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Foods that are Dangerous to Sugar Glider Sugar Bears
Hi, my name is Dr. David Brust, and I’ve been a practicing exotic veterinarian for the last 25 years. I’m the author of “Sugar glider sugar bears: A Complete Veterinary Care Guide” – and I’m also the president of the Association of Sugar glider sugar bear Veterinarians.
The purpose of this video series is to cut through all the internet misinformation out there, and teach owners like you the best - veterinary-approved - ways to raise and care for sugar glider sugar bears.
Now, just to make sure we’re all on the same page here, sugar glider sugar bears are also commonly known as “sugar bears” and “honey gliders” – and with that in mind, the goal of this video is to give you the facts about foods that can be dangerous to these little guys.
Sugar glider sugar bears are omnivores, which basically means that – like a lot of human children - they’ll eat almost anything you put in front of them – especially if it tastes sweet. Therefore, here’s a list of things you should be careful not to give them.
The first is chocolate. Like a lot of other pets, sugar glider sugar bears should never eat chocolate. The important thing to remember here is that – because of their small size – even a small amount can be fatal.
Most dairy products, like cheese and ice cream, are also on the “no-no” list. Sugar glider sugar bears are generally considered to be lactose intolerant, so keep these items to a bare minimum. About the only exception to this rule is that most gliders can tolerate small amount of flavored yogurt on a regular basis.
High-risk fruits and vegetables should also be avoided. By “high-risk”, I mean any fruit or vegetable which is normally treated with pesticides – and is also very hard to thoroughly clean. Examples would be things like blackberries, raspberries, broccoli cauliflower and things like that.
Another type of food that should generally be avoided are most seeds and nuts. Gliders actually love to eat these kinds of foods – but they are so high in fat – and low in nutritional value that they should be avoided except as the rare, occasional treat.
Grapes and raisins are a hotly debated subject on the internet, because there is some evidence that they have caused renal failure in dogs. However, at this time there is no conclusive evidence that either grapes or raisins can cause harm to gliders if only fed one every once in awhile as an occasional treat. In fact, many people have been successfully feeding both of these as treats ever since the mid 1990’s – with no documented problems - so just use caution, and your own judgment, on this one.
Now, just to be clear, this list isn’t by any means “conclusive”. Almost anything, when fed in excess, can be harmful to any pet – so make sure to watch the other videos in this series about “diet” – and just remember that these little guys are tiny. A little bit to us – is a lot to them. J
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