Why do you need a specific mixture to feed your sugar gliders?

We here at Critter Love® have the extreme pleasure of working with one of the top Animal Nutritionists in the field.

We have preformed mineral testing on both the food products and on the sugar gliders themselves. When testing the sugar gliders, we had different groups on different salad mixtures. These tests showed how very important it is to have the proper mixtures in a salad for the overall health of our pet sugar gliders.

The mineral testing on the group of sugar gliders that followed our recommended mixtures showed to be successful and healthy. The mineral testing on the sugar gliders that did not follow the recommended mixtures showed to have nutrients lacking. Both sets of sugar gliders gave the 'appearance' of being in great health with bright eyes, gorgeous coats and healthy appetites and activity levels.

We have sat down and worked on changing our mixtures to offer a larger variety than what we had offered previously, while maintaining the proper nutrient profile.

If you are feeding ANY of the Critter Love® Staples, Critter Love® Original, Critter Love® Plus, Critter Love® Complete & Critter Love® Breeders Formula (all formerly known as HPW diets) they should be fed alongside one of our Critter Love® salad mixtures.

Serving size is 24g per glider to be fed alongside your choice of a Critter Love® staple. **Preparation instructions for salads located below.

Salad 1

Frozen Peas 400 g
Celery 250 g
Yellow Wax Beans 350 g
Frozen Mixed Vegetables (Peas, Carrots, Green Beans, Corn) 400 g
Frozen Diced Green Peppers (or 2 medium green peppers diced.) 350 g
Bok Choy (Chopped) 300 g
Kale 850 g
Papaya (chopped) 900 g
Frozen Mixed Berries
(Blackberries, Blueberries, Raspberries) 400 g

Salad 2

Cabbage 500 g
Celery 500 g
Frozen Mixed Vegetables (Peas, Carrots, Green Beans, Corn) 800 g
Cilantro 150 g
Parsley 300 g
Dandelion Greens (Chopped) 300 g
Watercress 150 g
Gala Apples (chopped,skin on)1200g

Salad 3

Frozen Peas 400 g
Kale 800 g
Frozen Mixed Vegetables (Peas, Carrots, Green Beans, Corn) 400 g
Yellow Wax Beans 350 g
Cucumber (skin on, wash well) 300 g
Bok Choy (Chopped) 500 g
Frozen Mixed Berries
(Blackberries, Blueberries, Raspberries) 400 g
Gala Apples (chopped,skin on) 250 g
Cantaloupe or Tuscan Melon (Deseeded and rind removed) 500 g

Salad 4

Pears or Apples (cored & deseeded) 400g
Frozen Mixed berries (Black Berries, Blueberries, Raspberries) 400g
Kiwi and/or Passion Fruit, Cactus Fruit 400g
Green Beans (frozen or fresh) 350g
Frozen Peas 400g
Frozen Mixed Vegetables 200g
Beets 200g
Butternut Squash 300g
Any combination chopped seasonal greens
(collards, mustard, turnip, watercress) 800g

Salad 5

Berries (i.e. blackberries, blueberries,raspberries) 300 g
Apple 250g
Pear 250g
Green pepper 500g
Peas 450g
Frozen Mixed Veg 450g
Mushrooms 300g
Broccoli 500g
Kale 500g
Bok Choy 500g

**** For Substitutions:

Green Beans could substitute for yellow wax beans Kiwi, mango, and melon chunks could substitute for papaya. Watercress and Arugula could substitute for the kale. Bok Choy could substitute for the cabbage Dragonfruit could substitute for Passion fruit, Cactus fruit.

The following is what you will need to prepare one of the Critter Love® Salads:

2.5 gallon Rubbermaid Freezer Safe Container with lid.
All Vegetables and Fruits in one of the salad mixtures. (Be sure to wash well and dry off)
Large Spoon
Gram Scale
 
Place your Rubbermaid container off to the side, but accessible, be sure the lid is off of it. Cut all foods into pieces. These pieces do not have to be that small. Chopping them is fine. Gliders can hold larger pieces of food.

• I make my salads around noon.
• Weigh all vegetables pieces and all fruit pieces and place in the Rubbermaid container.
• Take spoon and stir it around.
• Place lid on container and place in freezer.
• 2-3 hours later pull container out of freezer, remove lid, take spoon and stir again. This will make sure that none of the foods are freezing to each other.
• Do this for approx. 1-2 minutes or until thoroughly stirred.
• Place lid back on container put back in freezer.
• Take back out in 2-3 hours (which is feeding time anyway), take spoon, stir around, and scoop out what is needed to serve to gliders, put lid back on container, and place back in freezer.
• Do this one last time before going to bed.
• This mixture will last you a long time, if it is too large for you, you can cut the mixture down by decreasing the size of the amounts you put in by half.  
• There is a conversion chart that gives amounts to make smaller amounts.

24g is actually the normal amount to be fed to gliders. Most tell you to feed 12g of mixed vegetables and mixed fruits. My vegetables and fruits are combined in a container. This is an average serving size for adult gliders.

** Please note, these mixtures make a large amount of food. If you wish to make smaller portions just divide each item in half or if you wish to make larger quantities just double the amount on each portion. 

Here at Critter Love® the cost to make these three mixtures using amounts given was approximately $75. These three mixtures will last us approximately 2-1/2 to 3 months and we have a total of 17 adults and joeys at different times. 

We would like to thank World-Renowned Animal Nutritionist
 Dr. Ellen Dierenfeld. for her time, support and assistance.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us