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Australian Diet Questions

Posted By: JillMarie

Australian Diet Questions - 02/14/13 07:27 PM

I want to hear from those of you that use the Australian diet. I do not want to hear any putting down or promoting of any other diet here. I just want to hear specifics and experience in using the Aussie diet. No diet bashing allowed. No conjecture or anything of that nature please. I would like your observations from actually feeding THIS diet.

How long have you been feeding it? How many gliders? Does it seem costly to you?

Do you feed it exactly as written or do you do things differently to get your gliders to eat it. What did you do? How did that work out?

What diet did you switch away from? How long did you feed THAT diet? What made you decide to try the Aussie diet? Please try to be delicate and not do any diet bashing when answering. If you prefer to not mention what diet you switched from or your answers may be interpreted as bashing, please feel free to pm or email me.

Did you notice any changes when you switched? How long did the changes take to appear?

If you tried the Aussie diet and stopped using it, why?

Thanks for your time…

Oh and Happy Valentines day!
Posted By: yiyo

Re: Australian Diet Questions - 02/14/13 08:32 PM

I feed this diet and have for approximately 8 months now and I think it's great.

I have two gliders and I honestly don't see a huge cost difference. I ordered the 1 kg box about 4 months ago and still have, what seems like, tons of it left. Since I'm buying in a bigger quantity, even though I'm using more of the WHPS, it's more economical that way.

I do alter it slightly. Not is what I'm feeding them but HOW I'm presenting it. I typically don't drizzle the HPS over the fruits and vegetables. I find that they don't eat them as well when I do that. I usually puree one fruit each night and mix that with the HPS and make a "nectar" out of that. Or, on a lazy night, I'll use the green juice or another organic/all natural/nothing added/no preservative juice to it. And that will account for one of their fruits for the night.

Also, I've had trouble getting them to eat the Carnivore Fare so I only serve that about three nights a week and dice a little bit of chicken with it. The other nights they get yogurts (as was instructed to feed prior to the Carnivore Fare being available in the US).

I had been serving the Original HPW for about 1 1/2 years and thought that diet was great as well, and still do. I love the Wombaroo High Protein Supplement and loved that I could give them their sugars more thru more fruit than veggies and no honey.

I have noticed that their coats have gotten even more soft and silky than they were before. I don't remember exactly how long it took to notice that, but I'd say probably within 2 months.

Also, my baby girl Yaiya has always been very tiny. I've done everything to get her to gain weight. She'd never been more than 65 grams until I started her on this and now she ranges between 70-72. That's not a huge difference, but it's something smile
Posted By: BCChins

Re: Australian Diet Questions - 02/14/13 11:19 PM

Can we share a link to this diet please?
Posted By: GliderNursery

Re: Australian Diet Questions - 02/14/13 11:25 PM

Here ya go:
Australian Wombaroo Diet
Posted By: Oplok

Re: Australian Diet Questions - 02/15/13 02:11 AM

I rescued my monkies last Dec 10, they were fed Australian diet by Suz so I just followed what diet they were on before. First 2 weeks I had problems with them eating (I still panic once in a while tounge ) they werent eating their formula, barely eating fruits and veggies. So I was adviced to add honey and eggs, which I later found out was Orig HPW. They started to eat better. But I honestly think it was because they were getting used to me and new environment. Anyway about 2-3 weeks, I noticed a difference in their fur/coat, more crackly (?) still soft though. So I switched them back to Australian diet again. Just a note, on that 3rd week on Orig HPW I started using the green juice and cut started cutting back on the honey.

After 2 weeks being back on AWD I noticed their fur is so much smoother, less crackly again. So I am sticking to this diet. Once in a while I do use the greenjuice veggie or fruits in place of water, just because they are picky eaters and barely would touch the veggies, well my girls anyway. Joey pretty much eat anything.

In 2 months Joey (3yo) gained from109-139, Sarah (3yo) 76-86 and Lexie (2yo) 71-76. Joey is definitely trending up, Sarah slowly going up with a few downs, Lexie is steadily staying around 75-76 no matter what I do.

As for the cost, I really dont know as this is my first gliders. When I switched to the other diet, it cost me more because of the honey and organic honey is expensive.
Posted By: JillMarie

Re: Australian Diet Questions - 02/15/13 08:26 AM

Thanks so much smile
Posted By: JillMarie

Re: Australian Diet Questions - 02/15/13 10:46 PM

Here's my concerns after thinking about this for a couple days:

We, as a group, seem to frown upon a diet that calls for "sprinkling" of vitamins on food. It seems that this diet is actually doing this, just in liquid form.

