Hi there,
my suggie gets the original HPW diet (the kind that you mix yourself). I feed fruits and veggies every day and try to vary it up a lot. She gets white meat chicken, hard boiled egg, or meal worms once or twice a week. I was wondering whether I should supplement with a pellet or lab block such as monkey blocks or exotic nutrition premium sugar glider diet? Some sites say she should have a pellet food available for snacking during the day in addition to her nightly meal.
I was also wondering whether I should use a calcium supplement and if anyone has any recommendations... my original plan had been to just try to feed fruits and veggies with appropriate calcium phosphorous ratios, but she has been pretty picky about some of the higher calcium containing foods; like she won't have anything to do with spinach or papaya. Any advice?
Thanks!

Hi. Just to address the pellets or monkey biscuits...some people do use a high quality pellet (ie 'cereal' posted on thepetglider.com) as something to leave in the cage during the day. It should be tossed out every day so that it doesn't spoil. That choice is up to your gliders, do they every get up in the day to snack? Some do, some don't. Mine never do. You also wouldn't want to put it in before they fall asleep or have it in when they wake up, just to avoid them possibly going for that first instead of their staple. The pellets are a LOT of filler.

I use monkey biscuits maybe once or twice a week hidden somewhere in the cage for foraging. Some nights they don't touch it, other nights it's all but gone. Basically I feel that the biscuit gives them something good to chew on for healthy teeth. Again...it doesn't add anything value to the staple diet itself.

Adding a supplement to any of the approved diets is absolutely never recommended. The diets should be made to the exact specifications with no additions or substitutions. I understand your concern that they aren't going for their higher calcium fresh foods, but it would be better to consult the lists of foods with the nutrient break downs to see if you might be able to introduce some other foods that might interest them more.

Many folks using the OHPW will have detailed advice for your concerns. It is my understanding that the mix should have a great deal of the nutritional needs met in it's own form with the fruits and veggies as the 'supplement'.

I'd post the link to the food nutrient breakdown sheet, but I've just realized the time. You may search in the tab above or ask if someone here knows where it is off hand.

~Cheers!

Thanks very much!

Have you looked at the recipes on the Glider kids web site? Her Wombaroo Staple diet is basically the OHPW with added calcium. You may want to try that.

found here...http://www.gliderkids-diet.com/GliderKids-Feeding-Plan.html

I use that version with one tablespoon of a fruit and one tablespoon of a veggie each nite so they have a good rotation.

The recipe ups the wombaroo and the added calcium makes it possible to lower the serving size from one tablespoon per glider to 2 teaspoons per glider so they have more room to fill up on their fruits and veggies.

I do also use a pellet but it is as a foraging snack for dental health and they do love it and would eat that instead of their main dinner. It is the Wholesome Balance Chicken and Brown rice pellet from Suncoast sugar gliders it has no fillers and all human food grade ingredients and no soy.

found here... http://www.sugar-gliders.com/index.php?id_product=95&controller=product