Hi, so my boyfriend and I just purchased a sugar baby.. he is probably about 10 - 12 weeks old. The man we bought him from gave us instructions to feed him a slice of apple with stage 2 chicken baby food mixed with a little bit of vanilla yogurt over the apples every evening. He also gave us some pellets but did not tell us the name or how much to give him. I'm just worried he is not getting all the nutrients he needs. Or when to upgrade him to adult food? I have tried a few times to give home a slice of carrot.. he will sniff it but will not eat it. I gave him a slice of strawberry and he ate that but definitely likes apples more.

At 10-12 weeks old, he can eat adult food normally

Hi, congratulations on your new glider! I also have two little ones about that age.

Just so you know, glider diets are a very controversial topic and a bit sensitive for the reason you posted - gliders not getting the right nutrition often have health issues. It takes a while to sort out all the information available on the right diet. The best option I have found is to start with one of the most often recommended and common diets to work with while you research more.

Some of those are OHPW, BML, Priscilla Price, Critter Love, and LGRS.

The biggest thing to know is that gliders need fresh fruit, vegetables, and a protein source every day. They have to have the right combination of these to provide a two-to-one ratio of calcium to phosphorus. This is VITAL to their health. It sounds complicated and it sort of is, but I recommend picking one diet and starting there.

Kibble and pellets should not be the base of their diet.

I personally use LGRS because my gliders will eat it and it has done wonders for helping my older boys coats and to put on weight. When I got them they were on kibble, so they had cracked yellow fur and where a bit undersized. I tried to swap them to OHPW (by far the most recognized approved diet) and my boys wanted nothing to do with it. I also like that it already has a correct cal-phosphorus ratio before I even add their fresh food.

Last tip: gliders are colony animals, which means they need others of their kind. If they don't have a glider pal they can self harm and even die over time. So please, consider getting another soon. They are actually easier to care for with friends, because with out one your little guy is going to need lots of attention and time from you.

There are some good books available on kindle that can help you learn more about what they need.


Good luck! Gliders are tricky to care for and a lot of work... But honestly they are soooo worth it!

If you go to gliderpedia at the top of this page and click on diet that should get you started in the right direction. I use the TPG or Pricilla Price for 2 reasons. One is my babies will not eat the HPW or Critter Love. I wanted so much for them to like it but they won't touch it. Reason 2 is the TPG is so easy to make. I also hide treats in the toys in the cage and give gumivoire as a treat every night in the tiny holes of their tree branch. Takes me about 20 minutes start to finish and I just freeze in ice cube trays and then put in freezer bags and I have enough for about a month and a half. Any of the popular diets on this site will work but all of them must be followed exactly as written. So the best diet for you is one on this site that he will eat and one that you can follow directions exactly. Hope that helps.

I, too, have some relatively new Sugar Glider babies. Mine are about 15 weeks old now and were 8 1/2 weeks when I got them. I purchased them from a company called Pocket Pets who also sells products for them. They strongly caution you not to feed anything except what they recommend which includes Glider Gravy which they sell. I was just reading about HPW Original - Original High-Protein Wombaroo Diet. Apparently, Glider Gravy does not contain this product and I'm getting the impression that they need it. Pocket Pets also offers a vitamin supplement which I have. I have their pellets, Glider Gravy, and the vitamin supplement. I've also been giving them fruit and vegetables. Now I'm a bit worried that I need a diet with the HPW in it. I see that there is controversy about diets so is there anyone with expertise to trust for advice? I want to do the best for my babies and need advice about what that is. Thanks.

Any diets listed here are good. They do not need HPW. Lots of us feed HPW and lots of us feed the other diets. I wanted mine to be on the HPW but they refuse to eat it so I go with the TPG. I certainly would get them off the Pocket Pets diet. If you read up on here about diets you will notice no one feeds pellets as the staple of the diet. Some leave pellets in the cage during the day just in case the kids want a snack but never for a diet. Congrats on the babies and have fun and read and read and read. lol Theres a lot to learn.

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Last tip: gliders are colony animals, which means they need others of their kind. If they don't have a glider pal they can self harm and even die over time. So please, consider getting another soon. They are actually easier to care for with friends, because with out one your little guy is going to need lots of attention and time from you.

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Single gliders will NOT self harm or die simply from being single. That is a myth spread widely across the internet.

Self mutilation ONLY occurs when there is a serious injury or something medically wrong and the glider tries to remove the source of the pain.

I HAVE worked with self mutilating gliders ( as well as a team of other people ) and their recovery process which is very long and painful. There hasn't been ONE self mutilating glider that I have worked with that has started out being a single glider, they have ALL been in colonies prior to the self mutilating.

Self mutilating STILL has no KNOWN cause as to why some do it and why others don't. There are ONLY theories. One of our theories is an unknown/non specified parasite.

We believe this because self mutilating gliders are cyclic. When treated with 2 different anti parasitic medications the cycle stops. When only treated with 1 anti parasitic medication the cycle continues.

Self mutilating gliders all but disappeared for about 5 yrs or so, until recently. All of the sudden we had several cases pop up. There is a team of veteran glider owners and some of us newer owners that are not only helping these gliders recover, but suffer the heartache of losing them.

We are working on finding out the actual cause of why it's happening, but we don't expect answers for some time. Testing and necropsy's need done, lab work needs done ect. But we have started, and gotten some assistance from a lab and people in the scientific field to help.

The myth has been spread for a very long time and needs to stop. It was a method to scare people into getting cage mates.


Maeganw, gliders can do just fine being a single glider, and in some cases thrive despite being single. There ARE even single gliders that don't want cage mates and have been known to kill every single cage mate they were introduced to.

