I recently got two sugar gliders from a women who could no long care for them. They are on the HWP diet but it confuses me and I’m afraid I’m going to make them sick. The exotic Nutrition website says they need 75% HWP and 25% Supplement. Who the supplements be fruits and veggies or something else. The lady also gave me some pellets that she put in their food every other day but I’ve heard that pellets are bad for them. The fruit and veggies ratio is I think the big problem of why I don’t understand the diet. Do I still use the ratio of their taking the HWP diet? Some websites and books say that the veggies and fruits need to be spot on the ratio but others say it’s not a big deal. Also should I get calcium powder to put over their food just Incase?

If it's the exotic nutrition hpw I would switch, their food is crap.

Diet is one of the most confusing and stressful topics, everyone has an opinion, and many disagree with it lol.

There are 2 diets I recommend, critter love hpw https://www.critterlove.com/food-sides

and bml http://www.bmldiet.com/index.html

Both have been tested, used long term, affordable, and take the guess work out of all of it.

If you feed either of these and follow the directions, you don't have to worry about the ratio, that has already been done for you and calculated into the recipe.

Understanding the ratio seems more complicated than it is, this is a very stripped down basic explanation.

0:0 represents calcium to phosphorous. So 2:1 means 2 (calcium )to 1 (phosphorous).

The numbers will change with each food but always the first number is calcium whether it's higher or lower than the 2nd number phosphorous.

The second number is always phosphorous whether its higher or lower than the first number calcium.

So if the ratio looks like 12:3 that food is very high in calcium and low in phosphorous.

If it looks like 3:12 It is very low in calcium and high in phosphorous.

You can pair a food high in calcium with a food high in phos to balance it out closer to the 2:1 ratio that's where it gets more complicated especially if math isn't your strong suite like me

Foods higher in phosphorous inhibit calcium absorption in the body. So the 3:12 food high in phos makes it harder to absorb what little calcium it provided if any at all. Which is why people try to attain the magical 2:1 ratio.

The ratio isn't the only thing that affects how the body absorbs calcium and or other vitamins and minerals. For example High oxalate foods ( most dark leafy greens ) can also contribute to slow or limited calcium absorption, high in
vit c foods can improve and optimize the absorption of iron, which is hard on the internal organs.



One major difference in the 2 diets above is One (critter love ) you have to order online and the other (bml) you can find all the ingredients locally. Doesn't seem like a big deal, but if you don't have a credit card it's harder to buy online, though I'm sure temporary cc would work or paypal.

Pellets, a lot of people use good quality pellets from Petpro. It is a another controversial topic lol Personally I don't use them nor do I like them and neither do my gliders.

I don't like them because I feel there is to much of a risk for aflatoxins when they aren't stored properly, and I don't have enough freezer space to store them properly.

However, when stored properly and fed in addition to a well known diet I think they are ok and it's a personal choice.


Calcium powder to put over the food. No. Sprinkling calcium or multivitamins isn't advised. There is no way to know if you are giving to much or to little to much can be just as bad as not enough.

If you feed on of the diets above the calcium is already in the diet in a measured amount distributed evenly throughout the staple. There is no need for anything to be added to it or sprinkled on top.

Calcium. I was told the critterlove diet or OHPW diet does not call for
additional calcium added because it has enough.

If you are going with HPW I would recommend either the critterlove version, you get from the critterlove website, they give you directions on portions of HPW and fruits and veggie mixes. Or the OHPW version that you use Wombaroo powder in, and then use their Ohpw portion. I use the critterlove fruit and veggie salads with this.

Pellets of "happy glider" or "glider chow" are good and healthy cereal, they are the same pellet just packaged differently, you can also get them on the critterlove website (I think these are the same as happy glider, or very similar). this pellet is good for cleaning teeth and can be left in a separate dish and replaced/refilled every 3 or 4 days. Keep in freezer to keep it fresh.