I just rehomed a pair of sugar gliders & the female (Nia) is overweight. So, based of what I've been able to find so far, the best way to help her slim down is to...

1) no high fat treats (mealies, yogies, etc)
2) cut back on honey in food (I'm feeding HPW)

She's definitly not ass bad as some pictures I've seen, but I think she's beyond 'fluffy'. (I'll be getting her weight at the vet tomorrow evening & then I need to find a scale to use at home.)

She seems to have hogged the wheel all night last night, so she definitly knows that she needs exercise. :D And as soon as I can get the 2nd wheel clean & set up that'll be in the cage as well (which will mean that 1 stealth & 1 wodunt wheels are available for them).

My two other gliders are about the same size & male. I know for certian that Fritz is about 97grams. Quinn will also get weighed tomorrow evening. Nia however, looks like it's difficult to move and does move slower.

Are there any other ideas to help her? Also, what is a good treat that's low in fat that I can use to 'bribe' her instead of yogies & mealies?

I'll try to get some pictures tonight during their out of cage time.

I would like to see a picture....because some people told me that mine may not be fat, just large sugar gliders.....she uses her wheel alot...but I too would like to know what lowfat treats they have out there :)

So, she's damn! But hasn't reached oh hell no yet huh? If you watch Gabriel Iglesias, you'll know the terminology. I believe the six levels of fat are big, heavy, husky, fluffy, damn and oh hell no! Maybe a wheel of her very own.

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by giraffelady</i>
<br />I would like to see a picture....because some people told me that mine may not be fat, just large sugar gliders.....she uses her wheel alot...but I too would like to know what lowfat treats they have out there :)
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Kisses and snuggles are low fat treats.

Photo and actual weight would be helpful if you can post that

Question...are there really food treats named kisses & snuggles? Or do you mean lots of love & care? lol (Hey, you never know with the typically 'cutsie' sugar glider world, lol.)

I'll definitly try to get some good photos tonight. And right after their vet check up tomorrow evening I'll post the weight as well.

Definitely meant love and care. That would be a cute name for treats though!

lol That's what I thought! :D They would be good treat names. :D

HAHAHAA....it's funny yall said that about kisses and snuggles as treats....but when I ordered some treats from a website, they sent a sample of some treats called "Hugs and Kisses". I will give them some real kisses and snuggles as soon as they let me.....I have only had them 2 weeks so we are trying to get a little bonded with each of them. As for the 6 levels of fatness...I'd say mine are heavy.

my binky has "goobies" but he only weighs 118 grams.

awwwwe....what a cute picture.....the goobies are cute!

"Man Boobs"
Art

Binky doesn't look fat, but alot of mine look like that so it is normal look for us.
Duke is 180 grams and isn't really fat either, not to me anyways.

The 1st is a pic I took last night; the 2nd is a pic that their previous owner sent me.

I know that I've seen bigger that are considered healthy. The red flags for me is 1) the difference between the older picture & the most recent picture & 2) she has difficulty moving around.

Nia has very low energy compared to the boys & she has trouble on vines & branches. It makes me sad to watch her laborously (sp?) climb the makeshift vines I put in their cage.

So, here's what I'm going to do to help her:

<ul><li> No yogies </li><li> No mealies </li><li> 2 wheels in cage </li> <li> food bowl at the bottom of the cage </li> <li>sleeping pouch at the top of the cage</li></ul>

However I would like to still be able to give her treats so she doesn't feel left out when the boys get one. So, what kind of ideas do you all have besides fresh fruit and low-fat yogurt? Are cickets low in fat (when gut fed for 48 hrs)? What about sunflower seeds?

Are there healthy foods for them that help increase metabolism?

And are there any other ways that I can help her loose the excess weight in a healthy manner?

Be careful how fast she loses weight, a fast weight loss in sugar gliders can lead to fatty liver disease.

Oh, I'll definitly keep an eye on it. Getting a scale today after work. What would be healthy? A gram or two a week? Or less?

I ordered some glider cookies from a lady that makes them....she has a lower fat recipe now. I got them yesterday and they really seemed to like them....of course they looked at me like "this is not a yoggie lady" but they will enjoy them more each day. www.handmadejewelry4jesus.com/cookies
That is the site......

Thanks, I'm really liking the sound of those 'cookies'. :D

They smelled really good....I could use a few low fat treats myself :)

I wish the site would list what is in the cookies I have an issue eating or giving my pets anything that I can not see what is inside them. I also don't like "secret" ingredients as a person saying they are safe doesn't make it so.

I try not to eat / feed anything that I can not pronounce.

I agree, I would like to see a full list of ingrediets. Has anyone else used this 'company's' sugar glider products? If so, what was your experience?

