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Sugar Gliders
Diet Suggestion For Small Colony
Diet Suggestion For Small Colony
Food, Diet
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Jul 29 2018
07:25:40 PM
Hey everyone, long time lurker first time poster here (lol). I'm the proud owner of a family of 10 sugar gliders and have been feeding them a variation of the BML diet for the few years I've had them. But I'm wondering if there is a better trusted diet I could be feeding them? I know everyone has their own strong options on each diet here in the glider community. But I've read mixed options on the BML diet, and I've also read that the best diets are BML and Critter Love (the main difference being online vs local accessibility). I'm mainly wondering if the last point is still true, if I should stick with BML (taking into account I have a mini colony to feed), or if there is something better for feeding the amount of gliders I have that would benefit them more. I feel I've been lacking in my care for them by just not knowing for sure if what I'm feeding them is giving them everything they need to thrive. But I guess this is what it feels like to be a mom, eh? I've read some horror stories and I'm just worried and looking for options. All opinions and suggestions are welcome, and thank you.
Food, Diet
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Jul 29 2018
10:12:54 PM
Leela Goofy Gorillatoes Gliderpedia Editor Visit Leela's Photo Album Leela's Journal 2919 Posts
Hi Pearson

not sure what variation your using there are a lot of modified versions floating around out there, it's best to use the one on Bourbon's website this way you know you are making it as intended that has been tested. Other modified versions may be un balanced versions of the diet.

The most current recipe from Bourbon is here http://www.bmldiet.com/index.html

If she makes any changes ( and I doubt she will anytime soon ) they will be posted on that page so it's still a good idea to check it once in a while just to be sure.

I also have 10 gliders right now... I have fed 3 diets, Bml, Gumbo, and just recently started Critter Love Complete.

Personally....... the cost isn't much different between the 3 diets for me at 10 gliders. The preparation is huggggggggggely different, between Bml and Critter love.

With Bml I had some light chopping every day for the fruits, veg not so much, most of it was frozen, the staple I just scooped out with a portioned cookie scoop. Feeding 10 gliders in 3 cages took us about 10-15 minutes every night.

The same was true for Gumbo, we did everything pretty much the same as Bml.


Critter Love......

The salads for critter love are a task to make, it's no joke!

I totally underestimated how much work is involved up front, how much space you need, how big of a batch a 30 day supply for 10 gliders reallllllly is ( it made roughly about 13 pounds )

I had 2 girls helping me and it still took half a day to do one salad. It takes up some serious freezer space, it filled 6 or 7 gallon bags.

The staple itself, freezes rock solid..........there is no scooping it out, so I've had to come up with other solutions to store it or make it every other day in single batches.

On the plus side you only add water so it doesn't take but a minute to make a batch. One batch feeds my 10 for one night, with about 8.5 tablespoons left over. I only know this because i just did that yesterday and measured what was left

The other benefit to this diet is, there is no nightly chopping or prepping, you scoop out what you need for the salad, and pour the staple on and your done.




Now it sounds like i'm not really liking this diet, but I actually really do, I'm just not used to doing all the prepping ahead of time instead of just a little bit each day.

The gliders are doing pretty well on it, I had no issues switching over other than one glider acted like he was starving... that didn't have anything to do with Critter love though, he is new here and wasn't really on a diet before so he's adjusting differently.

The work is a lot, but now i don't have to buy anything or chop anything for the next 30 some days, unless I want to make a different salad. so that is kind of another trade off.....when your done, your done for a long time, you def won't run out of anything lol.

Any questions I've had Peggy was right there to answer for me and she's bent over backwards to help make this change as easy as possible for me and my gliders.

Bourbon is the same with Bml.


I can't tell ya which diet is better .... all I can tell ya is my experience with them and what the differences are for me. Yes one of the big differences is still that Bml you can source locally and Critter Love you buy online.

But the prep work is also different. You really do need to dedicate a day just to the salads even if your only making a 2 week supply, I did that yesterday by myself n it took me a good 4 or 5 hours to prep, then another hour to weigh and mix, then bag up and freeze everything.

