Can Sugar Gliders Eat Eggplant?
Eggplants, those slightly bitter and delicious vegetables. They have a surprising amount of health benefits for us humans. So, it would seem they are likely healthy for sugar gliders as well.
Before you get ahead of yourself and give any new food to your furry friends, always take the time to check whether or not the food in question is okay for your sugar gliders to eat. Not every healthy food we eat is healthy for sugar gliders too.
So, what about eggplant? Can sugar gliders eat eggplant? The quick and easy answer is: Yes, sugar gliders can eat eggplant. Fresh and frozen eggplant are the best. Always be sure to wash the eggplant well, you don’t want to feed your suggies any pesticides. It’s even better if you peel the eggplant or buy organic.
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How Do I Feed Eggplant to My Sugar Gliders?
Eggplant, like every other type of produce, is best when served fresh or frozen to sugar gliders. Stay away from feeding your sugar gliders canned eggplant and nearly all other canned produce. The canning process uses preservatives that your wide-eyed pals should not have in their diet.
When you buy fresh eggplant, be sure to completely wash the skin. Pesticides used in modern farming can cause a great deal of harm to your pet sugar gliders. To lower the chance of feeding pesticides to your sweeties, peel the skin from any bite you plan to give them. Or if you can find organic eggplants, eliminate the risk of pesticide ingestion altogether!
After you’ve washed or skinned the eggplant, be sure to cut away the stem and leaves from the bites you’ll treat your sugar gliders to too. Then slice the eggplant into a coin shape. After that, simply cut bit sized pieces for your sugar gliders.
If you want, you can lightly cook the eggplant slice first. This will help soften it up some which some sugar gliders prefer. If you do cook the eggplant, don’t add any spices or other goodies we use for our own eggplant. Sorry sugar gliders, no Eggplant Parmesan!
Make sure you keep eggplant to a once a week or less treat. Eggplant alone does not have all of the vitamins and minerals in it for your sugar gliders to have a full diet. So, in addition to making it a weekly treat, don’t let eggplant be your suggies’ entire meals either.
What if My Sugar Gliders Do Not Like Eggplant?
If your sugar gliders do not like eggplant, don’t worry. Not every human loves eggplant, so it makes sense that not every sugar glider will either. Sugar gliders ignoring one type of food isn’t a sign your furry friend is in distress.
Before give up on treating your sugar glider to eggplant, try to offer it to them a few times, both cooked and uncooked. Many times sugar gliders need to be exposed to a new food more than once before they give it a try.
You can also try removing the seeds as some people claim that is the most bitter part of the eggplant.
Summary: Can Sugar Gliders Have Eggplant?
Can sugar gliders eat eggplant? In a word: Yes! Sugar gliders can eat eggplant. Never serve canned eggplant and be sure to wash the eggplant well. Better than washing the eggplant, peel it or buy organic so you don’t accidentally feed your furry friends pesticides.
Be sure to keep eggplant to a weekly or even more infrequent treat. And don’t let eggplant ever make up an entire meal.
Remember, not every human likes eggplant, so don’t worry if your sugar glider doesn’t either.