Can Sugar Gliders Eat Tomatoes?
Tomatoes, those beautiful, delicious, and versatile vegetables. Yes, they can be referred to as a fruit. However, since this about eating tomatoes, we’ll refer to them as vegetables as that is what tomatoes are in a culinary context.
One of the most adaptable vegetables known to man, tomatoes (in some shape or form) go well with almost any meal. Not only do they complement most other foods, eating a sliced tomato that is freshly picked is a favorite summer snack of many people.
Tomatoes are full of vitamin C, are known to be good for our bones, and have antioxidants to help the heart. Clearly, humans can derive many health benefits from eating tomatoes.
When it comes to sugar gliders consuming healthy human food, the reality is, not everything that is good for us is also good for our furry friends. Being a vigilant sugar glider care giver and looking up each new food you treat your sugar glider to is an excellent habit to be in. Surely, you’d hate to give your sweeties something that isn’t healthy for them.
So, what about tomatoes? Can sugar gliders eat tomatoes? The quick and easy answer is: Yes, sugar gliders can eat tomatoes, tomato skin and tomato seeds of all common varieties of tomatoes. But there are a few precautions you need to take when feeding your wide-eyed pals tomato.
Like most treats, don’t let your sugar gliders eat too much tomato, and keep an eye on your suggies’ overall calcium to phosphorus ratio.
How Much and How Often Can Sugar Gliders Eat Tomatoes?
Just because a fruit or vegetable is okay for sugar gliders to eat, it doesn’t mean they can have unlimited amounts of that produce whenever you feed it to them. Nor does it mean your suggies can eat it every day. Just like with many other fruit and vegetable treats, this is also true when it comes to feeding tomatoes to sugar gliders too.
Moderation is key when feeding sugar gliders tomatoes. Despite the health benefits your suggies will get from eating tomatoes, the high amount of acid tomatoes have can be bad news if your furry friends eat too much.
Too much acid in a sugar glider’s diet can leave your little buddy feeling unwell and you with a mess to clean up. This is because if your sugar glider has too much acid in their diet they will develop diarrhea. If you have ever had to clean up after a sugar glider with loose stools, you know it’s not something you want to experience again.
For this reason, you don’t want to make tomatoes a main part of your sugar glider’s meal or a large part of their overall diet. Tomatoes should be a weekly or twice a week treat at the most. Many sugar glider owners are even more vigilant and keep tomatoes to a monthly treat.
Tomatoes as a treat, a side dish, or even mixed in with their regular vegetable salad is fine of course. Just make sure tomatoes aren’t the majority of what they eat for any meal or day.
In order to better control the amount or tomato your sugar gliders eat, it is always better to cut up how much they can have and give it to them. You don’t want to free feed tomatoes or anything too acidic to your suggies. And you don’t want to monitor them and try to take away a large piece of tomato when you’ve decided they have already eaten enough.
Can Sugar Gliders Have Tomatoes of Any Type and Variety?
When choosing a variety of tomato to feed your suggies you’ll likely face the same dilemma as when you choose which apple to feed your sugar gliders, there are thousands of varieties to pick from. And while your local farmer’s market and grocery store won’t offer every type known to man, you’ll likely still have many varieties to choose from.
Fortunately for sugar gliders and you, all varieties of tomatoes are safe for them to eat. So, if you prefer cherry tomatoes, or grape tomatoes or big beefsteak tomatoes, you can pick up whatever variety of raw tomato you prefer and feed it guilt free to your sugar gliders.
There are some restrictions when it comes to feeding prepared tomatoes to your sugar gliders. First of all, stay away from feeding your little buddies canned tomatoes. Like most produce, the methods used to can tomatoes include using additives that your sugar glider really has no business eating.
With other prepared tomatoes, such as sun dried or other wise dehydrated, make sure there is no added salt, other flavor enhancers, or other ingredients used on them. Sugar gliders get all of the salt they need from their natural diet. You don’t need to feed them any treat with added salt.
What Parts of the Tomato Can Sugar Gliders Eat?
If you can and do regularly eat it, so can sugar gliders. While not true 100% of the time, for most fruits and vegetables that sugar gliders can eat, this is a good rule to keep in mind. It holds true for tomatoes as well.
Some fruits and vegetables have seeds or pits that are toxic to sugar gliders. Luckily, that is not the case with tomatoes. Tomato seeds aren’t known to be toxic to sugar gliders. So, sugar gliders can freely eat tomato seeds that are a part of the tomato treat your give them.
The same is true for tomato skin as well. However, you do need to be more cautious when feeding tomato skin to your sugar gliders. Some grocers apply wax to tomato skin to help tomatoes retain moisture during their journey from field to store shelf. This wax, while harmless to humans, can cause problems for sugar gliders.
Many growers use insecticides and fungicides to protect their tomatoes. These especially, shouldn’t be ingested by your suggies. Sugar gliders are more likely to have negative side effects from these than humans.
Because of what can be applied to tomatoes, be sure to wash the skin of any tomato completely and thoroughly before giving it to your sugar gliders. Often, the advice for fruit and vegetables is to peel it before giving it to your suggies to make sure you don’t accidentally feed them anything bad.
Unfortunately, tomatoes are nearly impossible to peel without making a mess. So, the best option would be to buy organic tomatoes for your sugar gliders. This will help you make certain you don’t feed your wide-eyed pals anything they shouldn’t eat.
Finally, don’t let your sugar gliders eat the stem or leaves of a tomato. These can be harmful and even toxic to your furry friends. And while it is likely your sugar gliders will eat around them if you mistakenly give it to them, you don’t want to take the chance. Be safe and remove any stem or leaf from tomato treats you give your sugar gliders.
Summary: Can Sugar Gliders Have Tomatoes?
Can sugar gliders eat tomatoes? In a word: Yes! Sugar gliders can eat tomatoes, including the skin and seeds. Be sure to follow the precautions listed above though. You don’t want to feed your furry friends wax, insecticides or anything else unhealthy for them.
Be sure the wash the skin of the tomato very well before feeding it to your sugar glider or buy organic if you can. Stay away from canned tomatoes. And stay away from any prepared tomatoes that have add salt or other spices.
Finally, for your sake and theirs, make sure to feed tomatoes as a side dish, treat, or as part of a vegetable salad. Don’t make tomatoes the main part of a meal, and keep tomatoes to a weekly treat at most. You don’t want to be cleaning up after a sick sugar glider.