Dr. Dierenfeld has just notified the GC ownership that the long awaited Glider Research Fund diet study 'Comparison of Commonly Used diets on Intake, Digestion, and Growth and Health in Captive Sugar Gliders' has been published in the Journal of Exotic Pet Medicine July issue.

I am trying to see if we can copy or where we can go to get copies of the article and will keep you informed.

WOOHOO! I'm SOOOOOOOOO excited! Can't wait - so where is it - get it Tom, get it!

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob...49458fca1422644
Found it there, scroll down to 10.
I can't read it because you need to pay $30. I can't even read the abstract... I'd love to see it, though.

I'm not paying $30 to read it.

Eeek, $30?!

I wonder if we could all chip in then post a copy?

My thoughts exactly!

I mean heck, there's got to be more than even 30 of us wanting to see this!

I just put in a request with the local University library, we'll see if she can get it for us.

Let me see what I can do ..I work in a library and can try to get a copy of the article for free.

Try this attachment

Thanks! I just printed it off to read.

Awsome... going to do some reading...

Ok I just spoke with someone and 2 universities have it in the system so I requested it..we will see what happens.

hey wait can anyone call their vet and see if they have it and can get a copy?

myangelbear, if you scroll back up you will find the study as an attachment in my last post

Hmmmm;

"None of the three diets tested appear to contain the optimal balance for meeting the nutritional needs of sugar gliders...."

I made a request for it from my college library too

edit: and then I realized Lorna has already posted it as a PDF for us, lol

Ok, I just finished reading it and to me it seems to bring up the need for more research into diets. None of the diets seem to really be optimally the best for these babies. I will look forward to any further studies on this subject. They surely are complex little buggers, aren't they! Thanks for posting that link.

That is so very sad about the loss of all those gliders. Stress can be detrimental to them and perhaps the flying was just too much. Thank you for all your work. I hope more work can be done so that future gliders will benefit from it.

Wow - that was A LOT of information to take in! I will need to pour over it a bit later to thoroughly understand everything that was done.

The main thing that kept jumping out at me was Ca and Fe overload in all 3 diets. The vitamin C question is one that has been raised here before.

Good must come from this loss. It would be nice if we could do studies like this without subjecting the gliders involved to so much stress. We need to protect them on a higher level than just the present though. If we do not continue with such studies (though perhaps carried out differently) we will not gain the knowledge needed to improve the quality of life for gliders in the future.

(((HUGS))) to all involved, this study is a HUGE step!

Thank you Chaungo for posting that.

Thanks for sharing it woth us..but now I am concerned...
What I gather from reading is although a glider can and will survive on any of the diets tested - none is perfect. So BML according to this study (although is very good) it is not a complete choice? I am afraid it will put to many people back in a guessing game of sorts with their diets.

I was so excited when I saw that and read it. I feel horrible for the poor gliders that passed away though.

I was told years ago by people and a vet from Australia that people in the U.S overload there gliders with too many vitamins, calcium, etc.

These findings do not surprise me one bit. I have not had any illnesses with my gliders since they adopted me 3 years ago. I also don't feed any of those diets. I didn't feel comfortable feeding them and went in search of foods they eat in their own natural habitat.

Wow, this is enlightening.

nobody panick and don't change your diets because of this. only more research is going to give us a better idea on a more heathful diet. yes it is sad that gliders where lost but how many will live fuller lives? thank you for the info.

I disagree - the study gives us recently discovered facts to deal with as opposed to the speculation & outdated info we have been relying on. I think this is just the first step in balancing our diets appropriately. It's like a progress report, it tells us the down sides to what we've been doing. Now we problem solve to create a better product, maybe not necessarily a new product - but we can add & subtract components of current diets to compensate for the findings.

I think what it has done is quite the opposite - it has actually removed some of the guessing.

Also, I have heard of many people mixing BML WITHOUT the RepCal supplements - I have to wonder if this brings the BML back down to more ideal vitamin levels.

I am also curious about the comments made regarding the protien content of the BML. The blood urea nitrogen concentration was highest in the animals fed BML. They speculate about the "protien content & quality" making the difference. I have often wondered the same thing. Out of the 3 diets studied, BML was the only one that used a "human grade" protien source.

Wow...they sure are right.....more questions than answers.

Cogitation is in order.


Getting this research done was an accomplishment of supreme merit and Suggie George has nominated those involved for the Nobel Suggie Prize to be awarded in Suggieholm next year.


Godspeed

Angel and The Suggies

You also have to keep in mind that the study only looked at a total population of NINE gliders, three in each group. And even then, it was minus one who was removed from the study. I just thought a weight study would be difficult, as gliders have a pretty big range...
I think this study is a great start, but with such a small population sample, it would be hard to draw any concrete conclusions. I just don't know how necessary it is to run out and start doing any major diet tweaking just yet..
No matter what the results are, it's been realistically shown that there are VERY healthy gliders out there, who are living much longer than in the wild. Obviously we're doing something right.

I think it's very cool that this study was done. It is so heartening to see people take such great and worthwhile measures to try to give gliders the most ideal diet possible in captivity. Congrats to all involved on carrying out this study. It is very informative.

Yes, definitely don't stop feeding your current diet because of the study. I need to read it over again a couple of times to absorb it.

It's important to remember that science is a dynamic process and we probably shouldn't make any dramatic changes in the diets we use until we have more studies...like the mods had mentioned, it just shows a need for tweaking. I also noted the very small sample size (which certainly does not make this study NOT worthwhile, it is very valuable, but does mean that it is less reliable and we shouldn't all take it as conclusive evidence that should require us to make immediate, drastic dietary changes).

I hope more studies are done so we can continue to improve our understanding of the suggies and improve their diet more. The small number of suggies who gave their lives for this study is sad, but a small price to pay for how many gliders this will be helping by increasing our knowledge of what they need to be healthy and happy.