We brought 2 female gliders into our family almost a month ago. One was pretty quick to bond with us and the other, well not so much. We are being patient and steady with her and sometimes i think we are making some progress. Then she'll bite me (hard) and i feel like we've lost it. But we will keep working with her and we will get there.

Both girls are pretty picky with their eating. They pick at the 24/7 pellets, barely touch the insectivore pellets (3 X a week) and don't touch the HPW (3 X a week) at all. They love their apples though and I've started giving those in the morning with hopes that they will eat more of the other stuff at night. I actually just placed an order at critter love for new food and hopefully they'll like the new healthier food better.

After about 2 weeks i tried giving them a carrot rather than apples. They ate it but had runny orange poop for a couple of days after that. Since then they seem to have runny poop every couple of days and we're not sure why. They seem to be acting, sleeping, playing normal and their eating hasn't changed. I'm hopeful that with the new food they'll become more regular again.

One question i have, they like to drop pieces of their apples down into the bottom/litter section of the cage and then they scoop their little hands down and grab a piece when they want one. Could that be making them sick? Any suggestions on how to prevent them from doing this?

Thanks in advance, very thankful to have a forum to get information and help when needed!

First,



I am very glad you have ordered Critterlove because these gliders need to be on a steady, every day, consistent staple along with veggies and fruit. I'm sure that is why they are having some running stools. There is not much consistency in their diet.

What were they eating when they came to you? How old are they?

Peggy, the creator of Critterlove is with her family for the Holidays so it may be just a bit before she starts shipping again. In the meantime I would suggest that you offer them ONLY the HPW along with some veggies and fruit. Are you making up the HPW yourself? If so, where did you get the recipe?

Sorry to bombard you with so many questions at once. Just want to help you get these two sweet gliders on the right path

We are feeding them the diet that the store gave us which is what they were on while there. They were 8 weeks out of pouch when we got them on 12/1. The diet is one type of pellet, which they have access to 24/7, then they get HPW Monday, Wednesday and Friday and Insectivore pellets Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday along with fruit every night (now morning.) The only change is the one time i gave carrots instead of apples.

All of the food is Exotic Nutrition brand - Glider complete pellets, Instant HPW (powder that gets mixed with water) and insectivore-fare. I also have a water bottle and a water dish, both have half plain clear pedialyte and half water. This is all per the instructions given to us by the exotic animal store where we purchased them.

Thank you so much for responding! I need all the help I can get to keep the girlies healthy!

Ahhh, Exotic Nutrition.

I recommend taking them off the Exotic Nutrition stuff, I and several others do not recommend buying food from exotic nutrition. Their Instant HPW has been tested and what is in the bag is not reflected on the bag label.

Until you get your sample of Critterlove, I would give them chicken or scrambled eggs as their protein with mixed vegetables and fruit. You can even mix up one of the salads on the Critterlove web site. https://www.critterlove.com/salad-mixtures

Thank you! Is it ok to just flat switch them right away? I know with my cat the vets recommend gradual change. Also is that diet (temporarily until the critter love comes) ok for their young age? I ordered the complete and salad mix from Critter love but probably won’t get it until late this week at the soonest.

I switch right away, when a rescue comes in to my rescue they get put on my diet the first night. I have only had one glider in 9 years of rescuing that gave me trouble with switching to my diet.

She was fed canned chicken, avocado and yogurt every night. I finally ended up pouring the Critterlove Plus over her favorites so she had to eat some of that. A week after starting that protocol she was on my diet.

Just wanted to thank you again! I've been feeding them scrambled egg with a little turkey mixed in the past 2 nights and apple in the morning. They have eaten every bit of the eggs and turkey, more than they've eaten since we got them. I haven't noticed any runny poop at all either and they actually seem a little more perky. Looking forward to getting my critter love order but VERY happy to see them eating well in the interim!

Mine love Critter Love and it seems to have them in great health-shiny eyes, soft coat and firm consistent stools for as long as I remember! The BML worked as well but they would "pick at it at times" not the case with the Critterlove diet!