Can Sugar Gliders Eat Plums?
If they like eating plums, most sugar glider owners have probably asked themselves if giving their pets a juicy bite is okay. It’s smart to always look up any food before giving it to your suggies. After all, everyone wants their pets to live long and healthy lives!
So, what about plums? Can sugar gliders eat plums? The quick and easy answer is: Yes, sugar gliders can eat plums, but not the stem and remove the pit first. Thoroughly wash the plum before feeding it to your little pal. And, like most treats, make sure you feed your sugar glider plums in moderation.
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Can Sugar Gliders Eat Plum Pits and Plum Skin?
The general rule for feeding sugar gliders produce is if you can eat it, so can they. For that reason, remove the stem from your sugar glider’s slice of plum.
Just like you would for yourself wash the skin thoroughly to make sure it is pesticide free. Sugar gliders are much more susceptible to the remnants of pesticide and insecticide than we are.
If you want to be extra careful, cut the plum skin away from the bite you’ve cut for your suggies. Clearly an even better choice would be to choose plums that were grown organically.
When it comes to the pit, your sugar glider will likely eat around it and avoid it completely. However, they may wish to take a nibble to see if they like it. Don’t give them the chance. Plum pits can be toxic to sugar gliders, so it is best to not serve the pit with the plum treat.
For sugar gliders, fresh and frozen are the best. They should not eat most produce that’s been canned, including plums. This means you can’t skip the skinning, cutting and pit removal by giving them canned plums.
How Much Plum Can My Sugar Glider Eat?
Plums are fairly acidic, so you don’t want to feed your suggies too much at a time. Too much acid in a sugar glider’s diet can cause loose stools. This is not a problem you want to deal with.
Sugar glider parents often cut little slices of plum to feed their furry friends. This allows for much more control over how much plum the sugar glider can eat. Also, don’t make plums an everyday treat. They can be rotated through with other treats throughout the week.
Many sugar glider parents try to feed their fury friends a diet that has a calcium to phosphorus ratio of 2:1. If this is you, be sure to be aware of how adding plums to their diet changes this ratio.
What Variety of Plum Should I Feed My Sugar Glider?
Like apples and peaches, plums come in a wide variety of colors and flavors. Some plums are bitterer than others. While sugar gliders often prefer the sweeter plum varieties, all plums are okay for your sugar glider to eat.
If your sugar glider doesn’t like plums, there is nothing to worry about. Plums aren’t known to be a favorite fruit for many sugar gliders. While some suggies will enjoy nibbling on a piece of plum some will not.
There’s nothing to worry about if your wide-eyed buddy doesn’t like plums. Just like humans, sugar gliders can be picky eaters.
For your own sake, you’ll probably want to get plums that are freestone rather than clingstone. Bakers know exactly where this is going. If you picture the pit of the plum as stone, the names are fairly self-explanatory.
Clingstone plums have pits that are harder to cleanly remove. Freestone plums have pits that easily pull away from the flesh of the fruit. So, you won’t have as much plum juice all over your hands and cutting board.
Summary: Can Sugar Gliders Have Plums?
Can sugar gliders eat plums? In a word: Yes! Sugar gliders can eat plums in moderation. Be sure to wash the plum well and remove the pit before giving it to your sugar glider. Better than washing the pesticides off the plum, buy organic plums instead.
As with most produce, avoid feeding your sugar glider canned plums. And keep track of your suggie’s overall calcium to phosphorus ratio.
Finally, don’t worry if your sugar glider isn’t a huge fan of plums. They all have different tastes.