Hello everyone, first time poster here!
I have a couple of questions about the insectivore diet. My female glider, Caramel, recently passed due to malnutrition and calcium deficiency.. 2 days before when I took her to the vet, they recommended the insectivore diet to her, and they gave me reptivite as well to coat over her fruits and veggies. After her passing I'm making sure I'm doing all the right things with my male and making sure he's doing fine and I won't run into the same problem with him. I was looking all over to see if the insectivore diet is fine for gliders, but I'm seeing conflicting results, some suggested to use leadbeater's diet or HPW instead of insectivore, but I'm a bit cautious since my vet recommended it to me. Any experiences with insectivore would be appreciated. I give my male about 25% fruits/veggies and the rest insectivore (which was also recommended to me by the vet) and I powder the reptivite over that, giving him mealworms periodically every 4 days. Is this okay? If not, should I switch over to HPW? What diet should I give to him?

Welcome!!! Glad you found us here.

Sugar gliders are not insectivores, they are omnivores. They are also opportunistic eaters, basically eating what's available to them (including insects), both in the wild and pretty much the same in captivity, since they can only have access to what is given them.

HPW and BML are two of the most popular diets that have been around. HPW diets are now trademarked as Critter Love. I personally have used a few of the CL diets, including the Original which is what I feed currently.

I strongly recommend reading thoroughly through diet options, and suggest also strongly in particular the two above mentioned (as they've been used successfully), CL diets have also been through and still currently being tested.

Whichever you choose, make sure to obtain exact recipe and instructions from original website of that diet. Follow directions exactly.

IMHO, I don't believe an insectivore diet provides the full balance of their nutritional needs.

Thank you for replying! That's what I was thinking, but my vet had suggested so and I was wondering if it was maybe because the female had calcium deficiency? I fed my male the same foods (mostly fruits and vegetables and nothing else). I was wanting to do HPW, but should I serve the insectivore along with HPW, or completely get rid of the insectivore? It's made by Mazuri. Another question; is the reptivite OK? I had also bought a calcium boosting supplement and was wondering if I should use that instead of the reptivite or use the reptivite and calcium booster both on his fruits and veggies.

If using the Critter Love diets (formerly HPW), you will not need added supplements. It is crucial to follow the diets exactly how directed, including serving. I know that CL diets have been formulated for you to provide correct balance of nutrients, including calcium. CL now has specific salad formulas that provide this balance. The BML diet, is also formulated as directed to be balanced, the "must have" fruit and veggie list balances the high calcium in the nectar formula.

I have heard of the insectivore food, but am not knowledgeable in diets using it. I have read through the various diets soon after getting my first gliders (originally I had them on PP diet, though the gliders themselves were not originally from PP). I decided on the HPW (now CL) diet from the beginning and have only experimented with those and similar diets. So unfortunately, I do not have much knowledge on any others.

Once you decide on a specific diet, and you want to offer some insectivore as a treat if they like it, then you can offer small quantities on occasions. Some offer mealworms along with their diets as treats, or even some other types of treats. I personally have a trio, and there are only 3 different types of treats that I have offered that all three like, lol. 1. freeze dried mealies- I get Camilies vita-mealies freeze dried and offer on nail trim days and here and there. 2. Pine nuts-I purchase small bags (they last a while) and offer on occasions while I have them in stock, but I don't keep an ongoing supply, so it's on & off. 3. They all like the Pet Pro Happy Glider fruit flavor pellets, so that's what I usually keep in their forage toy inside their cage. Pellets are not a staple food, but some like to offer them. Good quality pellets are not bad for gliders as some have said, but only if not used as the staple. My glider's vet prefers the HPW Original diet (before name changed to CLO). She recommended using these pellets on the side. I prefer using them in their forage toys.

Have you asked your vet why they like the insectivore diet?

I have asked, he explained to me that suggies were just like reptiles when it comes to nutritional needs and would be a good diet to put them on, and in the paper he's given me it's said that HPW is good but they "require a large amount of preparation time" and "still fall short of meeting the nutritional requirements of a captive sugar glider". He recommended a pelleted diet (pelleted diets like Exotic Nutrition's Premium Diet, Mazuri Insectivore Diet and Nutrimax Sugar Glider Diet), along with 25% of fruits/veggies and nothing else, sprinkling the reptivite on top. I have another vet close to me (I brought my male there once) and I'm going to ask about what they think when I bring him for his check ups.

Thanks for answering. Sugar glider's nutritional needs are not like reptiles. Even different species of reptiles have different nutritional needs. I had both a Rankins Bearded Dragon and a Leopard Gecko. Even though both ate insects, my little dragon's environment required UV lighting that my Leo did not, so my Leo required CA w/Vita D and my BD did not. I don't know other species nutritional needs because I don't have experience with any others, but I'm sure there are variances in nutritional needs.

Sprinkling vitamins and CA on food doesn't allow regulation as to how much they are consuming and if you are over or under dosing them. Especially if you were to have more than one glider. Say one glider gets up early and licks off most of the sprinkled supplement, then the other one(s) get up and eat afterwards. The first glider has had too much most likely and the other following has had not enough most likely.

Here is link to CL website. Please read through the home page as well as the "diet info".
Critter Love

Prep time, even with the Original version is not long or difficult. This one is the current one I use and it's not that time consuming at all, and I feed a trio.