Can Sugar Gliders Eat Papaya? What About Papaya Seeds?
Sweet in flavor and soft in texture. Papayas are wonderful to eat plain or to spice up your smoothie. No matter how you enjoy eating this tropical treat, you have probably thought about giving a bite to your furry friends.
Our wide-eyed pals have specific dietary needs. So, don’t just treat your sugar gliders to whatever you happen to be enjoying. Be sure to look up every new type of food you want to treat them to.
So, what about papaya and papaya seeds? Can sugar gliders eat papaya and papaya seeds? The quick and easy answer is: Yes, sugar gliders can eat papaya. Papaya seeds are okay to feed your gliders, though not recommended. Papaya makes an excellent addition to their daily meals. Completely remove the peel before giving your furry friends their bites.
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How to Feed Sugar Gliders Papaya
When feeding papaya to your sugar gliders, stick to the Golden Rule of feeding produce to your sugar gliders: Fresh and frozen are best and with few exceptions avoid canned. When fruit and vegetables are canned, often, preservatives are used that are not safe for your furry friends to eat.
Papaya, like most produce is treated with pesticides. Therefore, it’s best to completely remove the peel from any piece of papaya you want to feed your suggies. Pesticides, even in the smallest amounts can be very harmful to sugar gliders.
It is not absolutely necessary to remove the seeds of a papaya before you feed a piece to your sugar gliders. Some humans can and do eat papaya seeds, though they aren’t very tasty. More than likely your sugar gliders will just eat around the seeds and play with them, leaving you to hunt for seeds as you clean up after them.
Papaya is on the favorable end of the calcium to phosphorus ratio, with much more calcium than phosphorus. Because of this, papaya is often used to balance out high phosphorus foods.
Still, portion control with any single food is important when treating your wide-eyed pals. Papaya alone doesn’t have all the nutrients they need to live a long healthy life.
Give your sugar gliders small pieces of papaya. This will help you with portion control and make sure they still have room to eat the other foods they need.
What if My Sugar Gliders Do Not Like Papaya?
Most sugar gliders will love the papaya you give them. However, sugar gliders are known to be very picky eaters for a reason. They can even turn away what had been their favorite treat, and then go right back to liking it again.
Don’t worry if your suggies don’t particularly like papaya, or don’t even try it. Disliking one new food alone isn’t a sign of sickness. Your sweet pals may just merely not like the taste of papaya.
If your sugar gliders have never had papaya before, try giving it to them a few times before you give up. Sometimes sugar gliders just need to be exposed to a new food more than once before they give it a try.
If you suggies come around to loving papaya, they’ll be thankful you put in the extra effort. Most sugar gliders who like to eat papaya, really like to eat papaya!
Summary: Can Sugar Gliders Have Papaya and Papaya Seeds?
Can sugar gliders eat papaya and papaya seeds? In a word: Yes! Sugar gliders can eat papaya, but it is best to avoid feeding them the seeds. Remove the peel before giving a piece of papaya to your sugar gliders.
Sugar gliders usually love papaya, so it makes and excellent treat. As a bonus, papaya can be used to help add more calcium to your suggies’ diets.
Remember, papaya doesn’t provide all the nutrients sugar gliders need, so don’t let them fill up on papaya. Sometimes it is even better to save papaya for last to make sure your wide-eyed pals eat their vegetables first.