I was previously feeding a self composed variant of the BML diet. My gliders where licking their bowl clean almost every night. They had some minor fur cracking so I decided I would feed the BML diet to a T for 1 month. Well im 4 nights in and the gliders are bairly eating anything. They eat a very small amount of the protien mix and have eaten between 0-4 pieces of fruits/vegs total. My question is how long can I safley wait them out for? I was happy with their previous diet I just wanted to test to see if the minor fur cracking was related to diet. Should I just toss the BML and revert back to my previous diet?

Hmmm. 3 days is about as long as you'd wanna go. If you can try and add some unseasoned chicken breast and add some pieces to the bml mixing so it's about half covered with the bml it might help get them used to it. I did and still play atound with some of the baby cerial flavors and the yogurt fruit/ veggie mix. Sometimes the really enjoy it and sometimes they are finicky. I know from trial and error that mine prefer certain fruits and veggies. Like all gliders tend to love corn so I usually don't give them much at one sitting or they would fill up on it and not eat their suplementary diet. Mine tend to eat all there veggies I usually have carrot left over. They will usually eat half there fruit they usually leave behind strawberries. They often only eat half there bml but I do give a bit more then recommended cause they tend to eat more food in genergy every third or fourth day. You can also try forcefeeding with a syringe but I wouldn't recommend it unless you really need and know what your doing.

3 Days is not abnormal nor that long after a diet change. The mistake made most often is not giving a new diet time to work and not giving the gliders time to get used to it before thinking they don't like it.

please do NOT ADD anything to the bml, if you are having difficulties with the diet contact the diet creator here's her facebook you can message her https://www.facebook.com/bourbonh OR call her 321-331-1608 evenings or late at night are the best times to reach her. She will tell you the best way to go about getting them to eat bml.

I would explain, but it's not my diet it's Bourbons, and I don't want people here parroting information that should be specific to YOU and your gliders.

Cracked fur is a cosmetic thing usually caused by humidity NOT diet.

Cracked fur was once used as a marketing tool for one diet ( not bml ) but was later admitted by the diet creator that diet had little or nothing to do with it. If your gliders have cracked fur get a humidifier the ideal humidity level for gliders is about 40%


Lets take this a little farther than the bml. There are many reasons gliders may not eat well for a couple days. Moon,
barometric pressure,
weather,
in heat,
new environment,
new diet,
don't feel like eating much,
the dish is to deep,
the dish is to shallow,
the dish is on the floor,
the dish is on the cage,
the fruit is cut to big,
the fruit is cut to small,
the bml fruit n veg are in layers,
the bml fruit n veg are not in layers,
putting to much food on the plate, etc...

The last one may seem odd but over feeding can actually make them eat less are you measuring everything for each portion for each glider?

For bml specifically.

is the bml frozen or in the fridge? it's only good for about 3 days in the fridge

did you put the wheat germ in the fridge after using it last ? if not it will go rancid

was the apple juice fresh, or sour?

Im not force feeding. They eat just fine they're just not happy about the switch. They happily ate their previous diet. I am following the BML diet to a T. That includes brands and measurements. They are eating, just bairly. They pick at the bml and sometimes the produce eat a couple pieces of produce. On the previous diet they ate a full 3Tbls each with an occasional night of eating most but not all of what was provided.

The ingredients where all fresh and I make large batches of feed then measure out portions and freeze it in ice cube trays. Then I store them in freezer bags and remove every night after dark.

The humidity fluxuates between 35-60+% I have several hygrometers. It fluxuates because I keep reptiles in the same room with humidifiers on timers rigged to their enclosures and some humidity excapes.

The fur cracking is very slight. Id read that humidity could be a factor but that diet was also. Id reaf that cracked fur could be a symptom of poor nutrition. Is this false?

Thanks.

Like I said before cracked fur is a cosmetic issue, not a health or medical or diet issue at all. Humans hair is also affected by humidity levels same thing going on with the gliders

Cracked fur is usually noticed more in the winter time when people are running wood stoves or furnaces or space heaters that dry out the air.

30 to 35 is a lil on the low end so that is probably why your seeing slight cracking. You may also be seeing their bad hair days before they've had a chance to groom themselves all purdy lol either or it's nothing to be that concerned over.