Can Sugar Gliders Eat Carrots? What about Carrot Greens?
Depending on the type of carrot they are slightly sweet, earthy or even a little bitter, but they are always deliciously crunchy. If you enjoy snacking on carrots, sharing it with your sweet sugar gliders has probably crossed your mind.
Before feeding your furry friends carrots, or any new food, and hoping it’ll be okay, it’s always better to make sure what you’re treating your lovable suggies to is healthy for them.
So, what about carrots? Can sugar gliders eat carrots? Can sugar gliders eat carrot greens? The quick and easy answer is: Yes, sugar gliders can eat carrots and their green tops rarely. Fresh and frozen carrots are the best. Be sure to wash them well if you go for fresh carrots. It’s even better if you peel the carrots or buy organic.
Safeguards For When You Feed Your Sugar Gliders Carrots and Carrot Greens
Of course, you always want to feed your sugar gliders healthy foods. When feeding carrots and carrot greens to your wide-eyed friends, follow the same rules as you do with most produce.
The first rule is fresh and frozen carrots are best. Canned carrots, as with most canned produce, should be avoided. The canning process generally uses additives that are not healthy for sugar gliders.
Next, completely wash the fresh carrot and greens you plan on feeding your sugar gliders. Pesticides are particularly harmful to suggies, so you need to make sure you remove the pesticides from the greens and carrots.
To be extra careful, you can peel the carrots and discard the greens altogether. For even more peace of mine, you can buy organic carrots when they are available.
Carrots are high in oxalate. This can inhibit calcium absorption. Most sugar glider parents try to maintain a proper calcium to phosphorus ratio of 2:1. Obviously feeding them carrots can make that difficult.
Due to the calcium difficulties presented by carrots, if you do decide to treat your sugar gliders, be sure to do so in small quantities and rarely. You don’t want to over do it and throw their calcium to phosphorus ratio out of kilter.
Tips for Feeding Carrots and Carrot Greens to Your Sugar Gliders
It is important to remember that not every sugar glider will enjoy eating carrots. In fact, a lot of sugar glider owners report that none of their suggies like carrots at all.
Some sugar gliders are not quite as picky. They will eat carrots but only if prepared a certain way. And many are particular about the way the carrot is cut up.
Certain sugar gliders may only eat shredded carrots, others only when a carrot has been cut into coins and others even prefer match sticks.
If your sugar gliders do not chow down on their carrot treats right away, feel free to experiment with the variety of carrot as well as how it is cut up.
If you decide to soften up the carrot by slightly cooking it, do not use any spices, butter, or anything else we put on cooked carrots for ourselves. These have no business in a sugar glider’s diet.
Summary: Can Sugar Gliders Have Carrots and Carrot Greens?
Can sugar gliders eat carrots and carrot greens? In a word: Yes! Sugar gliders can eat carrots and their greens rarely. Never serve canned carrots and be sure to wash the carrot and greens well. Better than washing the carrot, buy organic so you don’t accidentally feed your furry friends pesticides.
Carrots are high in oxalate, which makes tracking your sugar gliders’ calcium to phosphorus ratio more difficult.
Remember, not every human likes carrot, so don’t worry if your sugar glider doesn’t either.