So Confused About Diets

I'm so very confused right now. I'm almost done with the batch of staple that I have been using so I need to decide what I want to feed going forward.

This is what I use now - [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

I don't like it because it smells awful. It has baby food meat in it and that stuff is terrible. I didn't feed it to my kids so why would I want to feed it to my gliders long term. I originally started with it because I needed very little special items so it was easy.

Snappy is super picky. These are the veggies she will eat - sweet potato and corn. These are the fruits she will eat - cantaloupe, blueberries, blackberries, and sometimes strawberries, pineapple, and peach.

This leaves me severely limited on what I can give her in addition to the staple. I have been trying to introduce new foods, but she isn't having any of it. I even went so far as to blend up her veggies with some honey and blueberries to tempt her. That's not happening either.

I really like the idea of Suggie Soup, but since she hates mango and I haven't been able to find papaya I'm worried about her eating that. The lack of fruits and veggies that will eat also concerns me because she won't be getting those extra nutrients. I'm also worried about her eating eggs or chicken. I've not tried them with her yet, but as picky as she is I can see that being an issue.

I looked at [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] as an option, but I'm once again dealing with a lack of variety in a picky glider.

I asked about [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], but I know many of you don't like that one because of the supplement it uses.

I'm currently looking at the [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] because I like the idea of the staple and the fruits and veggies being mixed together. I could blend some of the least liked ones up to hide them. The one issue I have with this one is that you sprinkle the vitamins on top and I know that many people have said you don't want to do that because you don't know how much each glider is getting.

So by now I'm sure you all know why I'm so confused. How in the world do I decide which diet to use? Any opinions and suggestions are welcome.

Honestly, I was like that too. At the point of pulling my hair out. Mine were/are picky also, the longest they ate any recognized diet was 6mo. & that was OHPW. Once they stopped eating that I was at a loss and started really researching and talking to long time glider owners. Needless to say after a couple months of that I finally am at ease and I don't stress their diet anymore.

Go over to GC or TSS and search Darcy Diet or Ensure diet (one in the same). I actually began feeding this way because it's the only time my babies would eat,...even ate more F/V without me having to hide them....as I was doing my research a few people mentioned these diets, and although many of us feed slightly different so we really don't consider that we feed "such and such diet" the Darcy/Ensure diet is as close to how I feed as you can get. So if people need to put a label on how I feed, that is what I would say.

I personally just give them a wide variety of Protein/F/V each night and natural snacks, various nuts, mealworms, moths, mosquito eaters, flower blooms, acaci gum, bee pollen amongst other things I can't think of right now.

This isn't for everyone, some people like the "No Brainer" idea of a "recognized diet" but IMO if they aren't eating it they aren't getting the nutrition so all the prep work someone else did to make it easy on us...does no good.

If it interests you and you want additional info. feel free to ask. I'll help where I can.

Thanks! I looked at that diet when you first started talking about your problems with the eating. I do like the idea of it.

Snappy eats the staple just fine. That bowl is always licked pretty clean. It's the fruits and veggies she's not eating. Prior to me getting her she ate cat food only. Prior to that she ate cat food with fruit at night. Most nights she was given cantaloupe. Sometimes she would get different stuff based on what was in the house. I think this is why she is so picky. That's why I keep giving her the stuff. My thought process being that introducing a food to her should be like introducing it to a baby. If you present them something enough they should get tempted to try it.

Just a reminder, Darcy's Diet / Ensure Diet was created for a terminally ill glider. It is not intended for healthy gliders as it will make them gain weight rapidly and may cause hypervitaminosis.

You are right, they should be presented with a food item more than once. Some gliders need to be presented an item a few times before trying it. Another thing you can try is more variety. It doesn't hep any when you submit to her being "picky", if that is the case it sounds like corn and sweet potato need to be taken off the menu and served only as treats.