You just have to figure out what works best for you and your gliders. If they are doing well on the bml and your using the current recipe.... there is no reason to change it.

I actively promote two diets, Bml and critter love. Personally I find Bml much easier and would recommend that first to new owners simply because it's not as overwhelming. But I'm also just learning these salads and how to make them easier too, my opinion on the prep may change as i become used to it.

I will say this, my gliders are eating some fruit in these salads that they would never touch before, which has surprised me lol.

Anyway good luck and I hope this helps some.



Food, Diet
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Jul 30 2018
02:23:47 PM
Pearson Joey 35 Posts
Nice to meet you Leela :)

This helps a lot thank you! I think sticking to the BML diet would be the best for my situation. My freezer isn't that spacious, and I don't mind the routine every night to feed them (some routine is nice in my life heh).

When you fed the BML diet, how many batches would last you 1 month? I've been giving it every second day and yogurt or apple sauce on the days I skip, fruits and veggies are every night though.
Food, Diet
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Jul 30 2018
04:35:16 PM
Leela Goofy Gorillatoes Gliderpedia Editor Visit Leela's Photo Album Leela's Journal 2919 Posts
nice to meet you as well I can relate to no freezer space I live in a 5th wheel trailer, I think I could fit a 6 pack cooler inside it ( the whole thing )


Right now it's completely full with 2 bags on the top left side 3 gliders on the top right side, 5 bags on the left bottom, the extra fruit and veg that was excess from the last salad on the right bottom and one bag of salad on the door.

When I say bags I mean bags of salad mix, there is no "human" food " in my freezer at all, I can't even fit a Popsicle in there let alone the staple until I either use or give away the excess fruit n veg.

Then once I have room... I got 2 oz condiment cups with lids to portion out the staple and freeze it, so it will be full to the brim again I tried to get a pic of it but I don't have a flash n it looked like crap...

but needless to say, freezer space is important and if it's limited diets like tpg and critter love are not easy. I'm thinking about getting a small chest freezer to put outside if we stay on this diet long term. Then I could keep the staple and a bag of salad inside n the rest out of my way.


Um, when I fed bml I used to make 2 double batches so 4 total to last about 4 weeks I think.

I'd order the chicken baby food by the case (12 jars I think ) from Jet.com and have it delivered, a 5lb jug of honey from jet as well, the yogurt juice by the case from jet ( though now it's discontinued I believe ) The juice and cereal and wheatgerm I would get at my local grocery store

and the repcal products I ordered from Petmountain and got a few at a time because they are sooooooooooo much cheaper The repcal is under 7 bucks the herp is about 10 which is way under half price for repcal locally and about half the price of herp locally https://www.petmountain.com/searchx/0/0/1/1/?s=repcal

Our main transportation is a harley so buying in bulk locally isn't really an option for us so when I fed bml I ordered as much of the supplies online, it was cheaper and less hassle since it's delivered.



Why are you not giving it to them every day instead of alternating?




Food, Diet
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Aug 06 2018
08:42:49 PM
Pearson Joey 35 Posts
Sorry for the late reply, just finishing moving house. Lol

I just took wheat germ out of the mixture because my gliders don't like it... They end up chewing and spitting little wheat germ clusters all over the cage and leaving large portions of the mix in the morning uneaten.

But when I started taking the wheat germ out they lick the bowl clean? I decided not to fight them on eating it and would just make up for the lack of fiber with other foods.

As for the feeding every second day that's something I saw in a diet chart a long time ago when I first looked up the diet. They had the mix feeding every second day with yogurt and apple sauce rotation for the days they didn't give the mix. Fruits and veggies everyday though, and meal worm treats too.

Something I have noticed is after 3-4 days of feeding them the mix they stop eating it? Like they get tired of it and the group of them just won't eat anything, not even the fruits and veggies. Switching things up every second day has helped prevent this from happening for me.
Diet Suggestion For Small Colony

GliderGossip GliderGossip
Sugar Gliders
Diet Suggestion For Small Colony