First daft question

[callmechook]

I'm reading up about Gliders and read Marie's dieat suggestions, when she says she whizzes stuff in the blender does that mean to a smooth consistency like a babyfood or roughly chopped so the gliders get semi solids? Sorry if this is a really stupid question but I'm a total novice and I want to make sure I know enough before they come to get it right xxxxxxxxxx

[loulou]

This is where you will get different answers from different people

Personally I blend mine so its finely chopped but is still blended enough they cant pick out their favourite foods and ignore the rest

some people blend to nearly a mush so there gliders have to have a bit of everything keeping the cal:ph ratio intake correct.

others chop their food (as i used to before i got the blender)

for roughage in the diet I personally use Iams cat biscuits (as recommended in maries diet for a protein source) locusts, morio worms, meal worms. and I have drilled holes in some of their branches and filled it with acacia gum (you can buy this from www.shropshire-exotics.co.uk) they then have to do what they do naturally to get it.

Other glider owners will be along shortly to tell you how they prepare their gliders diets and Im sure some will be completely differet ways to my own

[callmechook]

  Thats great thank you next one is
Calcium/Phosphorus ratio 2:1 is that overall for the food mix, it reads that way but just want to check
and whether thats for equal amounts of each food type, so say a teaspoon of each and can you freeze it or should it be fresh, sorry  xxxxxxxxxxxxx

[Cerian]

Ooo, first questions - yay!

Right, well first off Lou is totally right about choice of consistance varying from person to person. I'm a blend-it-till-it's-nearly-mush, as I'm extremelly anal about keeping their Ca:P ratio correct as much as I can.

As for the Ca:P ratio question, it's overall - see this link for an explanation, if you haven't already. 

And I do freeze my blended fruits, yes. I make sure I replace it every 2 weeks though. They also get a staple diet of insectivore fresh from the packet every day.

[jungleflockmom]

I am not as anal about the Ca:p ratio. I look at what they eat over a few days and make sure that the Ca:p ratio is favorable (more than 1:1) and not more overall than 2:1.

If pomegranates are in season, my gliders might gorge on this nutritious fruit for a couple of nights and eat less of their "glider mush". But then I feed collards as their veggie for the few nights afterward. I worry more about making sure their diet is balanced over a period of days or weeks rather than on a daily basis.

If you don't want to spend too much of your time on these ratios, just follow Marie's diet. It's been a healthful one for many years.

[Marie]

I'm very anal about ca:p ratio's I'm afraid, but I'm starting to relax a bit!  lol

It doesn't really matter to what consistency you blend the fruit, sometimes I blend it to baby food consistency others I leave chunky bits.  The ca;p ratio, to get it bang on would mean you would have to do equal amounts of fruit, so 50g pawpaw, 50g apple etc.  The Iams cat biccies have a ratio of 1:1 just for your information

[callmechook]

Thanks guys I'm getting a much better idea of what to do now  (and making plans) Marie I read your site thoroughly and will be going over and over it testing myself  . The babies will be coming with some food so that gonna be an amazing help, and had a chat with Loulou last night as well as they are coming from her so she's been very helpful and great fun too!!!!

Think the food thing should be ok I'll check what they have been on before they come and work from that, one of the children has a diet issue so I'm practised at checking amounts and compositions etc so it shouldn't be too hard to extend it to the Gliders. I'm getting very excited and started on the shopping list already so that I have all they need well before they arrive!!!!!!!

[Marie]

lol - soon you'll be walking around the fruit section with all the ca:p ratio's ingrained in your brain!   

[jungleflockmom]

And you will seem to be buying the strangest combinations of things! lol

[Cerian]

And you'll go in there to get the week's shopping, and when you walk out realise you've only bought stuff for your suggies. 

[Alfalfa]

I cut my fruit and veg. up into small pieces. I do not blend the food as I give them the original Leadbeater possum nectar and this is blended. I also believe they should have hard food to chew on. The vets here in Melbourne Australia believe that a purely soft diet for Marsupilas leads to lumpy jaw not the other way around as indicated in some forums. The Marsupial animals seen in rehabilatation with lumpy jaw have been on soft diets so now hard foods have been introduced with a turn around in incidence of lumpy jaw. For gliders we give several small pellets of dog chow. This is a preium brand of Dog food.

[Marie]

Woohoo Alfalfa - nice one!!  That's what we believe about 'lumpy jaw' here too

[jungleflockmom]

And that's what some believe in the USA, too.  My gliders have the most fun stripping the bark from eucalyptus and acacia branches then gnawing bigger holes in the branches.

I use cat food as a part of my gliders' diet but have given them premium organic dog biscuits and they love that, too.