I have three gliders that I recently obtained from a breeder who didn't want them anymore, and I wanted to change their diet from glide-r-chow to something better.

I was thinking of buying from Exotic Nutrition, getting the pellets (as a side of course) along with the instant hpw to put on top of it, along with fresh fruits and veggies every day. I want to know if this is a good plan, and also what kinds of fruits and veggies I should be feeding them? I've looked up a few lists of acceptable fruits/veggies and I've been feeding them baby carrots, spinach and lettuce, apples, and bananas. And what kind of supplements should I add if needed? I have glide-a-mins that I've been lightly sprinkling on their food but I'm not sure how much I trust pocketpet products.

I need something that won't be too expensive in the long run, as I only get a monthy income of $40 (which is mostly saved for my gliders) from helping my sister and occasional money from making art for people.

I mostly want to order from Exotic Nutrition because I live fairly close to Virginia, which is where they ship from. I ordered a Silent Runner from them and it came in just two days with the cheapest shipping option! So, I would love to get my supplies from them or another company in or around Missouri. Any input is greatly appreciated!

glide-r - chow is really pet-pro happy glider cereal, and is highly recommended and sold by HPW and critterlove maker, at critterlove.com and pet-pro website.
NOTE: pet pro makes animal food and only animal food, no toys, no cages, no cage pouch sets.
I feel after some research it may be the best side cereal available to gliders, my personal opinion, but I'm NOT a vet. I use happy glider as a side dish only.

I make OHPW and use salad mixes from critterlove.com about 4 options for fruit and veggie combinations.

www.pet-pro.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=2

www.critterlove.com/salad-mixtures.html

I have been told you don't need extra vitamins/calcium when feeding critterlove or OHPW its already in it. (information from some LONG time glider owners/breeders at another website.) some diets may request vitamins, not critterlove.

OHPW I serve in a separate bowl, most nights gliders eat it all. glider eat LOTS of veggies and some fruit.

$40 for 3 is cutting it close, I think some websites say $10 a month per glider. I know the cost of 12 gliders is much higher then $40 with Raw honey being more costly at $40 per gallon. Eggs, bee pollen cheap. some fruits and veggies cheap, frozen berries about $11 a large bag. I just try to buy in bulk so I save some money and have lots of ingredient for awhile. I don't know my monthly cost.

you may look up costs for BML and see if that is cheaper.

Those salads are perfect! Part of my family works at a market, so I can get some of those fruits and veggies fresh maybe even for reduced price or free and I can definitely buy what I can't get. If I run low on money, I can pick up some other odd jobs, but buying in bulk will definitely help me save.

The Instant HPW from Exotic Nutrition contains dried powdered honey and powdered bee pollen, so I wonder if that's good?

I just need something better than what they had been fed, as I assume it was mainly pellets with a few pieces of cantaloupe, plus glide-a-mins every other day. And I don't know how often their toys and pouches were washed. The gliders looked a bit stained, and their fur was cracking, but it seems like their pelt has gotten fluffier recently. Plus, they seem a bit more grey than before.

The diet they had previously is only an assumption, as the previous owners gave me little to no information regarding how they were taken care of, and didn't even tell me what variant they are, despite being for breeding. I was given a bag of glide-r-chow (which had a big hole in the side! It was most likely stale) and they told me that they loved cantaloupe, and suggested I should only feed them that.

I wanted to clarify, by variant I mean the color variation of the gliders. They are almost certainly standard grey, but there are some variants that are kind of different but look very close to standard grey (If I'm correct?). Also, I just took some pictures of my gliders, and they have clear cracking but their tails don't seem entirely flat. I believe their discoloration is due to the toys and pouches not being cleaned, but I'm not entirely sure.

I'm working on getting good pictures in my album, and I'll be taking pictures every few days to hopefully track any improvements they make. At least, the goal is to have them improve.

I dont worry about a little fur cracking.
A brownish tint to lighter color fur is said to be from poor diet. we had some lighten up after we put them on OHPW.
Some have posted they worry about safety of instant hpw because of what is used to make the honey and egg powdered.
But I have read some say regular OHPW is slightly fattening and calcium is a little on the low side. Some of our gliders are full sized 160 grams, some are not. but they get plenty of live and dried mealworms that is fattening.
I guess any diet you pick could have some positive and negatives.
but OHPW and BML have been used for awhile with I think good results for many owners.

I only worry about the fur cracking because it isn't just a small amount, at least that I think. I'm a new sugar glider owner so I'm a bit paranoid about this stuff.

I will be going with the CritterLove mixtures, but would it be best to get the Breeder's Formula? They are breeding gliders, after all. The smaller female currently has one or more joeys in her pouch (I was shocked when I found out!), and I want the mama and the babies to be healthy. The breeder's formula also looks like it has more calcium in it?

if you have babies, the breeders blend is for mama's.

with what I use,
the wombaroo powder OHPW says to go from 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup. so you
double up for a mama with babies.