a cricket, and of course they just love them mealies.

Sorry for the long post, hope you find it helpful.

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I currently feed my gliders exotic nutritions "glider compelte" pellet diet, instant HPW powder form, exotic nutrition glider-cal, baby gerber graduates turkey, chicken, and meat sticks, fresh fruits mixed into the instant HPW when I freeze it, and gerber rice cereal.

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I have to second the recommendation to ditch the pellets - glider's digestive system is just not designed to digest and process the hard dry food so they do not get much of any nutrients the pellets may contain.

DO NOT FEED the meat sticks. These contain seasonings including onion and garlic powder that may not be good for sugar gliders.

I would not feed the baby rice cereal either. Baby cereals are iron fortified and the amount of iron they contain may be too much for a glider.

If you are feeding HPW mixed as directed on the package - you do not need to feed additional proteins but you do need to feed both fruits and vegetables with it to bring a full complement of vitamins and minerals the fresh or frozen fruits and vegetables provide.

You should be offering 1 TBS HPW, 1 TBS fruit and 1 TBS vegetables per glider each night.

I would not freeze the fruit with the HPW unless you measure the amount of both to keep the proportions correct for each night's feeding.