Can Sugar Gliders Eat Bok Choy?
Whether you prefer it steamed or roasted as a side or as the star in your main dinner dish, there’s no denying that bok choy is a tasty addition to many meals. As an added benefit, bok choy can be very healthy for us humans too.
If you enjoy bok choy and you are aware of the health advantages it gives us humans, you may have considered sharing bok choy with your sugar gliders.
Sadly, not everything that is tasty and healthy for us is the same for our furry friends. Get in the habit of double checking whether or not your sugar gliders can safely have any new food before you give it to them.
So, what about bok choy? Can sugar gliders eat bok choy? The quick and easy answer is: Yes, sugar gliders can eat bok choy. Be sure to completely rinse the bok choy before offering it to your sugar gliders. And never treat your suggies to canned bok choy.
How to Prepare Bok Choy to Feed to Sugar Gliders
Bok choy is quite simple to prepare for sugar gliders. First and foremost, make sure there are no pesticides or the like present on any piece of bok choy you plan to treat your wide-eyed pals to.
This can be done by rinsing the bok choy according to guidelines. To take it a step further, feel free to remove the outer leaves and stem of bok choy after rinsing. Even better, buy organic bok choy to completely remove the risk of making your suggies sick.
Next, peel off a leaf of bok choy with the stem included and give it to your sugar gliders. If your sugar gliders don’t like bok choy on its own, we’ll cover some tips on how to get them to eat it next.
Like nearly all other produce, bok choy is best when served fresh or frozen. Avoid giving your sugar gliders canned bok choy as the additional preservatives and additives aren’t something your sugar gliders should eat.
What if My Sugar Glider Does Not Like to Eat Bok Choy?
Despite bok choy being a very good choice of vegetable to feed to your sugar gliders, not all sugar gliders will eagerly gobble it up. Fortunately, there are a few tips and tricks to help you get them to eat this healthy vegetable.
Some sugar gliders like their vegetables wilted a little. To do this, feel free to either freeze or lightly roast or steam the bok choy. When you cook bok choy for yourself you likely add oil, salt, and other things to make the bok choy tastier.
Don’t add any of these to the bok choy you are cooking for your furry friends. Sugar gliders should have a balanced enough diet to get everything they need to live a long and healthy life without adding it to their treats.
Another way to tempt your sugar gliders to eat bok choy is to blend it up with fruits or smoothies you already feed them. This can help hide the flavor of the bok choy get your suggies to eat it. Adding bok choy to the scrambled eggs your sugar gliders eat also works well too.
Remember to not overpower the flavor of the fruit or eggs with too much bok choy or your sugar glider will catch on to your ruse.
Some sugar glider owners like to make the bok choy a game for their cuddly buddies to eat. You can do this in a few ways, but they all generally involve hanging the bok choy.
If you know where your sugar gliders like to play while in their habitat, you can put the bok choy above this area. This will make eating bok choy more of a game to them. And unlike some other foods, bok choy won’t make a mess when your sugar gliders ‘play’ with it!
Keep in mind when trying any of the tricks for getting your sugar gliders to eat bok choy (or any new food) that often sugar gliders simply need to be around a new food a few times before they will try it. So, don’t give up after the first time trying to get your sugar glider to eat bok choy.
Why Should I Work So Hard to Get My Sugar Gliders To Eat Bok Choy?
There are 2 main benefits for you and your sugar gliders if you can get them eating bok choy. First of all bok choy, unlike most treats, can be fed to your sugar gliders daily. This of course doesn’t mean you want to feed them bok choy every day for the rest of their lives.
However, feeding bok choy to your suggies a few days in a row won’t be harmful to your sugar gliders. Just make sure it is one part of a overall healthy and balanced diet.
The next great thing about feeding bok choy to sugar gliders is the calcium to phosphorus ratio. Many sugar glider owners try their best to maintain a calcium to phosphorus ratio of 2:1 in their suggies’ diet.
If this is you, you know how hard it can be to find produce that isn’t heavily skewed with much more phosphorus than calcium. Bok choy comes in at a ratio of 2.8:1, making it an outstanding way to offset other fruits and vegetables you are feeding your furry friends.
Summary: Can Sugar Gliders Have Bok Choy?
Can sugar gliders eat bok choy? In a word: Yes! Sugar gliders can eat bok choy. Bok choy is an optimal addition to your furry friends’ diets because of its favorable calcium to phosphorus ratio. When feeding bok choy to your sugar gliders don’t feed canned bok choy. Stay with fresh or frozen.
When treating your sugar gliders to fresh bok choy, or preparing to freeze it, be sure to clean the bok choy properly to eliminate all of the pesticides.
Go one step further after rinsing and also remove the first layer of leaves if you want to be more vigilant. Or, even better, get organic bok choy for your sugar gliders.
Remember to keep an eye on your sugar glider’s overall calcium to phosphorus ratio and use bok choy to help keep that balance in check.