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Healthy way to get a glider to gain weight #1392422
07/29/15 11:54 AM
07/29/15 11:54 AM
Joined: Apr 2015
Posts: 765
Darien, IL
Philwojo Offline OP
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Philwojo  Offline OP
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Joined: Apr 2015
Posts: 765
Darien, IL
Our 2 girls are pretty small and we worry they might be to small some times. We weighed them last night and one of them is right about 70g now, she was almost 80g previously. She has slowly been losing the weight, but she also goes up and down. She looks and acts fine, so we are not overly concerned, yet, but want to be proactive.

So, my question is if there is a healthy way to get a glider to gain weight?

If so, can you describe it for me or point me to an article.

We have them on the Critter Love Complete staple and one of Peggy's salad mixes, currently it has been mix #3, but I have also done mix #1 in the past. They LOVE the staple and the bowl it is in is always licked dry, but I don't know if one glider is getting more of the staple than the other, but I do know they both drink it.

As for the food, they don't ever finish the salad mixes, ever. And most times they don't even come close. We have two bowls in the cage for the salad mix and I was putting 2 TBSPs in each bowl, a total of 4 Table spoons. Then I recently read on this site in another thread that if they aren't eating it, or being picky about what they eat from it to cut down on the amount to give them less choices and kind of force them to eat more. So, I cut down to about 1 1/2 TBSPs per bowl now and it seems to have worked some, there seems to be less left over in each bowl each night, though that does vary per day and I know that is normal.

They love their yoggies, but we only give them 1 or 2 of those a week. I don't want them to eat just yoggies, but I do want them to put a little weight back on.

We also keep some dry food in the cage all day, I recently picked up the Happy Glider food, I got a 4 pack sample and they seem to love all the flavors in that. I keep about 1-2 TBSPs in a bowl that lasts about 2-3 days before I have to dump the crumbs and add more to it.

Thanks for any help and let me know if you have any questions for me as well.

Phil


Re-homed 2 females on 04/24/2015
Doll Face :wfb: ��� Sug :grey:

Re-homed From Stephyy24 on 11/06/2015
Bella :grey: ��������� Luna :grey:
Re: Healthy way to get a glider to gain weight [Re: Philwojo] #1392424
07/29/15 03:08 PM
07/29/15 03:08 PM
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 13,979
Wisconsin
Feather Offline
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Feather  Offline
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Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 13,979
Wisconsin
You can add a bit of avocado to their diet a couple times a week.

I recommend cutting it up and freezing it on a cookie tray and once it is frozen put it in a zip lock bag.

Unless of course if you like avocado then you can just share. I hate avocado so I freeze it.


Kimberley
Feathers-Sweetie, Mister Peanut & Big Mack
Fur-Guinan, Mr. Spock, T'Mir, Cho, Toothless, Maverick & Maharet :bb: T'Pol, Elizabeth & Curzon :wfb: TY, TJ, Light Fury, Madison & T'Pring :rtmo:
Forever in my heart, Gizmo, Tucker, Khayman and the rest of my babies over the :rbridge:

Re: Healthy way to get a glider to gain weight [Re: Philwojo] #1392428
07/29/15 03:59 PM
07/29/15 03:59 PM
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 5,138
Lutz Florida
CandyOtte Offline
Serious Glideritis
CandyOtte  Offline
Serious Glideritis

Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 5,138
Lutz Florida
A little more information would be helpful.

How old are your gliders 70 to 80 grams may be about right if they are still young (8 to 12 weeks OOP)

Some gliders are also just petite and that could be their normal weight. Following their weights carefully would help identify if they are still growing or if they are maintaining a healthy weight for THEIR bone structure if they are petite.

Have they been seen by a glider experienced vet for a well check up and fecal exam?

The weight LOSS is a concern for me. Gliders will generally not starve themselves so a vet needs to be consulted to find out if there is a medical problem causing weight loss. Testing for parasites (fecal testing) would be a good first step to make sure this is not the cause of the weight loss.

The goal is to make sure your gliders are healthy not just to fatten them up.

For the time being, if you are not sure both are getting enough of the CritterLove Complete you can offer a little more each night - I would start with an extra 1/2 TBS. If there is a small amount of it left over in the morning you will know the both gliders ate all they needed or wanted to eat.


