Can Sugar Gliders Eat Cilantro?

From drinks to curries to tacos, the incredibly aromatic cilantro elevates a lot of dishes to the next level.  If you’re a fan of adding cilantro to meals, you’re probably well aware of the health benefits.  And if you are aware of the health benefits of cilantro for humans, you’ve likely wondered if sugar gliders can eat cilantro too.

Sadly, some of the healthy foods we eat aren’t that great for our furry friends.  So, before you add any new food to your suggies’ meals, always look up whether or not it is a good idea to feed it to them. 

So, what about cilantro?  Can sugar gliders eat cilantro?  The quick and easy answer is: Yes, sugar gliders can eat cilantro.  Cilantro is a great way to add more flavor to your sugar gliders’ salads.  Like most treats, cilantro should be fed to sugar gliders in moderation. 

And be sure to rinse the cilantro well first so that you don’t feed your sweet friends any pesticides.  If you can, buying organic cilantro is an even better choice!

What is the Best Way to Feed My Sugar Gliders Cilantro?

When feeding your sugar glider cilantro, stick with the golden rule of feeding all produce to your wide-eyed pals.  Fresh and frozen are best and avoid feeding your sugar gliders anything that has been canned. 

While you likely won’t find cilantro canned by itself, you may find it canned with other acceptable produce that your sugar gliders can eat.  The canning process usually involves using preservatives that really have no business in your sugar glider’s diet.  So, with few exceptions avoid feeding them any canned produce. 

Cilantro has some of the highest concentrations of pesticides found on produce in the grocery store.  Be sure to really rinse the cilantro well before serving it to your sugar gliders.  If you can find it and afford it, a much better option would be to buy organic cilantro.  Then you won’t have to worry about accidentally feeding pesticides to your tiny buddies. 

While cilantro is fine for your sugar gliders to eat, it doesn’t have an optimal ratio of calcium to phosphorus for them.  Sugar gliders should have a calcium to phosphorus ratio of 2:1 in their diet.  Cilantro comes in at 1.43:1.  So, you’ll need to make sure you’re feeding your sugar gliders something with even more calcium than phosphorus to balance the ratio out.

We all know how finicky sugar gliders are when it comes to eating.  Some sugar gliders will love the fragrance, crunchy stems and strong flavor of raw cilantro.  Other sugar gliders prefer their food a little softer and less spicy. 

If you find your suggies prefer their vegetables to be on the softer side, it’s okay to slightly steam or otherwise cook the cilantro to soften it up a bit.  Freezing cilantro is also a great way to make it limp.

If you do try cooking cilantro for your sugar gliders, don’t add any spices or butter to it.  While we use a lot of goodies to enhance the taste of greens for ourselves, most of these aren’t healthy for sugar gliders to eat.

Chop the raw, thawed out or lightly cooked cilantro and mix it in with your sugar gliders’ other veggies.  Cilantro, while okay for sugar gliders to eat, shouldn’t be their sole vegetable of the day.  By mixing it with other greens or other vegetables, you’ll provide a flavorful treat for your suggies.

My Sugar Glider Does Not Like to Eat Cilantro, Should I Be Worried?

Not every sugar glider will like cilantro.  And that is okay.  Just like not every human likes cilantro, some sugar gliders may find the taste of cilantro off putting.  Sugar gliders disliking one type of food isn’t cause for you to think they are sick or otherwise distressed.

Many times, a new food needs to be introduced to a sugar glider’s meal a few times before they give it a try.  Between chopping cilantro up raw, lightly cooking it or feeding it to them frozen, you have a number of options to try a few times before giving up on feeding cilantro to you sugar gliders. 

Summary: Can Sugar Gliders Have Cilantro?

Can sugar gliders eat cilantro? In a word: Yes!  Sugar gliders can eat cilantro but be sure to thoroughly wash the cilantro first.  The high incidence of pesticides found on cilantro is not something you want to accidentally feed your suggies. 

Remember to never serve canned produce to your furry friends. And to keep track of the overall calcium to phosphorus ratio in their diet. 

Just like some humans don’t like cilantro, not all sugar gliders will either.  So, don’t worry if you sugar glider dislikes this one food.