Went to the vet today and she recommended that the mealworms get fed the night before so they are gut loaded. Our glider is a little under weight. Does anyone do this and if so what is your routine?

Thanks!!

It's really easy. Just add a leaf of lettuce, or chunk or carrot to the mealworms while they're awake (not in the fridge) and they'll eat it. Or you can get a powder mix you can feed them, or even dust the mix on the veg.

Personally, I just feed mine lettuce and carrots. But I do have a mealworm farm, so I do that anyway.

What diet are you feeding your glider?

Oh that's totally doable. Thanks!

We just started the Cathy johnsons leadbeater diet. I learned that I wasn't giving her enough protein. This was her first visit to the vet and I learned a lot.

I am surprised your vet recommended Cathy Johnson's diet - mainly because I have not heard of anyone using it in almost 7 years.

The High Protein Baby Cereal the recipe calls for is no longer available in the US. Wombaroo High Protein Supplement is a good substitute but you use only half as much because it is a powder rather that flakes like the baby cereal so it is more dense.

There are a number of widely used glider feeding plans that you may want to look at that will meet your gliders's nutritional needs. I have links on my web page so you can look at the recipes and instructions for each of these diets. My own GliderKids Feeding plan is one option you might consider.

http://www.gliderkids-diet.com/Staple-Recipes.html

You can print out these diet web pages and share them with your vet. My GliderKids Feeding plan has a printable version here:

http://www.gliderkids-diet.com/GKSFeedingPlan2013.pdf

Most of these diets would meet your glider's needs without worrying about gut loading meal worms. Meal worms are more fat than protein anyway.

Candy

We found that out last night when I brought the cereal home. It had no protein in it. The vet we went to actually now owns Cathy's old shop so I think she is just. Ire familiar with that diet.

I will definitely go over the diets you gave me and probably switch her up. Really appreciate the info!

Love the website!

When the recipe recommends baby cereal, what is it about the cereal that we want. Protein, calcium? There were a few options at the store to pick from and that would choose the right one. Thanks!

Human Baby cereal is not really ideal for sugar gliders. It is believed to contain too much iron supplement (needed by human infants) for our little sugar gliders.

Some glider diets, like BML, still call for it in the recipe but most diets use other products that have a lower iron content.

The recipe you are using calls for high protein cereal which is no longer available. It did have about 50% more protein than currently available baby cereals.

Cereal is primarily a carbohydrate source, not really a great source of either protein or calcium. Most people that use baby cereals for gliders use either mixed cereal, oatmeal or rice cereal.

Other glider staple recipes rely on Wombaroo High Protein Supplement for its protein, carbohydrate and calcium content as well as the vitamins it contains.

Thanks! This all makes sense. We will adjust accordingly.