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The Sugar Shack’s preferred choices of sugar glider diets are the Sugar Glider Exotic Diet and Darcy’s Diet. Glider Grove puts these two diets into a five-day rotation. The first four days being the Sugar Glider Exotic Diet and the fifth day being Darcy’s Diet. For the Sugar Glider Exotic Diet presentation, The Sugar Shack’s Glider Grove generally rotates through four different protein sources: chicken, tofu, eggs, and turkey. The caretakers at Glider Grove serve the Exotic Nutrition Premium Sugar Glider Diet alternated with monkey biscuits soaked in juice, or Gatorade, as a staple food for both diets. For Darcy’s Diet, Glider Grove’s caretakers feed a strawberry flavored Ensure Supplement along with the diet presentation. A variety of insects are hand fed on a nightly basis.
Both of these diets are considered nutritionally sound over at
least three years of usage in the glider population.
It has been noted that the Sugar Glider Exotic Diet when paired
with the Pet Glider Multivitamin has proven itself by maintaining a 0%
diet-related illness or death rate and a 0% joey rejection rate in over a
thousand gliders spanning several generations.
Although Darcy’s Ensure Supplement has been shown to work wonders
with ill and debilitated gliders, there are still some questions remaining
as to whether or not the Darcy’s Ensure Supplement will result in over
supplementation after extended periods of time when served on a consistent
nightly basis. Even though
the overall diet presentation is a favorite of Glider Grove’s gliders,
we still prefer to feed Darcy’s Diet only once in our five-day rotation
until more research is completed. Not only do these diets work out well because sugar glider owners can prepare nightly portions in bulk and freeze them, but they become indispensable in emergency situations when an owner may be forced to serve dinner to their gliders in a rush. The two diets we have recommended fit well into most rotations due to the flexibility they allow owners when it comes to providing variety in their sugar gliders’ meals. The freedom to substitute different protein sources, along with a variety of fruits and vegetables, goes a long way toward preventing food boredom from occurring in captive sugar gliders, which in a glider’s opinion is the best benefit of all.
The Sugar Glider Exotic Diet Pricilla
Price, of The Pet Glider, developed The Sugar Glider Exotic Diet. The
Sugar Glider Exotic Diet has been approved by veterinarian Dan Johnson and
used successfully by over 1,000 gliders over 3 generations. Base Mix Ingredients:
Protein Source Mix-ins:
Preparation Instructions: In a large mixing bowl, with a wooden spoon, mix the
applesauce, oats, yogurt, wheat germ and orange juice. Divide into three
equal portions. To portion one, add: 3 small or medium eggs,
scrambled. To portion two, add: 3/4 lb unseasoned, unsalted, broiled
shredded chicken. Leave the third portion plain for the nights you feed
mealworms or yogurt. Freeze flat in quart size freezer bags
(1/2" or less thick). Freeze. Additional Dietary Ingredients:
*You may also choose to use pre-cut frozen fruits or
vegetables Chop up fruits and vegetables in a
separate bowl. Combine and freeze in bags. Feeding
Instructions: Break off a frozen piece of the basic mix. Then, open your
bags of frozen, chopped fruits and vegetables, and pull out some fruits
and vegetables, trying to keep it one part fruits to one part vegetables.
If you choose to use pre-cut frozen produce, do not use vegetables that
have a high ratio of corn. Mix these into the basic mix. Tips from the Diet’s Creator:
Fruits: Fresh (in-season) Papaya, oranges, bananas, strawberries,
cantaloupe, grapes, mango, kiwi, peaches, honeydew melon. You can also use
frozen fruit to add variety. Vegetables:
Cucumbers, yellow squash (or any in season squash), red & yellow bell
peppers, carrots, sweet potatoes, bok choy, jicama and green beans.
Daily Staple:
Fresh portions of the selected staple should be available to the sugar glider 24 hours a day in order to prevent low blood sugar. Enrichment Supplement:
Daily Vitamin/Mineral Supplement
Darcy's Diet Donna
Fritz, a wildlife rehabilitator, developed this diet.
Darcy’s Diet has been evaluated and approved by a NY Zoo vet and
animal nutritionists at Cornell University. This diet, although developed in North America, bears a
similarity to a diet used in Australian sanctuaries and zoos. Basic Presentation:
Daily Staple:
* At The Sugar Shack we have found that our gliders (among
others) refuse to eat Zookeeper’s Secret.
Due to the important function that a staple provides, we have
chosen to substitute Sugar glider cereal or monkey biscuits in place of
the Zookeeper’s Secret. Enrichment Supplement:
A pinch of Nekton brand nectar mixed in a tablespoon of
juice is offered per glider on a nightly basis. Daily Vitamin/Mineral Supplement Ensure
Vitamin Supplement (used in Darcy's Diet) -
Donna
Fritz, a wildlife rehabilitator, developed this supplement.
The Ensure Vitamin Supplement has been evaluated and approved by a
NY Zoo Vet and animal nutritionists at Cornell University.
OR
OR
*
Sustagen is the equivalent of Ensure outside of the United States. **Calcium Carbonate Heavy Powder, by Ruger Chemical, which
you can order from The Sugar Shack.
(You can also
use calcium citrate instead of calcium carbonate.
A sugar glider’s body may process calcium citrate more
efficiently. Donna Fritz has determined that 1/2tsp of 250mg calcium
citrate per can ensure equals out the same as if you where to use
carbonate.) If you are using the powdered version, pack the calcium
tight to come up to weight. This will bring the calcium to phosphorous
ratio up to 740+:360, which is slightly higher than the 2:1 ratio called
for in sugar glider diets. Feeding Instructions: Serve 2-3 tablespoons of the prepared Ensure vitamin
supplement combined with an equal portion of mixed, chopped fruits and
vegetables per sugar glider each night. There
are several other diets available for sugar glider owners to try.
The preceding selections represent only the diets that The Sugar
Shack recommends and utilizes in our personal dietary regimen.
These diets were selected based on the best nutritional information
available at this time and the ease in which the required components of
the selected diets could be obtained. If you desire to learn more about the different sugar glider diets and enrichment recipes that are available, please visit the following links: http://www.sugargliders.org/gliderinfo/diets/diet_index.htm |
