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.