Hi my name is Laurie and I recently found 2 gliders in my garbage can. I brought them to the vet on Monday, they got a clean bill of health and I was told that they're both males. One older, one younger.

I have no experience with gliders and everyone on this site has been wonderful. Anyway, my vet thought that I should try the BML diet because she told me it should be simple enough for me to follow.

The first day they were here, before we really knew anything about them, my husband cut up some apple slices, some grapes, and also gave them a few pieces of whole wheat bread. They demolished everything my husband fed them. They were really hungry.

Since then they have only eaten a few small pieces of apple and a few bites of grapes. I'm used to picky parrots that have been fed improper diets and I have patience to work through it. I'm just worried about them.

They are drinking because I've had to refill the water bottles but I'm concerned about them not eating. I could use some advice here.

Thanks!

Laurie

My gliders would not eat BML,,, but it is a very good and popular diet,,,,

I recently switched mine from the suncoast diet to HPW,,, I love using HPW,,, my gliders polish off the entire dish and it isnt restrictive about the fruits and veggies like other diets are,,,, although my gliders usually dont eat the fruit much

side benefit,, they really have no odor,,, if anything they smell sweet on HPW and their coats are amazing, so soft and full.

You could give HPW a try ,, I have heard alot of picky gliders love it,, I know mine do ,,,

good luck !

All my suggies love the hpw also. It's cut down on the males smell considerably too!! Big plus in the hubbys eyes lol.

I've never fed mine bread...so I don't know about that. But, the first night I got Quincy home...I didn't have wheat germ for the bml so I fed him fruits and veggies and some plain scrambled egg. Holy COW...he loved the egg!! It's a good protein source too.

BML is a good diet, don't get me wrong, but for my suggies tho..every bit of hpw is gone in the morning!

With the water bottle...make sure its not leaking. Rennys is...darn it...so I have to buy a new one tomorrow. I mean there is NO way she drank that much water in one night!! I personally hate water bottles, because of the constant leaking they can do and have yet to find the holy grail of water bottles...Quincy actually has a bowl for water. He has never drank from a water bottle. I don't know why.

Here are some diet links you can look through. I use the BML

http://www.glidercentral.net/links/pages/Glider_Care___Information/Diet___Nutrition/index.html
Hope this helps. They really need to be on a good diet.

It took my two guys nearly two months to start really eating well. Whatever you put them on is almost guaranteed to be a huge diet change for them so it might throw them off for awhile. I like the BML because it's quite simple and my two love it.

However, mine won't eat the veggies whole. I have to blend them up and make the veggie relish. I'm not exactly sure where the two recipes are for the veggie relish and the fruit smoothie. But I like it because I can make them both and freeze them and just give the gliders their certain portion each night. Works really well for me and they love it.

They -will- eat eventually. I put all three in my cage for the first few weeks and they'd nibble at the veggies and the bml...but would lick the fruit bowl clean every night, so I finally had to hold the fruit for a couple of nights to make them start eating the other stuff...and now they eat it all.

Good luck! (like most animals, they're not going to starve themselves to death. They will eat eventually.)

I have bowls under the two water bottles to make sure they're not leaking. I have parrots. Some use water bottles, some won't bother with them at all. We always use the leak test with an empty bowl under it. Both bowls are still empty, well a drop or two from the gliders drinking so they are drinking.

I was just in the room where they are and I noticed that they ate a green bean or two, 2 blueberries, and they were both eating an apple piece. I'm not so worried now. They ARE eating, I can see remnants of what they ate in the bottom and caught them in the act. lol

I'm going to try to get some pictures. I still have to think of names.

Thanks so much!

Laurie

This morning when I got up I immediately checked their food bowl.
all I can say is that I don't have to worry anymore! LOL They tore into their food! There is food all over their cage! I'm thrilled to see that mess, believe me. It looks like they sampled a bit of everything.

Now to come up with names!!

Laurie

Awww, thats great news! It was a big change they went through and it is bound to be stressful. They are settling in! They are very lucky to have been found by you!! Keep the updates coming!!!

I'm glad they started eating. Normally, it takes gliders a little bit to adjust to their new life and new dinner. Did it end up on your wall yet? I have a thin sheet over 3 sides (and the top) of my cage to trap the mess because once it gets on the wall, it's a pain to get off.

Oooo ooo. What types of names do you like? I like weird ones...if Yin and Yang weren't used to their names, I'd have renamed them Xanthos (Zan-thoughs...really pronounded Santos but Santos is icky) and Lycia..but I felt bad changing them since they had those names for like 10months before I got them.

Nicole, you have to remember I have parrots. I'm used to flying food. Especially in the fall when there are pomegranates available. Then my walls look like there's been a blood bath in here. LOL

My new pineapple green cheeks I just got have unusual names.
Deaglan & Nerissa; Ardan & Sorcha

my parrots:
Bandit, Goopy, Andi, Nikki, Ms. Sailor Sassypants, Thor, Lil Ms. Harmony, IggyPop & Verde, Sebastian, Cayanne, Baby Girl, Casper, Sunny, Loki, MayBel.

LOL

Nicole, I just realized that you're not that far from me. Just over in Syracuse.

Laurie

OMG....you have 20 birds?? What kind? (Sorry, ot)

True...our parrot doesn't fling his food on the walls though. :3 Ewwww.

I love the names of your Pineapple Green Cheeks. 0.0

lol. Ms. Sailer Sassypants.

It's still pretty far. ;( Like...3hours or so? I'm actually 30mins from Syracuse but it's easier to say Syracuse because no ones gonna know where Jordan is.

21! I forgot poor Coco. Plus four 3 week old babies. LOL

Lets see, I have 5 macaws (2 blue & gold, 1 Scarlet, 1 Military, 1 Red Fronted)

I have 10 green cheek conures (including the 4 babies)
I have 5 sun conures
I have 2 African Greys
I have 1 Double Yellow headed Amazon
I have 1 Meyers Parrot
I have 1 African Brown Headed Parrot

So 25 birds in total but the 4 babies are sold already and will go to new homes when they're around 12 weeks old.

All 5 macaws, the Amazon, the 2 African Greys, and 2 of the green cheek conures all talk. Its a riot in here some days.
Parrots yelling at each other, telling on each other. 5 to 10 birds all yelling "hello" when someone knocks on the door or the phone rings. ROFL!!

Laurie

OMG.....that is so funny! I'm going to send you the link for the video of Tootsie. She was a Moluccan I had, but my son (who is autistic) was terrified of her (even though she loved him and would go nuts whenever she saw him), so we had to rehome her (my son started refusing to come out of his room.) She was the sweetest bird I have ever met. I have also had an umbrella and also a yellow nape amazon, and tons of tiels and keets. I have 9 birds right now (2 keets, two tiels, four finches and one sparrow...one of the finches is wild. She and the sparrow I hand raised, well still raising the sparrow...lol) Do you live in an isolated area (or just have very understanding neighbors? lol)

My neighbors love the birds!! They bring me veggies from their gardens, their newspapers for the bottom of the cages. They love to come over and visit.

When my macaws scream, you can hear them echo about a mile away because I live on the banks of the Hudson river. Their voices carry along the river.

Laurie