What to feed my sugar glider ?

You might be confused as what is the right amount or type of food to feed sugar gliders as the internet & unethical sellers will tell you different things. So far we are still not 100% sure of their food intake because from what most of us read on the internet, in the wild sugar gliders eat tree sap, eucalyptus gum, nectar, small preys like lizards, insects, bird eggs etc. Based on this, we know they are omnivorous & as pets, it is difficult for us to give the same type of food they can get in the wild.

After many trials & errors, many sugar glider lovers have found that 75% of fresh fruits & fresh vegetables, 25% protein & insects are the best ratio for them. The amount is according to how much your sugar glider can eat at one session. Young joeys tend to eat more frequently compared to adults. You may feed your adult sugar glider twice a day while joeys may need to be fed three to four times a day.

There are plenty of safe & recommended diets available on the internet that you can follow like BML, HPW or Darcy's but some of the ingredients are not easy to buy in our local stores. So I suggest that you save time & headache by getting ready made "suggie smoothie" by Uncle Taro which is sold on this forum. "smoothie" contains the vitamins & calcium that your sugar glider needs for a long & healthy life. You can feed a tablespoon of smoothie with fresh fruits & vegetables per glider. Water should always be available for them.

Now, I would like to share with you the DO NOT FEED items & the reasons why :-
*NEVER EVER feed CHOCOLATE - This is because chocolate is TOXIC to all animals. It causes a bad chemical reaction in their body.
*DO NOT feed INSECTS that are caught in or around your house - You do not know what they ate & they might be POISONOUS.
*DO NOT give TEA or COFFEE - It contains caffeine & nicotine (found in cigarettes) & high in oxalate (which stops bone from absorbing calcium)
*NO SUGAR (white, brown, rock etc) - No nutritional value. (Want to give something sweet ? Try honey. ONLY processed honey sold in stores. NEVER raw honey)
*NO MILK or SOYA - Their stomach can not take it.
*NO NUTS, AVOCADO, DURIAN, OIL (cooking), FRIED FOOD - It's high in fat. It's not good (healthy) for you so do you think it's good for them ?
*NO CORN, LONGAN & LYCHEE - High in phosphorus. Not good for bones. Better be safe than sorry.
*NO LETTUCE - No nutrition & sugar gliders poo will be watery.

How about fruits you ask ? Well, we in Malaysia are very lucky to have so many types to choose from so it's up to your imagination & creativeness to try out what your sugar glider likes. They are just like us humans with their own preferences. Always feed them different fruits & vegetables because this will stimulate them & keep them getting bored. Just remember they love sweet fruits. The only think I would like to caution you is banana, peaches, orange, grapes & raisins can be given but only once a while.

Besides fruits, vegetables & smoothie, you can feed your sugar glider with boiled chicken meat. NO SKIN. NO FAT. Just meat. Hard boiled chicken egg mashed or scrambled egg. Once again NO OIL. Chicken & egg will give them extra protein.

Meal worms ? Crickets ? You can buy them from fish shops but make sure you gut load them at least 24 hours before feeding it to your sugar gliders. You do not know what was fed to the meal worms or cricket. Gut load? Feed the meal worms or crickets with fruits or vegetable.

Another thing that we like to give our sugar gliders is sugar cane. Yes, the sugar cane that you can get from kopitiam or pasar malam. They love it & it also helps them keep their tiny teeth clean.

~ Remember, It's Not Hard. It's Just The Most Important Thing You Can Do For Your Sugar Glider ~