Frequently Asked Questions
Critter Love® Original staple diet known as Original HPW™ was created in 2005 with the intention of offering a healthy sugar glider diet to these animals that were still new to the USA. This staple used a powder that was developed in Australia specifically for flying foxes and later used for other nectar eating animals.
After years of research and development, we developed Critter Love® Plus, Critter Love® Complete & Critter Love® Breeders Formula (formerly known as HPW Plus™, HPW Complete™ & HPW Breeders Formula™). It was our focus to learn what our captive bred and kept pet sugar gliders nutritional needs called for.
We achieved to maintain a healthy pet food based on sound scientific research and truth, not marketing hype.
No matter which of our staple products you choose, whether for your pet only sugar gliders or your breeding sugar gliders, you can be assured that it is truly a staple you can trust in and your sugar gliders will thrive on.
Q: Why did you change the name of your products?
Critter Love® is now a registered trademarked name.
As a tribute to this milestone in our business, we have decided to brand our diet plan names as well.
Q: Who is Peggy Brewer?
Peggy Brewer is a Sugar Glider owner, breeder and has a deep love for the species. She is the Creator of the Original HPW™ (now known as the Critter Love® Original) diet . A published Author who applies 10% of her book (Sugar Gliders Living With and Caring For) profits towards research to make lives better for the animal known as The Sugar Glider. She currently owns 22 Sugar Gliders and is constantly working with a team of researchers to improve the health and well being for Sugar Gliders everywhere.
Q: Will I have issues receiving my products?
No. Unlike the Wombaroo High Protein Supplement, The Critter Love® Products are made and manufactured here in the United States. There will be no delays due to customs or import/export licensing issues to deal with.
Q: Will there be other distributors of the Critter Love® products?
Yes. We are currently setting up several accounts with some of your current retailers.
Q: Will it be affordable?
Extremely. With the products being manufactured here in the United States, this will help us to keep our prices as low as we possibly can. Our overall concern is to be sure that your Sugar Glider is getting a High Quality food product to remain happy and healthy for years to come.
Q: How do I know this product is safe?
Unlike any other Sugar Glider diet available to you, The Critter Love® PLUS and The Critter Love® COMPLETE are undergoing laboratory testing.
Q: Will I know what these test results are?
Yes. Once all testing are completed, the results will be shared with the general public.
Phase One of Mineral Testing on both foods and animals were performed between 10-2014 and 4-2015
Phase Two of Mineral Testing on Animals were performed on 1-2016
Phase Three of Mineral Testing on Animals were performed on 7-2017
Vitamin D first testing performed on Animals 8-2015
Vitamin D second testing performed on Animals 1-2016
Critter Love® diets were also tested in a recent study to show the effect of dietary soluble fiber on gut microbiota in the sugar glider.
"Evaluation of three popular diets fed to pet sugar gliders (Petarus Breviceps): Intake, digestion and nutrient balance" has also been accepted and printed in the Journal Of Animal Physiology and Animal Nutrition. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jpn.12727/full
Visit our News Page for published resultsQ: Are the Critter Love® products the same as the Wombaroo High Protein Supplement?
NO. They are completely different products from each other. Directions for each diet should be followed as written.
Q: Why is the crude protein level at 54% in the Critter Love® Plus, however at only 14% with the Critter Love® Complete?
Although the numbers are different in each of the powders, once the Critter Love® Plus is mixed with the eggs, honey, bee pollen, the Crude Protein level for the Critter Love® Plus then becomes 14% just as the Critter Love® Complete is.
published resultsQ: Why not just use the Critter Love® Original (a.k.a. OHPW)?
For almost the past decade there has been a diet used called The HPW™ Diet. This diet was created by Peggy Brewer after taking a product from Australia called Wombaroo High Protein Supplement to her Vet and asked for his advice. After working together a diet was created which has been used with much success, however, there were always some concerns and issues that needed to be dealt with. People had concerns the calcium: phosphorus ratio was too low.
There were times when shipments of the product took a long time to arrive to the United States from Australia. There were times that the prices for wholesalers fluctuated or the only distributor here in the United States did not have enough to go around to those who needed it. These were concerns that Peggy Brewer took in and wished to help people ease their worries.
People also worried about what to feed their Sugar Gliders during times of travel, evacuations, or emergency situations.
Working on improving the diet for Sugar Gliders for years, Peggy Brewer reached out and works with a team of some of the best Nutritionists/Chemists & Veterinarians in their fields.
Q: How do I become a distributor?
Please visit the Wholesale Page and read the requirements.
Q: Why should I switch my gliders from Critter Love® Original?
If you are completely happy with the prices you are paying and what you're getting with the Critter Love® Original (OHPW™) you've always fed - then there's no need to switch.