Candy Otte
& the Glider Kids
Sassy, Corky, Mehitabel & Missy
Wacco, Yacco, & Dot
Mindy, Kanobles, Elmo, & Chipper

http://www.gliderkids-diet.com

CandyOtte@aol.com
Re: Healthy way to get a glider to gain weight [Re: Philwojo] #1392429
07/29/15 04:10 PM
07/29/15 04:10 PM
Joined: Apr 2015
Posts: 765
Darien, IL
Philwojo Offline OP
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Philwojo  Offline OP
Glider Guardian

Joined: Apr 2015
Posts: 765
Darien, IL
They are both probably closing in on 3 years old now, at least that is what we can come up with from the person we got them from before she had to give them away because of a move.

They have been this weight since we got them, or in that weight range I should say, so they appear to just be very petite girls.

We have not taken them to a vet, the person that had them before us was a vet tech and said she had just had them checked out before we got them from her. Now I know that doesn't apply to know, so maybe I will schedule an appointment for a local vet for them both and have them checked. I might wait a day or two and weigh them again to see if anything is changing, hopefully for the better though.

And I agree, I want them to be healthy, that is why I posted. I didn't want to just start giving them treats or more staple as I didn't know if that was a good idea or not. I will try more staple tonight and see if they finish it as well. They have never had a problem finishing their staple though, only the salad mixes.

I'm still open to other suggestion/opinions in the mean time. And I will keep this updated as I figure out/learn more.

thanks,
Phil


Re-homed 2 females on 04/24/2015
Doll Face :wfb: ��� Sug :grey:

Re-homed From Stephyy24 on 11/06/2015
Bella :grey: ��������� Luna :grey:
Re: Healthy way to get a glider to gain weight [Re: Philwojo] #1392447
07/30/15 09:56 AM
07/30/15 09:56 AM
Joined: Apr 2015
Posts: 765
Darien, IL
Philwojo Offline OP
Glider Guardian
Philwojo  Offline OP
Glider Guardian

Joined: Apr 2015
Posts: 765
Darien, IL
Small update, I weighed both girls again last night and Sug, who we are not worried about stayed the same, but Doll, the girl we are worried about gained 3 grams from the night before, maybe even 4 grams, the scale was bouncing between the two numbers. So, that is a good sign, I will weigh them again tonight and then see what the next steps will be.

Thanks for the feedback so far.

We tried some avocado in their bowls last night, but I haven't checked on it yet.

Phil


Re-homed 2 females on 04/24/2015
Doll Face :wfb: ��� Sug :grey:

Re-homed From Stephyy24 on 11/06/2015
Bella :grey: ��������� Luna :grey:
Re: Healthy way to get a glider to gain weight [Re: Philwojo] #1392448
07/30/15 10:23 AM
07/30/15 10:23 AM
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 5,138
Lutz Florida
CandyOtte Offline
Serious Glideritis
CandyOtte  Offline
Serious Glideritis

Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 5,138
Lutz Florida
When you weigh them, try to do so about the same time of day each time to make sure you are not weighing right before she eats one day and right after on another which would cause wider weight fluctuations day to day.

Mid morning when they are sleeping is a good time for daily weigh ins for gliders.


Candy Otte
& the Glider Kids
Sassy, Corky, Mehitabel & Missy
Wacco, Yacco, & Dot
Mindy, Kanobles, Elmo, & Chipper

http://www.gliderkids-diet.com

CandyOtte@aol.com
Re: Healthy way to get a glider to gain weight [Re: Philwojo] #1392449
07/30/15 10:47 AM
07/30/15 10:47 AM
Joined: Apr 2015
Posts: 765
Darien, IL
Philwojo Offline OP
Glider Guardian
Philwojo  Offline OP
Glider Guardian

Joined: Apr 2015
Posts: 765
Darien, IL
The weights I took were at about the same time the past two days. I was not tracking that before the last two, but I am now, and was before you typed this even to be honest, but thanks for the tip.

Phil


Re-homed 2 females on 04/24/2015
Doll Face :wfb: ��� Sug :grey:

Re-homed From Stephyy24 on 11/06/2015
Bella :grey: ��������� Luna :grey:
Re: Healthy way to get a glider to gain weight [Re: Philwojo] #1392718
08/12/15 10:22 AM
08/12/15 10:22 AM
Joined: Apr 2015
Posts: 765
Darien, IL
Philwojo Offline OP
Glider Guardian
Philwojo  Offline OP
Glider Guardian

Joined: Apr 2015
Posts: 765
Darien, IL
OK, so I would love some feedback from everyone on here about the weights of our girls. I have been trying to track it over the past few weeks since I posted and I have been charting it in excel, here is a snapshot of where they are now. I think they are doing well, but as I said I would like your feedback.

Sug, whose line is the red one on the chart, seems to be pretty steady right around 80g for the most part.