It is more likely she is not picky but has never developed taste buds for a wide variety of things. Since this is probably true a cool trick you can do is get a mini blender to blend up her Nectar Replacement with vegetables and fruits since she eats the staple she will end up having to try new things and acquire some taste buds finally. Take a look at this helpful fruit and veggie list and try to plan meals that do not contain anything familiar to her for at least a week or two straight: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Variety is not a suggestion, it is imperative for gliders since it offers the best sources of natural nutrients especially since wild gliders consume a lot of vegetation as well as nectar. Making sure she gets variety helps supply things the diet may have not covered and if you only feed a limited amount of veggies and fruits those nutrients may be lacking.

For diet if you hate the baby food which, I agree it is really not that healthy then BML would not be the answer for you. HPW is better since it doesn't have those preserved meats and it also is suppose to be fed alongside pre-made relishes that tack all the guess work out, here is an example of a HPW Menu: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
The Exotic diet or PP diet was created by a mass breeder and that is enough said about that but you can blend together your f/v in any diet nightly like I mentioned above rather than 4 times every batch again creating a lack of variety but also a lack of enrichment. LGRS is my favorite diet but you will often get the gliders not eating fruit since it is already in the diet, this is not problem with me since I prefer them to eat more veggies, anyway you can also use frozen papaya, or juice. Both HPW and LGRS are reccommended to provide an additional protein source but there are a lot of protein sources not just egg and chicken such as:
Edamame
Quail Eggs
Pumpkin Seeds
Crickets
Grasshoppers
Turkey
Feeder Fish
Pinkies
Mealworms
Wax Worms
Calci Worms or Pheonix Worms, or Repti Worms
Silk Worms
Moths
Pistachios
Spirulina
Fish
Yogurt
Sprouts including Quinoa, Lentils, Mung Beans, Chickpeas, etc.
Superworms
Sunflower Seeds
Anoles
Peanut Butter
Almonds
Beans
Brown Rice
Quinoa
....the list goes on...

When you begin researching Darcy/Ensure diet it states it was originally used for a sick glider but has been modified so it can be fed to healthy gliders. And as I've said every time I mention what I feed...I don't consider that I feed the Darcy/Ensure diet...I feed protein every night and a varitey of F/V.....mine do not eat F/V every single night so I give them some Ensure once or twice a week to supplement their nutrition. I prefer doing that as to sprinkling vitamins onto their food. 2tbsp. for 5 gliders twice a week isn't going to make them fat.

I just mentioned looking at the "diet" because it's a semblence of how I feed and it's much easier to have people look at it and then ask whatever specific questions they may have to how I personally do things if they're curious.

I was responding to Brandy stating she didn't like the diet she feeds.....her 2nd post elaborated more that it appears to only be the F/V she's having difficulty with.

I am now under the impression that there is nothing wrong with her staple as far as her gliders are concerned. They apparently lick the dish clean. Most of us have problems getting them to eat F/V and I think most of us just keep on offering them. Sometimes they eat them and sometimes they don't.

So in the midst of my diet questions something else has started driving me batty and making me worry. Snappy doesn't eat fruits and veggies hardly at all. If I give her her favorites she will clean the plate, anything else and she just doesn't eat. After talking to VE yesterday I started last night with only giving her new foods that she either doesn't eat or hasn't had before. What I'm wondering is if it would make a difference with the veggies being raw or cooked. I was thinking about making her an egg instead of her staple tonight and putting some veggies in it. Would this be ok?

Yep. I make mine an omlette that I chop spinach or Kale into. They love it.

I wound up making her an omlette with squash and cucumber in it. I'm so curious to see what she does with it. I may have a really funny story in the morning.

How'd they like that omlette?

She hated it. She didn't eat anything last night. Tonight I gave her the staple with squash, cucumber and mango. We'll see what happens with that, but at a minimum I know she will eat the staple.

I haven't read through the entire posts, just the OP, sorry. I wanted to tell you that instead of sprinkling the vitamins on top you could most likely just mix in the amount that you would be sprinkling... Good luck on finding your diet for your baby.

