Correct Diets for Captive Sugar Gliders

Many mammals (including humans) adapt to a wide variety of food sources. Mammals in general, can thrive by consuming proteins, fats, carbohydrates etc. in many different forms. Sugar gliders are no exception. Certainly, any single food source that contains the exact nutrition necessary to sustain life would be adequate to keep them alive, but as you know, humans, and our animal friends, prefer to eat a variety of foods. Sugar gliders do not prefer, nor, are they healthier eating the same food over and over again, day after day, week in and week out.

In the wild, Sugar gliders consume a wide variety of foods. This varied diet provides adequate nutrition for their species to propagate and prosper.

If you have read or heard promotional material from a pet food company, Sugar glider breeder, or veterinarian that hints of offering ‘only their food’...then you have been exposed to a ‘marketing ploy’ used to promote a product that company, breeder, or veterinarian is touting. This just is absolutly not accurate information. It's a ploy. If Sugar gliders, thrived on only one specific type of extruded 'man made' food, then the wild populations of Sugar gliders would diminish in a short period of time, since a varied diet is exactly what they feed on in the wild. The fact of the matter is, they survive just fine consuming blossoms, flower nectar, sap from eucalyptus trees, acacia gum, and insects.

By consuming their native food sources, the Gliders don’t need a separate vitamin source to stay healthy!

So, why then do certain companies/veterinarians... persist at informing the public that their food product/vitamin is the only product that will keep your Sugar glider healthy? The answer is simple, they have a financial interest in promoting the food and attempt to persuade you into feeding that product.

The fact of the matter is: Sugar gliders can, and will, sustain an adequate nutrition balance using many different food sources. Just as humans can sustain excellent health by eating a variety of fresh fruits, vegetables, meats etc. … Sugar gliders do the same by eating a variety of fruits, vegetables, insects and nectars. They thrive on this diet it in the wild … and they thrive on it in captivity!

We at Exotic Nutrition are appalled at the misinformation and misleading suggestions made by some self proclaimed experts with ties to the Sugar glider trade. They remind us of doctors who push certain brands of medications because of the ‘perks’ that pharmaceutical manufactures offer them. It really amounts to a conflict of interest.

We at Exotic Nutrition, maintain the belief, that variety in the diet of a Sugar glider is not only welcomed, but much more nutritionally complete than some extruded food products that are pumped out by machines and left to sit in warehouses for months or even years, losing it’s nutritional value, before it is shipped to you.

Exotic Nutrition Sugar glider foods (we make 10 varieties) are produced fresh. Most ingredients used in the pelleting of our diets is grown locally, and the ones we can’t grow here in Virginia are imported from reliable sources abroad. The dried fruits used in our blends... are human grade. Exotic Nutrition acacia gum blends are mixed right here in our warehouse by hand, as are most of our other foods and treats. We have been producing and supplying Sugar glider foods to breeders, institutions, and pet owners for over 10 years with exceptional results, and healthy animals.

In conclusion … we suggest that you follow common sense principles. Offer your pet Sugar gliders quality foods that are fresh, a diet that contains the suggested nutritional balance. Your pet Sugar gliders will not only thrive, but they will flourish by consuming a healthy variety of fresh nutritional foods, rather than stale extruded foods ... day after day.

Ken Korecky

Ken Korecky

President - Exotic Nutrition Pet Co.

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