Critter Love® Products were simply developed to SOLVE many of the problems current Sugar Glider owners have been reporting for many years now with the Critter Love® Original (OHPW™) diet. Namely, these are: 1) sporadic availability, 2) Cost fluctuations 3) low calcium. As the original creator of the Critter Love® diet, in my professional opinion these products not only provide a FAR superior alternative to the old way of making HPW™ - but in fact they are also far more nutritionally-consistent and affordable for the average Sugar Glider owner.
Again, if you are completely happy with what you're currently doing - and happy paying the prices for the Wombaroo High Protein Supplement- then there's no need to change anything. However, we are SO confident that you'll LOVE everything about our products that we will make your decision VERY easy.
Simply contact us about getting a sample... try it out yourself... and then make whatever decision you feel is best for you and your Sugar Gliders. There's absolutely NO risk in trying -
And Its Made in the USA!!
Q: Any other vitamins or calcium supplements needed?
ABSOLUTELY NOT! No modifications of the instructions that are given are recommended. Doing so can cause health issues as with modifying any diet.
Q: Isn't it an infringement to use the Original HPW™ name for your products?
NO. The Original HPW™ name was created by Peggy Brewer when she created a diet.
It is not now, nor ever was a trademark name with any other company.
Q: Is it absolutely necessary to feed the Critter Love® Breeders Formula to my breeding sugar gliders?
No. If you are happy with the results that your current diet provides to your gliders, the number of joeys produced and your joeys' weights; and if mom and dad are both doing fine, then the new Critter Love® Breeder Formula™ is not something you have to offer. The choice is completely up to you and what you and your Veterinarian feel would be best for your pets.
Q: With the Original, it was always stated there was not a need to increase the calcium. The new products contain a higher calcium level than before. Can you please explain this?
Sure. With the Wombaroo High Protein Supplement, the powder itself was not a 2:1 Ca:P ratio. However, if fed the proper fruits and vegetables, the overall diet in itself was indeed a balanced diet which showed good ratios in the blood work that was taken from the Diet Creators Sugar Gliders.
This however, was not satisfactory with some of the Sugar Glider owners on the Sugar Glider Forums. They felt the numbers needed to look correct on paper as well, and therefore started suggesting to modify the "Old HPW™" and add either calcium powder, Orange Juice, Papaya or Mango to 'up' the numbers.
By giving these directions to some, it had caused the Sugar Gliders to have green, runny stools, crystals in urine, or a discoloration in their coat due to overfeeding a certain food or mineral.
This is when the Wombaroo High Protein Supplement was taken to some of the best Nutritionists/Chemists in the US and they were asked to break it down and helped make the improvements that were necessary to keep the levels at a safe level, yet allowing owners to feel confident and secure without all of the unnecessary worries that were placed on the Forums from people with no nutritional degrees, nor had they ever had testing done on their own sugar gliders.
Q: Have these products been tested with breeding sugar gliders as well?
Yes. The products have been tested with both pet only and breeding gliders. The joeys that have been produced have had both a great OOP weight, steady weight gain, healthy, happy joeys.
Q: Is it true you are mixing these products in your home?
NO. These products are commercially produced by a manufacturing company.
Q: Is it true you do not have fancy packaging?
Yes. It is true we have plain simple packaging for our product. We feel the most important thing is to make sure the Sugar Gliders have a safe, healthy diet to eat, instead of the fancy packaging. We would rather the Sugar Gliders like what they are eating instead of what they are looking at.
Q: What is the difference between the products?
Critter Love® Plus is a simple powder. The powder itself is a 2:1 Ca:P ratio. It contains Omega 6&3 Fatty Acids including Flax Seed Oil, which has proven over the years to be very beneficial to Sugar Gliders, and it contains a sweet Vanilla scent.
With this powder, other ingredients are required to make the powder a Complete Staple diet for your Sugar Glider.
Critter Love® Complete is an All In One powder. This powder also contains a 2:1 Ca:P ratio, Omega 6&3 Fatty Acids including Flax Seed Oil, and a sweet Vanilla Scent. With this product all that is necessary to add is water. This makes this product a simple solution for those who worry about the Ratios, Travel, Evacuations, or Emergency Situations as one serving can be made at a time and the staple will be complete.
Critter Love® Breeders Formula is an ALL in ONE powder. This powder contains a 3:1 Ca:P ratio, Omega 6&3 Fatty Acids including Flax Seed Oil, double the protein and a higher fat % and a sweet Vanilla Scent. This makes this product a simple solution for those who worry about their breeding females getting enough of what they need to provide good milk production during the different stages of nursing.
You can find more information under our resource tab: https://www.critterlove.com/the-critter-love-diet-plan
Q: It is true the Wombaroo Company (Paswell) filed a claim against you for using the acronym "HPW"?
