Can Sugar Gliders Eat Squash?
Hardy, earthy and delicious, squash not only makes an excellent side dish, but it can also be the star of your meal. No doubt you are aware of the health benefits squash has for us humans. And being so healthy for us, surely squash is also healthy for our sugar gliders, right?
Unfortunately, not every healthy food that we eat belong in our sugar gliders’ diet. Rather than giving your furry friends a new type of food and hoping for the best, it is better to be in the habit of investigating that new food first. You’d hate to accidentally make your sugar gliders sick!
So, what about squash? Can sugar gliders eat squash? The quick and easy answer is: Yes, sugar gliders can eat squash. However, make sure that you rinse the skin very well before serving it to your suggies. Even better than rinsing the skin, peel it or buy organic!
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How Should I Prepare Squash for My Sugar Gliders to Eat?
Many sugar glider parents are nervous about feeding stems, skin and seeds of fruits and vegetables to their wide-eyed pals. When it comes to feeding produce to your sugar gliders, remember this rule of thumb: Generally, if we can and do eat it, sugar gliders can too.
While this obviously doesn’t apply to every type of produce, it is a good guideline that is applicable to squash. So, be sure to remove the stem, and for some types of squash the seeds, from any piece of squash you offer your suggies.
Next, be sure to completely rinse the squash so that it is pesticide free. Sugar gliders are more apt to have problems from pesticides than us humans.
Better than washing the squash, remove the skin and even better than that, buy organic squash. This will help make sure you don’t accidently feed your furry friends any pesticides.
Sugar gliders can have squash raw or cooked. However, if you do decide to cook squash for them do not use any salt, pepper, oil, or other spices. Added salt and the like have no place in your sugar glider’s diet.
For quick preparation, you can lightly steam a piece of squash or even warm it up in the microwave. Do be aware that cooking squash can change its nutritional value slightly.
Finally, remember that fresh and frozen squash are the best options to choose when treating your sugar gliders. Avoid giving them canned squash as the additives used in the canning process aren’t something they should eat.
What Kind of Squash Can My Sugar Glider Have?
Acorn squash, butternut squash, yellow summer squash, zucchini, and more are all fine for your sugar gliders to have. Really, sugar gliders can have any type of squash that humans can.
There are some caveats to be aware of though. Most sugar glider owners try to keep a 2:1 calcium to phosphorus ratio in their sweet pals’ diets. Unfortunately, not all squash is created equal when it comes to calcium.
For the most part, summer squash is lower in calcium and has higher oxalate content than winter squash. The lower calcium to phosphorus in a food, the more the need for other calcium rich foods to balance out.
The same is true with oxalate. Oxalate makes it harder for your sugar gliders to absorb the calcium that is in their food. So, you’ll have a little more investigating to do when you choose which squash to treat your suggies to.
Summary: Can Sugar Gliders Have Squash?
Can sugar gliders eat squash? In a word: Yes! Sugar gliders can eat squash but be sure you are aware of the calcium to phosphorus ratio and oxalate content in the type of squash you are treating your lovable buddies to.
Remember fresh and frozen are the best options and to never serve canned squash to your furry friends.
Cooked squash for your sugar gliders is fine, but don’t add salt, brown sugar or anything else to the squash when you cook it for your suggies.