HPW Diet

[Emms]

I am new to this site and I have noticed that your diets are different from ours here in the US. So far from what I am reading it doesn't seem like you feed a mix like this. My guys are VERY picky and they LOVE this mix but are not too thrilled with fruits and veggies. So I am open to something new. 

HPW Recipe
Ingredients
2 cups warm water
1.5 cups honey
3 scrambled eggs
1/4 cup High Protein Wombaroo Powder (if you have a breeding pair with a nursing or lactating female, increase the amount of HPW Powder to 1/2 cup for the female's HPW Diet)
*1 TABLEspoon Australian Bee Pollen (or American Bee Pollen)


1.5 TEAspoons of HPW per glider
1 TABLEspoon of mixed fruits
1 TABLEspoon of mixed veggies
Mealies for treats
Gliderade once or twice a week



Any thoughts on this diet?

[munshkin]

Hi Emms,

Welcome to all things sugar glider UK style !

My first impression is that it is very sweet but there doesn't seem to be anything "crunchy" to help remove tartar from teeth. my first suggie had been raised on Leadbeaters and at 2 and a half years old had infected teeth with a bad build up of tartar, I would imagine this type of problem would be more prevalent in the US than over here with our more "savory" diets?

[helen88uk]

I guess I don't really understand how much is meant by a 'cup'. With 1.5 of honey surely it cant be a normal drinking cup size can it? I prefer not to give my guys honey or anything 'sugary'. Their 'sweet tooth' is satisfied by the fruits they get. I agree with what Munshkin said about the crunch helping to clean the teeth. I definately suggest finding 'crunch' somewhere

[Marie]

The whole reason we don't use HPW, BML or any of the other leadbeater moderations is due to the honey content.  As the others have said the build up on the teeth causing bad teeth, cavaties etc.  But also there is the issue of peaks and troughs in the blood sugar levels.  

I actually made up a batch of HPW a few years ago as I was using the Wombaroo HPW supplement at the time and I was absolutley stunned at the amount of honey to the point I didn't give it to my gliders.  I gave it to my Striped Possums who eat honey as a natural part of their diet.  

Your suggies probably do not like their fruit and veg because they're not sweet enough, they're hooked on sugar (I know the feeling!!!).  Why eat healthy fruit and veg when you can eat chocolate?  Anyway, back to the glider's diet ... why eat their fruit and veg when you have have yummy, sweet honey!

As a side, we do not recommend sweetcorn  as a part of the diet, because apart from the incredibly poor ca:p ratio, they tend to go for the corn and leave everything else!  I remember an American girl on here who's glider wouldn't eat anything but corn and he had to be weaned off it.  

[Emms]

I thought it was a lot of sugar too...  I also give them Canidae dogfood from time to time. One of my guys loves it the other hates it. Go figure .  So can anyone suggest a different diet to try? Should I stay away from the "mixes" altogether? Over here they lose their minds if cat food is mentioned.  Should I just stick to a protein, veggies and fruit? I just worry about them not getting enough calcium.. They LOVE their mealies... Here however they are only used as a treat. I can't help but wonder why.. I mean don't they eat a ton of bugs in the wild? Pinkie mice(baby mice) are also suppose to be good for them... I can't bring myself to feed them tho. I don't many that do. They seem to like boiled chicken, spring mix salad, really ripe mango, apples here and there, corn(they get once in a blue moon), boiled eggs..  Othere than that not much. I have never seen such picky eaters.  I would love to get them to eat more. I am going to a produce store later and I plan to try bean sprouts. I wasn't sure they could have them at first.. I just try one thing new at a time because it usually goes to waste when they don't eat it.  .. Like I said I am open to suggestions!!!

[helen88uk]

Most live food doesn't seem to have much to it. Great as a treat, but they don't contain much goodness or have a high nutruitional value. Gut loading them can help but a lot of people/pet shops don't bother. And regarding cat biscuits, I was banned from the fb suggie site just last week for saying that I fed them!

Have a look at some of the diet recipes on here, the fruit and veg mixes are really good. Mine weren't keen on veg for AGES, just had to slowly sneak it in bit by bit. Now they quite happily eat whatever I give them. Maybe try using just tre fruit ones to begin with and then introduce a few veggies later if you have trouble feeding them. Some people add a little bit of honey to this to begin with just to make it more appealing if you have very fussy gliders and then gradually decrease the honey as they get used to it. Only talking teaspoons per batch tho rather than a cup full.

I've heard about someone in the US feeding monkey biscuits to their suggies. I'm sure Marie had mentioned it before. And if you're worried about calcium you can buy calcium powder from Maries shop that you can suppliment their meals with x

[Marie]

One of the reasons I stopped using the 'main' US forum is because I got such a hard time for feeding cat food as a protein source!  I was told I was killing my gliders!!!   

I personally would stay away from honey based diets, but it's up to you.   The recipes in this topic are all worked out for you so the ratios are correct if fed with cat food as the protein source. 

This topic is what most of us stick to although I have modified it a little bit by adding wheatgerm and linseed.

You might want to have a look at Pricilla Price's diet, as you're in the US the supplements will be easier and cheaper for you to buy from her site. When you have as many gliders as I do it's just not a viable diet.  If you go for this diet, compare the glider cereal and monkey biscuit prices to Exotic Nutrition's.  The Glider Cereal Pricilla sells is actually Exotic Nutition's Premium Glider Diet, and the monkey biscuits are also from Exotic Nutrition. I'm not sure whether it would be cheaper to get them direct from EN, but the supplements have to come from Pricilla. 

[Emma9383]

Hi hun, lovely to see another from over the pond, especially one with an open mind 
My two girls like sweet things too and hate recipes with sugar snap peas, broccoli etc in. Try the recipes with sweet fruit in such as mangos and I've found mine eat the ones with sweet potato in and the butternut squash. they also dont seem to mind the carrot recipes. As Helen says, you can add a little bit of honey in and gradually reduce it each time to wean them off it.
The great thing with the ready to go recipes on this site is the calcuim:phos ratio is worked out so you know they're getting enough. The cat biscuits, as mentioned, adds crunch and protein to the diet keeping teeth and gums healthy and strong.
Good luck, I'm sure they'll come round to it