Good morning
yeh the sprinkle freely is not the preferred method of offering calcium/vitamins. To much calcium is just as bad as not enough...
The ratio thing is not as complicate as it first appears to be and really isn't that mathematical once you understand what you are looking at. You are certainly not alone in thinking it is though, Understanding the "math" was a nightmare for me as well for a few months
So I will try to explain to you how to make sense out of it with out doing your head in
First understand what the 2:1 ratio stands for.
The first number (2) represents calcium, no matter what the number is. The second number (1) represents phosphorous, no matter what it's number is.
The ratio ratio itself represents how much calcium (2) to (:) how much Phosphorous (1)
So really the ratio looks likes this ( calcium : Phosphorous )
The importance of this is because a gliders body needs 2 parts calcium to 1 part phosphorous for it's body to properly absorb the calcium from the food.
If the phosphorous is higher than the calcium, the body can't absorb the calcium as easily, if at all, then the body will leach the calcium it needs from the bones of the glider much like osteoporosis in humans.
Now, when looking at food charts with ratio's and using the chart to help decide what you are going to feed them. The "math" has already been done for you, and now that you hopefully understand what the numbers mean the food charts can help with your meal plannings.
Corn
.02:1 has a higher amount of phosphorous and a low amount of calcium. So we generally feed corn in moderation.
However, you can help to balance the phosphorous in corn by feeding a fruit or veg with a lot of calcium like collard greens which has a
14.5:1 ratio. Way higher in calcium.
Now, the tricky bit
it's really not that tricky. BML is the strictest diet out there as far as what fruits and veg you can feed with it. The reason is because it has one of the highest ratios of all the "staple" diets at something like 5:1 which is not quite balanced on it's own.
So this staple (BML) requires specific fruits and vegetables to help balance the over all meal. If you feed BML you will be limited to using
peas,carrots,green beans,corn and occasionally frozen lima beans if it's in a bag of mixed veg. Fruits you are supposed to use are
pitted cherries, melons, blueberries,blackberries,apples.
( I may have missed one or two )
Why? because most of these fruits and veg have a higher amount of phosphorous to bring the ratio from 5:1 down closer to 2:1 for the entire meal.
If you feed BML, and fruits and veg NOT on the BML fruit and veg list they will be getting to much calcium in the over all meal, to much can be just as harmful as not enough. So just remember when you start feeding the BML it relies on those specific fruits and veg to balance the ratio.
Hope this helps in your understanding of ratio's
Until you begin feeding the staple diet, boiled or baked chicken/turkey is another good protein they can have, just don't use seasonings or butter/oil on it. They don't need a ton of protein, but yes they do need some. Yogurt is another good option, and chicken babyfood that you will be using for bml.
The baby cereal in bml is really only there to thicken it up. It can be very high in iron and phosphorous as well so I wouldn't feed it to them by itself, just hold onto if for when you start making the bml recipe.
I can't remember what the protein to fruit and veg portions should be off hand this morning I haven't had coffee yet lol but I think it's like a quarter or less of the over all meal for the night should be protein. Most people rely on the staple to provide the protein like the calcium because it is a measured amount.