Doll, whose line is the pink one, on the other hand is all over the place, mostly around 74g, but as low as 69g (1 day only) and as high as 80g (again 1 day only).

Here is the chart, click the chart or link for the full size version:

http://philwojo.com/sugargliders/weights.jpg

Thanks,
Phil

Last edited by philwojo; 08/12/15 10:23 AM.

Re-homed 2 females on 04/24/2015
Doll Face :wfb: ��� Sug :grey:

Re-homed From Stephyy24 on 11/06/2015
Bella :grey: ��������� Luna :grey:
Re: Healthy way to get a glider to gain weight [Re: Philwojo] #1392719
08/12/15 10:45 AM
08/12/15 10:45 AM
Joined: Apr 2015
Posts: 765
Darien, IL
Philwojo Offline OP
Glider Guardian
Philwojo  Offline OP
Glider Guardian

Joined: Apr 2015
Posts: 765
Darien, IL
I just put in an AVG for each girl and here is what I came up with:

Sug - 79.61g
Doll - 74.94g

That is based on all the data on the sheet.

Phil


Re-homed 2 females on 04/24/2015
Doll Face :wfb: ��� Sug :grey:

Re-homed From Stephyy24 on 11/06/2015
Bella :grey: ��������� Luna :grey:
Re: Healthy way to get a glider to gain weight [Re: Philwojo] #1392724
08/12/15 12:40 PM
08/12/15 12:40 PM
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 13,979
Wisconsin
Feather Offline
Administrator
Feather  Offline
Administrator

Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 13,979
Wisconsin
Wow!

I went through your original post again, you could add another Tablespoon of Complete to their dish, seeing as they are cleaning it up.

Keep monitoring them.

Have you tried avocado yet? You can add a little to their salad a couple times a week.


Kimberley
Feathers-Sweetie, Mister Peanut & Big Mack
Fur-Guinan, Mr. Spock, T'Mir, Cho, Toothless, Maverick & Maharet :bb: T'Pol, Elizabeth & Curzon :wfb: TY, TJ, Light Fury, Madison & T'Pring :rtmo:
Forever in my heart, Gizmo, Tucker, Khayman and the rest of my babies over the :rbridge:

Re: Healthy way to get a glider to gain weight [Re: Philwojo] #1392728
08/12/15 01:08 PM
08/12/15 01:08 PM
Joined: Apr 2015
Posts: 765
Darien, IL
Philwojo Offline OP
Glider Guardian
Philwojo  Offline OP
Glider Guardian

Joined: Apr 2015
Posts: 765
Darien, IL
I have actually added a 3rd Tablespoon of staple to their diet for the last 9-10 days I think it is now, and they finish it each time. I have also done the avocado as well, probably about every other day, maybe an extra day on top of that this past week.

So, the numbers since the 29th include both the extra staple and the avocado as indicated above.

I know my times that I weigh them aren't always the same, heck in fact last night I weighed them at 8pm and then I had Sug out for playing and put her back on the scale around 10pm or so and she went up from 79g to 82 or 83g (can't recall), and that was just in 2 hours. Now I did put their food and staple in the cage between those times so she probably ate, but still 3-4 grams of weight gain in 2 hours seems strange to me. That is why I am posting, to see what others have going on with their gliders.

Thanks,
Phil


Re-homed 2 females on 04/24/2015
Doll Face :wfb: ��� Sug :grey:

Re-homed From Stephyy24 on 11/06/2015
Bella :grey: ��������� Luna :grey:
Re: Healthy way to get a glider to gain weight [Re: Philwojo] #1392735
08/12/15 04:09 PM
08/12/15 04:09 PM
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 13,979
Wisconsin
Feather Offline
Administrator
Feather  Offline
Administrator

Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 13,979
Wisconsin
I think you should go to weighing them twice a week and weigh them at the same time each time and see what your get then.

If you weigh them and they go to the bathroom then weighing them again they will weigh less.

Pick a time of the day and weigh them at that time twice a week and see what you get.

Their weights will fluctuate depending on how much they at the night before also. You will also find that some nights they will eat more and some nights they will eat less of their diet.

Sometimes a full moon will also affect how they eat and play.


