VGV is an acronym for Val's Green Variety Diet created by Val Betts in conjunction with veterinarian Dr. Walsh around 2008. This diet focuses on a variety of organic green foods. Feeding a wide array of produce and a few staple supplements ensures that nutrients are being absorbed in a healthy balance.

Ingredients:These are the ingredients present in every batch.
1 1/2 cup Knudsen MEGA GREEN juice¹
1/4 cup organic apple sauce
1/4 cup collard greens
1/2 cup alfalfa sprouts ²
3/4 cup any other organic juice
1/2 Tablespoon bee pollen
1/2-1 hardboiled egg - no shell
1 Tablespoon flax seed oil ³
1/2 teaspoon ground milk thistle ⁴
Additional Ingredients: Add 2-3 of the following to create variation in each batch.
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1 teaspoon red palm oil
1/8 teaspoon liquid vitamin E
1/2 cup kale
1 crushed/pulverized SamE tablet
1 additional teaspoon of barley grass powder
1/2 cup fruit puree or a different flavor fruit juice
1/4 cup chopped okra
1 Tablespoon raw or manuka honey
1 Tablespoon Wombaroo High Protein Supplement powder
1 teaspoon Calcium Carbonate powder
1 Tablespoon acacia powder
1 Tablespoon yucca powder

Throw ingredients and chosen additional ingredients into a blender and mix thoroughly, then freeze in ice cube trays.
Feed each Sugar Glider: 1/2 Tablespoon of VGV mix, 1/2 Tablespoon of fresh fruit, and 1 1/2 Tablespoons of vegetables.
Every fourth day offer scrambled eggs, shrimp, chicken, or another protein source.
Provide two - three times per week a hard substrate food such as: high quality dog kibble, high quality cat food, or high quality glider pellets IN ADDITION to the VGV diet. Each glider gets 2-3 pieces placed throughout the cage.

These ingredients can be found at health food stores, farmers markets, or online.

For nursing females add one extra egg or use High Protein Wombaroo Supplement.

Because the ingredients in this diet vary, Calcium to Phosphorus ratios are not calculated. Feeding a variety of balanced fruits and vegetables should ensure adequate Calcium intake.

Offer a wide variety of fruits and vegetables every night, at least 6 different vegetables and 3 different fruits each night. Cut them into small pieces to ensure each glider gets a wide variety in just one tablespoon. Only avoid foods that are unsafe, all others are fair game.

Val Betts comments on the idea behind the VGV Diet and her overall opinion thus far: "This diet is not just about the food they eat, but about the experience of eating. I routinely hide foods all over the cage and/or change the location that they eat in the cage. I offer different textures, different size bites, different colors and a variety of different tastes in one meal. I believe that gliders enjoy being able to take their food to a different place in the cage and eat it, while others enjoy sitting at the dish and eating, so I do not recommend feeding this diet as a pureed diet. Eating should be an experience that stimulates their taste buds as well as thier intellect (by encouraging foraging and hunting for food) and their emotions - making it an enjoyable and unique experience each night.

My gliders LOVE this diet and have far more energy than they did before. Dr. Walsh has been very pleased with the health of my gliders (as have I) in the time I have been feeding this diet. I love that it is full of healthy, organic things, and not so much supplementation" ⁵

Notes

   ¹^ Substitution:8g of Green Superfood and 1 1/2 cup water
   ²^ Substitution:1 tablespoon dried alfalfa leaf
   ³^ Substitution:1 Tablespoon flax seed meal
   ⁴^ Substitution:Low Alcohol/Alcohol Free Milk Thistle. This was at the advice of Dr. Walsh...given that I have several gliders with some liver issues. Milk thistle my be omitted.
   ⁵^ http://thesweetspot.forumotion.net/t86-val-s-green-variety-diet

SEE ALSO

Notes