This is not meant to scare you, what I'm saying is get to know YOUR glider and what it's needs are before making that decision. Research glider introductions. Determine if you can afford not only the second glider, but a second cage, wheel, accessories, vet bills etc...

All of that is important to think about before getting a cage mate, not only for the safety and health of your current glider, but also any new potential glider that may land in your hands.

CDS glider gravy IS critter love hpw complete repackaged, with the permission of Peggy Brewer the creator of critter love hpw.

Leela,
I found your post concerning single or multiple gliders to be very beneficial and I'm so happy you answered me about the Glider Gravy. Wow...it's obvious that you can't believe everything you read on the internet. I find this true with lots of things concerning information about wildlife that people read. I am a licensed wildlife rehabilitator and it's amazing the mistakes that are made with animals before they get to us because of something on the internet that people have found. Thank you for your answer.

You seem to be knowledgeable about gliders. Being new to them, I am full of questions and wanting to learn all I can. I really need a good mentor. I suppose I should post questions that are not related to this subject in the proper place. I hope you will see them because I'd like to learn more from you.

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Single gliders will NOT self harm or die simply from being single. That is a myth spread widely across the internet.

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Leeha: Thank you for the work you have done.

Yes, gliders can self harm due to injury or illness. And yes, lone gliders can be perfectly healthy - provided they have adequate attention and care. One of the main reasons gliders are rehomed is because many people don't have the time to provide for a gliders needs, even when they do have a friend to play with. They are highly social animals and there are plenty of accounts available on these forms, as well as others and the available books on gliders that detail the problems people have encountered with gliders that don't have proper social interaction, and the affect adding another glider to the mix can have.

I recommended researching everything you can and forming your own opinion. Read books. Talk with your vet. Read others personal accounts. Take no ones word as law, but do keep your self open to possibilities if what you are doing isn't working. Error on the side of caution, because they deserve the care and it's heartbreaking when a glider is lost to something easily preventable. Good luck.

CDS I'm glad you found it helpful

You might benefit from joining a group on facebook. It's a Pocket Pet neutral group, no bashing, drama or BS. The group is run by 5 very well known veterans of the glider community.

Bourbon Hackworth, Sherri Lamb, Shirley Smith, Peggy Brewer there might be another one or two I'm missing. All of these ladies have owned gliders 8- 20 some years. I believe all of them have done or are still doing rescue/rehab work as well. Two of them are diet creators and are very happy to answer questions regarding their diets and offer advice.

There is muchhhhhh experience and knowledge in this group.

[https://www.facebook.com/groups/847319852005676/

I'd also be happy to mentor you if your needs are within my skill set and experience, but I do that primarily on facebook not on this forum. If your needs are NOT in my skill set I can help you find a mentor better suited to your needs.
My facebook profile is https://www.facebook.com/carla.sloan.1

I have a little more experience with some things that most people with the same years of glider owning don't have because of my mentor ( Bourbon ) She has taught me a lot of valuable skills and makes me question everything lol. If you join that group keep an eye on her posts and the other veterans. They debunk a lot of myths and misinformation.

Leela...I went to the Facebook group you suggested and requested to join. It's pending. I also went to your Facebook page and sent a friend request. Thank you for your responses to me and the help. As I said, I only want the best for my sugar gliders and am trying to learn all I can.

Akasha140 I'm not sure if I didn't see your post before or just forgot to come back to this thread lol. I agree!!! That is some of the best advice. No ones word is law and should never be taken as such. The point of research is to find credible sources, fact check, ask others opinions and experiences, and thennnnnn after you take all that into account, make your own decisions based on all that you have learned.

Far to often people want the instant answer, far to often people give instant answers with no explanation of why its done or not done that way. What are the consequences of your decision, who is going to pay the price of your decision, you or the gliders?

I have learned one very important thing from mentoring and advising people. The responsibility of making decisions HAS to be the owners. I can provide information, pros and cons, theories, ideas etc. But I can not be responsible for making decisions about someone else's gliders. I can arm and prepare them with information but I can not TELL them what to do. I am asked "what should I do" a lot. My response, I can't tell you what to do, I can tell you what I would do and why, but the decision has to be yours and I will support any decision you make.

I try to be diet neutral but personal opinions do eventually come into play. That doesn't mean I try to force my opinions on anyone or tell them what to feed. Most often when I'm mentoring someone I don't tell them what I feed, because I don't want what I feed to sway their decision on what they decide to feed.

There are two things I am firm on though,

1. Don't alter, substitute ingredients, or adjust amounts, or add new things to the recipe. Make the diet as instructed by the recipe and the creator of the diet, I don't care which diet it is.

2. Wheels, buy known glider safe wheels from known glider wheel vendors. Many people think they want to try to make their own to save a few bucks. When in reality it's not going to save you money at all, it will likely cost you more.

The supplies needed to make one wheel is probably more expensive than just buying a safe wheel. The vendors who make wheels have spent years perfecting their designs to make them as safe as possible. The average person will not successfully make a safe wheel at home I don't care what diy directions your following. I have seen the affects of home made wheels and I CAN tell you 1 they are not cheaper to make, and 2 the vet bills from unsafe wheel injuries are far more expensive than you realize. If you can't afford to buy a safe wheel then you also can't afford the vet bill from an unsafe wheel.


Yes please do research, please fact check, please make sure the information you read is current and accurate. Don't blindly follow the masses, if something doesn't sound right, it probably isn't. If something everyone else is doing doesn't work for you then figure out what does work for you, we all do things differently. Educate yourself, so you can make educating decisions for your gliders, because they will be the ones to pay the price.