So, first off let me say I love my gliders, and I at this point refer to them as my children. I'm a little concerned about them though. I suppose they've gone through a lot of recent changes, but I want other opinions. Please be kind and open minded. I have two boys, have had them since October. I think we're pretty bonded considering the amount of time I was spending with them has decreased some. I'm super busy, 40+ hours a week working, I'm a college student, and I have obvious other life Responsibilities. But I feed them well, love them, and try to spend as much time with them as possible. But now it's harder for me to interact with them at all because they've been sleeping a lot longer. I know they go through periods of this, but I believe it's been at least 3 weeks now. They were in a smaller cage, I upgraded them to a Congo cage from exotic nutrition, they have more than enough space. There's stuff in their cage to play with and everything. But their appetites have decreased (I was feeding them 1tbsp of BML per glider, and mainly berries, but they were getting constipated so I switched up to grapes cantaloupe and mango, working on finding canned pumpkin). We just recently had a time change so it doesn't even get dark until about 9pm. I wouldn't say they're lethargic, but it's 10pm now and they're still in a pouch. There usually out and about by 8/8:30 earlier if I would pull them out and wake them up. Ive tried pulling them out and getting them to be active, ive tried petting them (they've shown me affection they let me pick them up and one licks me constantly). I hear them on the wheel sometimes at night, but it seems like a lot less than it was a couple weeks ago. So all in all there's been a new cage, time change, diet change, constipation, and my attention has been limited ( I always come home and interact with them but I can't full on pull them out of the cage every night right now)
Any ideas/suggestions??
And please don't get hateful, we're all here for support.

I'm not sure what caused the changes or if it's something to worry about.

What I can tell you is that them waking up at 10 isn't normally a problem. Mine wake up anywhere between 9:30 and 11 depending on if I hold them during the day.

I noticed once I moved mine in a bigger cage they played on the wheel less. I think it may be because they have more room to play and move so they don't need to run on the wheel as much.

A decrease in appetit is a bit concerning, but I don't know much about that.

Don't worry about not being able to be with them as much. When life slows down you'll be able to hold them more again. Just check up on them everyday to make sure they aren't sick or injured. Maybe give them a treat or two.

Also if you want more time with them, hold them while doing homework, chores, or watching TV during the day. They can sleep and still be with you! If you already do this good for you!

You can get a $20 digital scale that measures grams at walmart or similar stores.
sounds like your gliders could be young if you got them in october. put on scale and record their weight. you can see if they are losing weight, if not I would think they are eating ok.

give them a few hidden treats in cage at daytime, we use shopkin baskets, they will wake up and have something to hunt for, keep them active. Also change around the cage gives them new feel, this is suppose to be good for them.

Our 3 colony wakes up consistently at 10 to 10:30 pm, eat then run on wheel then back to sleep for a few more hours, before getting up again and doing some more.
Our 7 colony wakes up more like 11:30 pm or later. eats and runs on wheels, they have a cool castle in cage that they have places to hide and hang out in. they will stay in there lots at night.

If we keep an eye on the sleeping gliders at day time, we notice they wake up alot and groom. pouch is moving around, so ours are NOT sleeping all day, they also are in pouch and awake at night alot also. I think the pouch is their safe place, home, comfy, warm safety place. They DONT need to spend the night running around the dangerous forest looking for food, so they can spend that time just hanging out at home, safe and happy.
Having a good variety of toys is great too, giving them something to do during the night, then switch different toys in and out of cage to keep it fresh for them.

"I was feeding them 1tbsp of BML per glider, and mainly berries, but they were getting constipated so I switched up to grapes cantaloupe and mango, working on finding canned pumpkin"

What recipe for bml are you using?

have you modified the recipe or made any substitutions or omitted ingredients?

are you feeding any vegetables?

Mango is not on the list of fruit to be used with bml.

Canned pumpkin only treats the symptom, you need to address what caused the constipation and correct it so the symptom ( constipation ) doesn't return.

are you giving them any nuts or seeds?

are you blending the fruit and or veg in the blender?

what treats do you give them ?

BML diet I use given to me by the breeder I got them from:
1 cup honey (NOT raw, unfiltered, or honeycomb)
2 eggs (I boil them)
1/2 cup apple juice
4 oz plain vanilla yogurt
2 tsp rep cal herpivite vitamin supplement
4 tsp rep cal calcium non phosphorus with vitamin D3
4 oz Ferber baby food chicken or 4 oz boiled skinless chicken
1/2 cup wheat germ
1 cup dry baby cereal
1 small package frozen veggies

I did just change from using the baby food to real chicken as well, they've been eating that for about 1 week.

