In Reply to: Re: peeeee-uuuuuu! posted by kelli on June 22, 2000 at 22:51:24:

OK, I'm no expert but I think that's your problem, or part of it. I don't blame you. I just think it's too bad your pet shop doesn't know better.
1) Nuts and seeds are very high in fat and gliders have a hard time metabolising fat: It leads to all kind of digestive problems, eye problems, and offspring handicaps such as blindness. Nuts and seeds shoud be given in very small amounts, only as occasional treat.
2) Gliders need protein from insects (mealworms, crickets, ets) and meat. In the wild, they eat specific saps and nectars but also insects, small rdents, small birds and even lizards. So adding chicken, tofu, egg and calcium supplements is recommended on nearly all the glider diets I have seen. Lack of calcium leads to devastating problems, among which decalcification of bones (hind-leg paralysis) which if not treated early is lethal.
3) Apples are quite high in phosphorous and phosphorous hinthers the assimilation of calcium.
4) I wouldn't feed Cheerios to my gliders. We should stay away from processed foods, consertation agents, refined sugar, salt, etc.
I think most would agree that about 66 % fresh fruit and vegetable (watching the calcium/phosphorous ratio) and about 34 % protein is right. (For a breeding female, the fruit+vegetable to protein ratio gets closer to 50% - 50%).
Please do more research. We are lucky, the net is full of great information (beware, there is a lot of erroneous info too). There are some helpful books out there as well.
I am not trying to scare you. You came to this forum and it proves you mean well.
It's just that sugar gliders are very specific in their needs.
For more info on diet, you may want to go to:
http://www.angelfire.com/nb/sugarglider/dietc.aspl
and from there, link to Bourbon's own Leadbeater's diet.

Also, for a good starting point in general, look up:
http://www.angelfire.com/nb/sugarglider/
Don't miss the bonding page, it is excellent!
But please remember to ease the transition from your actual glider diet to the new one you will adopt. A sudden change of diet is a great source of stress. You want to add new diet elements very gradually. Sugar gliders are a bit fussy too so you may need to try an item several time before they will actually eat it.
There are several good ways to provide gliders with a balanced diet. The one your pet shop advocated seems not only unbalanced but very harmful. Maybe you didn't expect to have to do a lot of research when you got your glider but please do it. It's well worth every hour spent reading.
Well, I hope this is more helpful than discouraging,
Good luck!
PS: About the smell and your glider's defecating in the pouch, You may want to post a message directly to Bourbon. I think she could give you helpful advice. Also, is there a vet who know gliders well in your area?

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