Sorry for all my typos in my previous post. I was on my break at work and was trying to type on my phone, lol.
Personally, I feel that Ensure has alot of potential for use in sugar glider
diets because it's full of lots of vitamins and nutrients and takes most of the guesswork out of feeding gliders.
I've been feeding the Ensure
diet for about a year and a half now, if I remember correctly, and the worst problem I've had with it is that my gliders don't smell as sweet as they used to on HPW.
It's a sacrifice I'm willing to make though, lol.
Why do you feel that way?
Answered above.
What type of Ensure (there are a couple different types of the Ensure brand alone) are you using and why?
I feed the regular Vanilla Ensure. Although sometimes I'll get the strawberry, Hazelnut, or other flavors(except for chocolate) just to mix things up. I do not feed the other TYPES(high calcium, high protein, etc...) of Ensure, however, because they have too much sodium in them. Although it would be harmless if only given occasionally as a treat, since I feed Ensure nightly as part of their
diet I prefer not to risk giving them too much sodium.
Daily. I feed the Ensure
diet. 1 serving of the
diet consists of the following: 1T of Ensure, 1T of protein, 1T of fruit, and 1T of veggies.
[quote=JillMarieHave you seen any effects on coat condition when using/not using it? [/quote]
The only difference I've noticed is that the gliders seem to smell a bit stronger. However, that might be due to other factors as well, such as the fact that I used to have my gliders split into 2 separate rooms and after switching
diets I moved them all into the same room. That, of course, would make things a bit stinkier too, lol.
As for the question of how much calcium the Ensure has and how much needs to be added...regular Ensure has a 1:2 calcium:phos ratio. I add 250mg of calcium to a bottle of Ensure to raise the ratio up to 2:1.
My gliders LOVE the Ensure
diet and even after a year and a half they still will jump onto the fronts of their cages and beg when they see me bringing their dinner and the Ensure is the very first thing that they eat.
That makes ME happy. Also, the cost of feeding the Ensure
diet is in-between HPW and BML, so it's not bad. And the prep-time, of course, is a HUGE perk!
I no longer have to go into panic-mode while making a batch of food because I forgot one of the 20 ingredients.