Maybe the idea is they wont be getting all of it when they eat the fruits and veggies?

Is there no one else out there using this diet? I would really love to hear your experiences.
Posted By: cathy1229

Re: Australian Diet Questions - 02/15/13 10:56 PM

I don't think you have to put the whps liquid mix over the fruits and veggies, just like with all diets we want them to eat everything so we drizzle the staple over other stuff they may or may not eat to get them to eat it!

My babies go in cycles where they will clean their plates of everything, then a few days later they are not eating much at all. I find it nerve racking to say the least. Only critters I have ever owned that did/does this!
Posted By: CandyOtte

Re: Australian Diet Questions - 02/16/13 12:26 AM

I do not think you need to be concerned about overdoing the calcium or vitamins with the amount of Wombaroo High Protein Supplement used in this feeding plan. It is not a concentrated calcium or vitamin source.

A 2 teaspoon portion of the Wombaroo liquid (1/4 cup powder mixed in 75 ml water) would contain:
34.63 mg Calcium 23.98 mg Phosphorus 1.44:1 Ratio

1/32 tsp RepCal Calcium contains 32.81 mg calcium

Almost any 'sprinkle' or pinch of repcal calcium is likely to be much more that that 1/32 tsp amount.

BML contains over 50 mg calcium per 1 TBS portion so the Wombaroo Supplement used as directed is well under that amount which has been demonstrated, by years of use, to be a safe dosage - as long as the high phosphorus fruit and vegetables called for are fed with the staple.

Posted By: Lumi

Re: Australian Diet Questions - 02/16/13 05:13 AM

This is one I haven't read about. Are you supposed to just sprinkle the HPS over the fruits/veggies in dry powder form or did I read it wrong? It just doesn't seem very tasty that way.
Posted By: Oplok

Re: Australian Diet Questions - 02/16/13 01:35 PM

Im also trying to figure out where the sprinkle came from. I know someone who pours the mix over the veggie/fruit mix. Kinda like a salad and you pour the dressing over it. But my monkies dont like it this way. I have 3 separate dishes. One for the Australian Wombaroo liquid, the other two for fruits and veggies.
Posted By: Srlb

Re: Australian Diet Questions - 02/16/13 02:20 PM

I believe the sprinkling came from the original instructions that are on the back of the WHPS box:

Quote:
Suggested Feeding High Proteim Supplement
Possums and Glider : For animals that eat fruit disperse 2 heaped teaspoons of High Protein SUpplement over each 100gram of fruit offered.
For animals fed plain biscuit prepare a 25% w/v suspension of High Protein Supplement in water and use at the rate of 10ml per 25gram of biscuit.


In a previous conversation on WHPS it was stated by Mr. Rich Gordon (from Paswell) he does not recommend those using this diet here in the USA to use the 'biscuit'. So maybe they have chosen to use the liquid method and just pour over the fruits and vegetables instead.

I would suggest to contact either Alden or Karen Milas (from TGI) to come in and answer your questions as I 'think' they are the ones who started this diet up here after talking with Mr.Gordon
Posted By: yiyo

Re: Australian Diet Questions - 02/18/13 01:20 PM

Originally Posted By: JillMarie
We, as a group, seem to frown upon a diet that calls for "sprinkling" of vitamins on food. It seems that this diet is actually doing this, just in liquid form.

Maybe the idea is they wont be getting all of it when they eat the fruits and veggies?


When I first started this diet I was drizzling the HPS over the fruits and veggies. But I noticed that there was always quite a bit left in the bottom of the dishes when I did this. That's why now, I mix it with pureed fruit or organice/nothing added/no preservatives/100% fruit juice. When I do that, they almost always finish it.
Posted By: GliderNursery

Re: Australian Diet Questions - 02/20/13 03:57 AM

Not being familiar with this diet yiyo, if there is a "sprinking" of vitamins included in the instructions and you are mixing it with pureed fruits, are you measuring it? If so, how did you come up with the measurement for the puree?

If there is no measurement and you are just adding some into a puree, that's really not much different than sprinkling. The concept of sprinkling being an issue is more than one problem. The issues with it are:
1. You don't know if they are eating enough of it
2. You don't know if you are offering enough, too much or too little.