Kimberley
Feathers-Sweetie, Mister Peanut & Big Mack
Fur-Guinan, Mr. Spock, T'Mir, Cho, Toothless, Maverick & Maharet :bb: T'Pol, Elizabeth & Curzon :wfb: TY, TJ, Light Fury, Madison & T'Pring :rtmo:
Forever in my heart, Gizmo, Tucker, Khayman and the rest of my babies over the :rbridge:

Re: Healthy way to get a glider to gain weight [Re: Philwojo] #1392737
08/12/15 04:34 PM
08/12/15 04:34 PM
Joined: Apr 2015
Posts: 765
Darien, IL
Philwojo Offline OP
Glider Guardian
Philwojo  Offline OP
Glider Guardian

Joined: Apr 2015
Posts: 765
Darien, IL
Thanks for the feedback, I probably will keep weighing them as often as I can, it only takes a quick second to do. I try to do it around the same time, but I figure at least having a weight for the day is better than nothing.

I know they can and will eat different amounts on various days, so I know their weights will fluctuate. I just wanted to make sure that what my girls had going on was nothing crazy or something to be concerned with was all, especially for Doll, as she tends to be all over the place as you can see.

Phil


Re-homed 2 females on 04/24/2015
Doll Face :wfb: ��� Sug :grey:

Re-homed From Stephyy24 on 11/06/2015
Bella :grey: ��������� Luna :grey:
Re: Healthy way to get a glider to gain weight [Re: Philwojo] #1392738
08/12/15 04:35 PM
08/12/15 04:35 PM
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 5,138
Lutz Florida
CandyOtte Offline
Serious Glideritis
CandyOtte  Offline
Serious Glideritis

Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 5,138
Lutz Florida
I would also suggest weighing them Mid-morning rather than in the evenings.

The mid-morning weigh in would give you a better average of their weight after they have eaten all they wanted for the night.

Weighing them in the evening - it is possible that they have been awake, had a drink of water, peed and or pooped or even eaten some of their dinner if it is already in the cage - sometimes before you weigh them and sometimes after. That may be the reason for the wide fluctuations from one day to the next - too many variables. For example- if they drank water or peed - it might be as much as a 3 gram difference in the weight.

If you are going to graph the weights - keep the number of days between weights consistent - every 2 or 3 days.

Your graph looks more erratic on the right side because you weighed them more frequently than earlier when you were weighing them weekly or twice a week.


Candy Otte
& the Glider Kids
Sassy, Corky, Mehitabel & Missy
Wacco, Yacco, & Dot
Mindy, Kanobles, Elmo, & Chipper

http://www.gliderkids-diet.com

CandyOtte@aol.com
Re: Healthy way to get a glider to gain weight [Re: Philwojo] #1392740
08/12/15 05:15 PM
08/12/15 05:15 PM
Joined: Apr 2015
Posts: 765
Darien, IL
Philwojo Offline OP
Glider Guardian
Philwojo  Offline OP
Glider Guardian

Joined: Apr 2015
Posts: 765
Darien, IL
Yea, I started the graph and then got a little lazy with it to be honest, have been doing better lately, I might drop off the weights from early on, from the graph at least, so it doesn't vary as much visually.

I will maybe try and shift to a day time or early evening (5pm) time to weigh them going forward then. I didn't know that water and or peeing and pooping could be as much as 3 grams, but it does make sense being they are so petite to begin with.

Thanks again for the input.

Phil


Re-homed 2 females on 04/24/2015
Doll Face :wfb: ��� Sug :grey:

Re-homed From Stephyy24 on 11/06/2015
Bella :grey: ��������� Luna :grey:
Re: Healthy way to get a glider to gain weight [Re: Philwojo] #1392815
08/14/15 12:17 PM
08/14/15 12:17 PM
Joined: Aug 2014
Posts: 1,816
Longview, Texas
Kris_N_Zoe Offline
Glider Slave
Kris_N_Zoe  Offline
Glider Slave

Joined: Aug 2014
Posts: 1,816
Longview, Texas
I have to give Zoey mealworms to keep her weight on... I like a little extra fluff on her since she's prone to getting sick.


Pibble pup Jenson jump Glide free: Smoke (6/16/15) and Zoey (10/2/15) :rbridge:
Re: Healthy way to get a glider to gain weight [Re: Philwojo] #1392897
08/17/15 09:49 AM
08/17/15 09:49 AM
Joined: Apr 2015
Posts: 765
Darien, IL
Philwojo Offline OP
Glider Guardian
Philwojo  Offline OP
Glider Guardian

Joined: Apr 2015
Posts: 765
Darien, IL
Yea, my wife and I won't give bugs, live or dead to them, just not going to happen in our house. smile


Re-homed 2 females on 04/24/2015
Doll Face :wfb: ��� Sug :grey:

Re-homed From Stephyy24 on 11/06/2015
Bella :grey: ��������� Luna :grey:

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