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Sugar Gliders
pistachios and more
pistachios and more
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Jan 27 2016
08:44:42 PM
Our gliders don't always want to go back in the cage after playtime, and one of them likes to run around behind the cage onto the breakfast bar where she checks out what things we have laying there. For a little while there were a few pistachios up there, and she had a great time picking them up and running off with them trying to get the shell open. Of course, she couldn't. The reason they were up there is the shells were almost completely closed.
That brings me to my question: Would pistachios be okay for them if we could find them unsalted somewhere? They would have a great time trying to get into them.

Another question: Cheyenne, my other girl, doesn't seem to be gaining weight very well. They are both 21/2 now, and the other girl is about 300 gms. Cheyenne is 87 gms, which is just barely more than she weighed the year before. How can I go about fattening her up a bit without fattening up her sister who is at a really good weight. They get vitamin coated mealworms once a week (as per the vet ordered) and they eat well.They both are active and act normally. Cheyenne is just so small and skinny looking compared to Luna. The vet said they were both healthy and no parasites when he saw them in November.

Any ideas?
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Jan 27 2016
09:36:19 PM
Minnesota Zoo Fuzzy Wuzzy Visit Minnesota Zoo's Photo Album USA 1999 Posts
The pistachios like most other nuts and seeds are fattening, so if offered as a very rare treat it would be ok.

I bought the unsalted pistachios and my gliders didn't like them at all. They do Love pine nuts, slivered almonds, pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds(no salt or oils).

For your weight differential...at 300 grams, that glider is very over weight. The top of the healthy weight range is around 190 grams. I have two chubby boys and they are 257 and 287 and the vet wants them to lose weight.

What diet are you feeding them currently?

Are you offering multiple feeding stations? Do they bicker over food? Do you offer forging as a way to feed and entertain them?

Do they have a safe glider wheel or two in their cages? And how much out of cage time do they get?

Sorry for the many questions...but maybe we can help you out if we know more.

Edited by - Minnesota Zoo on Jan 27 2016 09:36:52 PM
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Jan 29 2016
01:24:28 PM
BandP Super Glider Visit BandP's Photo Album 389 Posts
Sorry to take so long getting back to you- I just weighed the girls, and the one weighs 84 g and the other weighs 116 g, not 300.

We feed them a variety of fruits and vegetables, 1 tbsp per night; they get OHPW (Candy's modified version with calcium) 3 tbsp per night.
There are 2 feeding stations, and the only bickering I've ever seen is one night I gave them egg instead of diet, and one of them was sitting on the side of the cage with a handful of egg, and the other one came up and took it out of her hand. No squabbling though- Cheyenne just went and got more egg.

We offer foraging cups both in the cage and in playroom. It varies- sometimes they get 2 different foraging cups in the bathroom, sometimes none. Sometimes I put treats all over the cage for them to find, sometimes just in one egg. We don't want them to have too many treats since that is the first thing they look for when going back to the cage.

They have a raptor wheel, which they love to run in. We want to get another, but haven't yet.

Out of cage time they get approx. an hour a night, sometimes more if they won't go back in the cage.
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Jan 29 2016
01:51:00 PM
BYK_Chainsaw Fuzzy Wuzzy Visit BYK_Chainsaw's Photo Album BYK_Chainsaw's Journal USA 1301 Posts
our girls are 71 grams and 97 grams. so those sizes seem fine. At 71 grams our glider is active playful and seems very healthy.
pistachios and more

GliderGossip GliderGossip
Sugar Gliders
pistachios and more