I got her info off Glider Central....but I do have the ingredients when I recieved the cookies. I can scan it to my email this evening when I get home and email it to you......you can send me you email address.

Thanks address away :)

Thank you for offering. I sent you an email.

ok...it will be later this evening when I get home.

I disagree VERY strongly to putting this sugar glider in the first pic on a diet Kat.
The second pic is of a healthy sugar glider on a good diet, what I see in the first pic is under size and possibly the start of dehydration. Look at the smooth fur in the second pic and how taut or smooth tight looking and then look at the photo you took. On the stripe do you see how it isn't smooth and sort of extra skin or fur looking and not smooth and even?
I would give this glider ALOT of smoothie type food with juice added and a good diet and extra portions until it gets the look of the second picture. The baby can't climb or balance if it doesn't have a good diet and enough liquis in the diet, not just water. But would add water and fruit juice mixture. The striped fur doesn't even lay flat down his/her back. I had gliders come in that looked like this and drank and ate like there was no tomorrow until they got back to normal, also a mom stopped nursing(didn't know baby age) but after a couple of days her pouched opened up so baby could eat food(tasting) and nursed.

Here is a link to Duke, one of my large boys you can see the fur is smooth and taught.
Error, missing URL. 0

Sorry can't get link to work, the shame.

It is in Glider Talk and Travel, unless a very kind person would fix another link for me...
Art

She does drink a lot of water...I'll put unflavored pedialite (sp?) on my shopping list tonight. Also, I have a fruit smoothie http://www.sweet-sugar-gliders.com/sugar-glider-fruit-smoothie-recipe.html that I know Fritz loves...would that also help her rehydrate?

Would adding Glideraid to the pedialite also help? Also, she hardly eats...even the HPW mix...the only thing I've seen her eat is a bit of a yogie when we first met and I am almost positive she ate a blackberry...but that's all I know about. The stools that I've seen from her are tiny...about the size of this 'o'. While Fritz's are typically <---> and Quinn's are a mix of <---> and <------->. Quinn also is drinking more water than I typically see Fritz do.

Note: Fritz I've had for about 1/2 a year. The other two joined the colony just this past sunday. See http://www.sugarglider.com/glidergossip/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=31666 for the back story of Nia & Quinn.

I'll also see what the vet thinks at Nia's & Quinn's checkup tonight.

~ The 1st pic was taken last night and is only of Nia (she had just woken up).
~ The 2nd pic was given to me by the orriginal owner, I do not know how old it is. It is of Nia (top) & Quinn (bottom).

P.S. - to make a URL live put before & after the link.

As for glideraide and Pedialyte I personally don't like alot of chemicals but drinking alot more is a warning sign of sorts.
I would use smoothie if she eats it add a little 100 fruit juice blend as it has more variety. Did you tent test her? Did it show dehydration?

If so then I believe the pedialyte is called for plus possible Sub Q. It may not be to that point yet...
I will try the link again
%20www.glidercentral.net/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/1064580/Duke_and_Duchess#Post1064580%20&20%

Anyway no go on link, I will have to practice. you can go to gc and look if you want, I am 1daddyglider1 over there. Post is Duke and Duchess.

Glad they are going to the vet, I would take the two photos with you so the vet can see what they did look like and how they look now.
Art

I haven't done a tent test since I thought that the increased drinking was due to the stress of moving to a new home. But I'll do one as soon as I get home tonight before going to the vet.

I'll give her the smoothie...I used 100% baby fruit juice (I think it was apple) and since the recipie was pretty thick I thinned it some with a little extra yogurt & juice. I used a mix of frozen fruit to also help with viarity.

As for the pedialite, I also don't want to use a lot of it...but I'm thinking mixing (1:1) it into their water will be ok for a little bit. I'll also give them some glideraid (not something I do on a regular/frequent basis) to see if that also helps.

Thankfully I have a smart phone so pulling up the photos to show Dr. Bowles will be easy, I was already thinking of doing so.

Note: I gave all three a few licks worth of yogurt this morning as a treat. Plus, I like to provide it every now & then to help keep the digestive system moving smoothly. She did eat that and seemed to enjoy it. Though the boys definitly wanted more of it. Last night when I offered some dried fruit as a small treat, she didn't touch hers except for a few licks.

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Omis n Kais g-ma</i>
<br />So, she's damn! But hasn't reached oh hell no yet huh? If you watch Gabriel Iglesias, you'll know the terminology. I believe the six levels of fat are big, heavy, husky, fluffy, damn and oh hell no! Maybe a wheel of her very own.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Thats funny!

I also wouldn't recommend Gatoraide. It has unnecessary salt and sugar. You certainly wouldn't need Pedialyte AND Gatoraide. You also should not be giving Pedialyte unless you are treating dehydration. Fresh fruits, veggies and water provide all the water they need if they're healthy.