How is adding it to the puree better?
Posted By: cathy1229

Re: Australian Diet Questions - 02/20/13 10:19 AM

I think Yiyo is refering to the WHPS powder & water mix, they suggest drizzling it over the fruits and veggies on the box. I can not have any of my staple mix touch the f/v or they will not eat them! Picky little fuzzies! So I think that is why Yiyo pureed them in the WHPS mix.
Posted By: yiyo

Re: Australian Diet Questions - 02/20/13 01:53 PM

Cathy is correct. I'm not "sprinkling" vitamins or the staple mixture on anything.

I make up the HPS mixture as directed; 1/4 cup WHPS with 1/3 cup water. Then each night I measure out the correct HPS serving size; but instead of drizzling (or sprinkling) that mixture over the fruits and vegetables, I mix it with measured, pureed fruit. That fruit then counts as one of the portions of fruit for the night.

Presuming they eat all of that mixture, they're getting the proper amount for the night....they're certainly served the proper portions. But, as with any staple, they don't finish every drop, every night. But I believe that's normal.

Maybe there is confusion also because of the instructions on the WHPS box differ from the instructions of the actual Australian Wombaroo Diet on TGI? Just for clarification for everyone, I DO NOT feed according to the boxed instructions. I feed according to the instructions found HERE

Edit - and I'm not saying that adding it to the puree is better at all, but it's what I do for a couple different reasons. First, is because when I drizzled it over the fruits and vegetables, I noticed a substantial amount of the HPS mixture left at the bottom of the dishes and I was concerned they weren't eating enough of it. Secondly, they wouldn't eat it plain at all. My solution was to mix it with the fruit to entice them to eat it all.
Posted By: norton33

Re: Australian Diet Questions - 02/20/13 02:49 PM

Not only that Yiyo - but our gliders are currently on food strike, and won't eat ANYTHING that has the HPS mixture on it - all of a sudden. I used to do the drizzle / frosting method, which seemed OK - but like you said more and more would be left at the bottom. I think ideally the HPS can be a separate serving in it's own bowl, but it seemes to lack the sweetness of HPW / BML / etc.

To the original question - I switched from BML initially. Our one glider (the elder one) was having some leg spasm / issues, and a vet recommended the AWD diet, so we gave it a try. I don't find it costly or inconvenient (if you order in bulk), and they ship quick. Seemed ok especially if I mixed in some Green Machine (counted as a veggie serving). Been feeding it about 5-6 months now, and everyone's weights seemed to level off and keep steady... until the past couple of days, even with the green machine.

The past 2 nights they barely ate anything. I gave Ally a piece of pear this morning with no HPS on it and she devoured it.

Not sure what I'm going to do tonight, but need to change something - not fair to the 11+ year old glider! She's lost a bit of weight which concerns me. She was eating a lot more on BML. I really like the Australian Wombaroo Diet, a LOT... I like the freedom with the fruits / veggies, etc... But it seems to have stopped being a good fit for our gliders at this point. Debating back to BML, or possibly HPW (so the HPS powder isn't a waste - I have tons). Otherwise I guess yiyo will be getting a package in the mail tounge lol.

I haven't tried the pureed fruit mixed with the HPS, though. I like that, that's a great idea.
Posted By: GliderNursery

Re: Australian Diet Questions - 02/20/13 03:45 PM

Originally Posted By: yiyo
I make up the HPS mixture as directed; 1/4 cup WHPS with 1/3 cup water. Then each night I measure out the correct HPS serving size; but instead of drizzling (or sprinkling) that mixture over the fruits and vegetables, I mix it with measured, pureed fruit. That fruit then counts as one of the portions of fruit for the night.


thumb Gotcha! Not being familiar with the diet, I was confused with the "sprinkling" comment. Thanks for clarifying that, because if it were a sprinkle kinda diet, personally I'd never consider it. wink
Posted By: CandyOtte

Re: Australian Diet Questions - 02/20/13 05:59 PM

Quote:
Green Machine (counted as a veggie serving)


I would not substitute the Green Machine juice for their entire vegetable serving. It is primarily apple juice and makes a great sweetener for the WHPS mixture which is probably pretty tasteless with out it.

You might reduce the amount of fruits and vegetables offered slightly, but still offer both with the full meal.
Posted By: norton33

Re: Australian Diet Questions - 02/20/13 07:50 PM

yes I meant I count it as 1 serving - so 1/4 of the fruit / veggie, since I only put in a table spoon or two. smile
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