And mango is on the approved list she gave me.

I'm going to schedule a vet appointment I think just to make sure they're okay.

Thanks guys!

This recipe is a double batch of a modified recipe. This is NOT the actual Bml recipe.

What is different?

vanilla yogurt was substituted for the yogurt juice, two entirely different things, which reduced the amount of liquids in the over all diet and has completely different nutritional values making it un balanced.

4 oz gerber baby food chicken or 4 oz boiled skinless chicken

Boiled skinless chicken is also a substitution, not a recommended one though. Again the nutritional value is different than the jarred baby food, and is also drier.

1 small packaged frozen veg. Veg is not meant to be added directly in the blended recipe, it is meant to serve on the side, and there are specific fruits and veg listed on the bml site to use.

The actual Bml diet is a strict one, it has been tested, and the ingredients are balanced as an entire meal plan. Meaning every ingredient including the list of fruits and veg in it are specific for a reason.

The breeder or who ever modified the recipe has considerably reduced the liquids in this recipe and made it drier and unbalanced. This is probably why the gliders were getting constipated.

Are you putting all these ingredients in a blender? If so, the vegetables are being blended which is forcing the gliders to ingest insoluble fiber that they wouldn't normally eat. The skins, and shells of veg are never eaten when offered cut up on the side, they only eat the middle tender parts. This is also probably contributing to the constipation and if it continues they may end up with a bad case of compaction or intestinal blockages.

The actual recipe and ingredients for it are here www.bmldiet.com/bml-recipe.html The fruit and veg list is listed below the recipe and should be strictly followed.

It doesn't seem like that recipe you are using is much different than the actual recipe, but it IS. Even what seems to be minor changes, can make a huge impact, and they aren't ever good ones.

If you don't want to take my word for it, your welcome to talk to Bourbon, the Bml diet creator. https://www.facebook.com/bourbonh She is more than happy to answer questions about her diet.

quote:

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Originally posted by Leela

This recipe is a double batch of a modified recipe. This is NOT the actual Bml recipe.

What is different?

vanilla yogurt was substituted for the yogurt juice, two entirely different things, which reduced the amount of liquids in the over all diet and has completely different nutritional values making it un balanced.

4 oz gerber baby food chicken or 4 oz boiled skinless chicken

Boiled skinless chicken is also a substitution, not a recommended one though. Again the nutritional value is different than the jarred baby food, and is also drier.

1 small packaged frozen veg. Veg is not meant to be added directly in the blended recipe, it is meant to serve on the side, and there are specific fruits and veg listed on the bml site to use.

The actual Bml diet is a strict one, it has been tested, and the ingredients are balanced as an entire meal plan. Meaning every ingredient including the list of fruits and veg in it are specific for a reason.

The breeder or who ever modified the recipe has considerably reduced the liquids in this recipe and made it drier and unbalanced. This is probably why the gliders were getting constipated.

Are you putting all these ingredients in a blender? If so, the vegetables are being blended which is forcing the gliders to ingest insoluble fiber that they wouldn't normally eat. The skins, and shells of veg are never eaten when offered cut up on the side, they only eat the middle tender parts. This is also probably contributing to the constipation and if it continues they may end up with a bad case of compaction or intestinal blockages.

The actual recipe and ingredients for it are here www.bmldiet.com/bml-recipe.html The fruit and veg list is listed below the recipe and should be strictly followed.

It doesn't seem like that recipe you are using is much different than the actual recipe, but it IS. Even what seems to be minor changes, can make a huge impact, and they aren't ever good ones.

If you don't want to take my word for it, your welcome to talk to Bourbon, the Bml diet creator. https://www.facebook.com/bourbonh She is more than happy to answer questions about her diet.

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oh boy,
im going to have to locate the recipe im using along with fruits/veggies/treats and run it past you guys
will try to get it posted this evening

Okay, so I am putting the vegetables on the side, I am NOT mixing it up in the blender with the BML I've been using.

Basically what I do is blend everything together (I've been using the baby food until this last batch). I have this covered ice tray that I pour the BML in and then I just stick the vegetables in with it. When it thaws they are still whole.

I place frozen fruit separately.

I rubbed their tummies this morning to see if they still feel bloated, it seems like the bloating has calmed down some. I'm going to feed them what I have and then make a new batch of food this weekend. I'll give them a few days and see how they're doing. If it still seems bad, I'm going to make a vet appointment definitely.

Thank you guys for all the input!

Do you think if I change to the recipe you provided it will upset them more or start to level them out? I don't want to stress them out for no reason.