NO. This is absolutely false. Gordon Rich himself, from
Paswell has stated that they refer to the Wombaroo High Protein Supplement as HPS and have never referred to it as HPW. That can be viewed in the following, Number 7.
-----Original Message-----
From: Wombaroo/Passwell <wombaroo@adelaide.on.net>
To: 'ness' Removed my email again
Sent: Tue, Mar 20, 2012 4:37 pm
Subject: RE: Sugar Glider diet
Hi Finnessa,
Thanks for your enquiry regarding our feeding guidelines for Sugar Gliders. In answer to your questions:
1) Please find attached our feeding guidelines
2) We don’t specifically recommend the use of “Green Juice”. However this could be used as a “vehicle” for creating an artificial nectar, as blended fruit juice is mainly composed of water and carbohydrate – if you add some Wombaroo High Protein Supplement to this, it will provide the essential protein, fatty acids, vitamins & minerals.
3) We don’t specifically recommend the use of Mazuri Insectivore diet – although they are well respected company in the zoo industry and this product looks reasonable at first glance. But we’re not in the business of critically analysing other company’s products. However, this product is quite high in Iron (335ppm compared to Wombaroo Small Carnivore which has <70ppm). I would question as to whether this level of iron is required for Sugar Gliders, however it may not be a problem if it is only a small portion of the diet.
4) We don’t have any published studies on the use of this diet for captive Sugar Gliders – there would be very few diets that do. However we do have over 25 years experience in formulating food products for native Australian animals. Remember we don’t manufacture a 100% complete diet for Sugar Gliders, we make a useful supplement that can be applied to a range of common food items to provide a more balanced diet.
5) Our recommendations are based on an energy usage of 2.5xBMR (Basal Metabolic Rate), which takes into account the lower energy needs of captive animals. Wild gliders can have energy intakes of about 4xBMR – ie would require significantly more energy. However, many nutrient requirements (eg vitamins, minerals and most essential amino acids) are not directly related to energy intake. Therefore to meet requirements, captive diets need to have higher concentrations of such nutrients than wild diets.
6) I hope these answers clarify your queries.
7) Our product is called Wombaroo High Protein Supplement or HPS for short. We’ve never referred to it as HPW.
Kind Regards,
Gordon Rich.
Wombaroo Food Products / Passwell Pty Ltd
PO Box 151
Glen Osmond
SA 5064
Ph 08 8391 1713
Fax 08 8391 1713
www.wombaroo.com.au
Q: Is it true you have a synthetic Vitamin K in your products?
First of all let me start off by asking is Vitamin K even a necessary ingredient?
YES, it is. Vitamin K is a very beneficial supplement that allows for proper blood clotting, helps to prevent bones from fractures, helps to prevent bone loss, and helps to prevent calcification of your arteries and more.
This Vitamin K supplement (Menadione sodium bisulfite complex) is approved for animal and pet food by the AAFCO (Association of American Feed Control Officials). This information may be obtained by reading The AAFCO Official Publication 2007.
Menadione sodium bisulfite complex is also approved by the FDA in use of animal and pet food. These synthetic forms have shown to be extremely safe by the FDA reporting there have been no adverse reactions in animals.
“People say Menadione is harmful.”
The US FDA has claimed their reviews of the Menadione has shown that up to one thousand times the recommended/required amounts can be used without any harmful effects. The only reported case of toxicity occurred in dogs when they ate warfarin (rat poison) and injected high levels of Vitamin K.
Menadione is the ONLY approved supplement for vitamin K per AAFCO. Vitamin K can be sourced from food, but if a supplement is added, only K3 menadione is allowed in all pet foods. A vitamin K made from food (such as a vitamin supplement sourced from spinach), would not be allowed.
Q: So why do people yell about your products containing this type of Vitamin K?
These same people who tell folks to stay away from my products due to the MSBC will turn around and tell folks to use another diet called BML which also contains MSBC or other diets which do not even list all of their ingredients and/or vitamin and calcium supplements.
If you have other pets in your home, dogs, cats, reptiles, birds…. Take a look at the ingredients 9 out of 10 will have MSBC in them.
Our diet has been developed by the aide and assistance of sugar glider knowledgeable veterinarian as well as an Animal Nutritionist. We strive to have the best, healthiest and delicious diet possible for our captive bred and raised pet sugar gliders and will continue to do so.
Samples are available to purchase... try it out yourself... and then make whatever decision you feel is best for you and your Sugar Gliders. There's absolutely NO risk in trying -
What could be more fair than that?
And Its Made in the USA!!
Critter Love at Brewer's Ranch
361-443-9365
Beeville, TX 78102