(Taronga Zoo Diet):
Original Leadbeaters Diet Recipe - Taronga
Zoo Diet for Sugar Gliders
This Original Leadbeaters Diet Recipe was developed by the
Taronga Zoo. The Leadbeaters Mixture is intended to be
used as a small part of an overall
feeding plan and is NOT intended to be the
complete diet. It is our opinion that this is one of the
more difficult diets to provide for pet sugar gliders. As
such, we would recommend one of the variations on this diet
or one of the other diets listed on the left. We
believe that the HPW
diet is very similar to this Leadbeater's mix, but is much
easier for pet owners to implement.
Original Leadbeaters Diet Recipe
Leadbeaters Mixture
Please note that the ingredient amounts have been scaled
down for pet owners.
Mix in a bowl:
- 150 ml honey
- 150 ml warm water
Mix in a separate bowl:
- 1 egg (boiled, no shell)
Combine above ingredients, mix, and add the
following:
- 1 TEAspoon Vionate vitamin powder
- 25 grams high protein baby cereal
Put the warm water in
a bowl. Slowly add the honey and mix into the
water. Blend eggs in a blender (no shells), until mushy. Add
1/2 of the honey/water mix to the blended eggs and blend.
Add the remainder of the honey/water mix and blend.
Add Vionate powder and half of the baby cereal
and blend. Add the remaining baby cereal and blend
for 1.5 minutes until the mixture is lump free.
The original diet plan says to keep the unused portion
refrigerated. We would suggest for the average suggie
owner to pour into Tupperware bowl or ice cube trays, cover,
and FREEZE (because this mixture will last a long time).
Feeding
Instructions
For two gliders, feed the following daily:
- 3 grams apple
- 3 grams banana/corn
- 1.5 grams dog kibble
- 1 teaspoon Fly pupae
- 3 grams grapes / kiwi fruit
- 10 grams hard boiled egg
- 2 teaspoon Leadbeaters mixture (recipe above)
- 4 grams orange with skin
- 2 grams pear
- 2 grams papaya
- 3 grams sweet potato
On Wednesdays: feed day old chick when available and
large mealworms.
Extra Advice
- The Vionate powder can be substituted with Sustagen or
Ensure. - The high protein baby cereal may not be available in
the U.S. and can be substituted with half of the amount of
High Protein Wombaroo Supplement. - For people who believe grapes are not healthy for sugar
gliders, the grapes can be substituted with
blueberries. - DO NOT feed the pits or seeds of apples, cherries,
peaches, etc. - Use fresh or frozen fruits and vegetables - NOT
canned. - Young joeys may eat
more Leadbeaters mixture and less of the
other ingredients. This is ok. You should continue to offer
them every night. - Gliders are messy with their food. Try putting their
food dish inside of a "glider kitchen". This can be a
plastic (ferret) igloo on top of a plate or an upside-down
plastic container with a hole in the side. This will help
keep the mess and the cage smell down and make cleaning the
cage MUCH easier. - Original Leadbeaters Diet is one of the
approved sugar glider diets designed to be fed as a
main course when you follow the
complete feeding instructions above.