Any updates Brandy, sometimes different things work for different gliders.

She's still being stubborn and not wanting to eat anything new. I'm waiting on my HPS powder to get her so I'm giving her different protein options. Last night gave her a boiled egg, tomatoes, and cantaloupe. All she ate was the cantaloupe.

She is driving me crazy. I even tried pouring her blend over the other veggies to see if that would help. That night she didn't eat anything.

So I've been out of my blend for a few days and decided to try protein, fruits and veggies while I wait on my order. I've given her eggs for 3 nights and she hasn't touched them. I did scrambled and hard boiled. The hard-boiled on I cut up when I put it in the cage. Well last night I was in a hurry and just put a whole hard-boiled egg in there for her to eat. It seems like that was the trick. She demolished that egg. I guess she just doesn't want me to cut stuff up for her.

You can also boil chicken... When I put hard boiled eggs in mine that aren't cut up they ignore them and stare me down for the rest of the night and I know their little eyes are just saying: "Really you're too lazy to cut up ALL of our food tonight!?"

I'm still trying to get caught up in reading through all the forums/threads. Brandy, I feed the Priscilla Price diet and have for almost 7 years. I've never had issues with my little ones eating it.

Keep in mind a few things about gliders. If you constantly change things around in their diet, or if you offer a large variety of different foods, this causes them to become even more pickier with their foods. What I found that works, is to stick with the same menu plan/snacks/treats for at least a month. When introducing a new treat/food etc. only do one at a time and keep that same new food/treat for at least a week.

My babies, as many others, go through stages. Sometimes mine will eat heavy for a few days, slack off for a few, pick for a few, and then go back to being little piggys LOL.

A lot depends on the weather conditions, moon phases, stress, or just not hungry at times.

If you are interested in the Priscilla Price diet, let me know and I can give you some pointers that helps.

Thanks Linda! I did go ahead and switch over to the Priscilla Price diet and so far so good. Snappy is eating better than ever before. She is actually eating everything and not picking stuff out. I did blend everything much smaller to make sure she couldn't pick it out though.

My biggest comment/concern about that diet is that no matter what fruits and veggies I used the blend was still the same blah beige color. I'm wondering if over time this will become boring to her.

The plus side is that she loves papaya.

What works great for my babies, is that I mix the basic mix and freeze that separate from the fruits/veggies/chicken/or egg.

I will pre-cook the chicken, cut it into 1" cubes and freeze. Egg, I make fresh on egg night.
I buy, 1 bag of frozen corn, 1 bag of frozen peas, 1 bag of frozen carrots. Measure out nightly 1 cube of mix (or more depending on how many gliders you have) 1 tsp of veggies, and 1 tsp of fresh/frozen fruit. Thaw mix, and chicken (for chicken night) 1 cube cut into tiny pieces per glider, add to basic mix. Stir well, sprinkle with vitamins evenly over top. Serve.

Note: Depending on your gliders preference of fruits and veggies you can use what they like.
I found that my two prefer things frozen separately and mixed into the blend to thaw.

If you are in a pinch and don't want to make a huge batch of the mix (my two get a little pickier with frozen things after it's been in the freezer for a while) so I do the following.

One batch will feed two gliders for 2 meals:
Mix together in a bowl,
2 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce
2 teaspoons yogurt
2 teaspoons old fashioned rolled oats
1/4 teaspoon wheat germ
1/4 teaspoon concentrated oj w/ calcium

Store un-used portion in frig.

Prepare meal - 1 tablespoon of the above mix, 1 tbsp of (chicken/or egg), 1 tbsp of fruits & 1 tbsp of veggies.
Mix together, sprinkle vitamins evenly over top and serve.

Thanks Linda! That is super helpful for when I need to do a smaller batch like if we are traveling and I don't want to deal with the frozen cubes.