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Do Gliders Know/ Cycles and Seasons #79051
01/22/06 02:19 AM
01/22/06 02:19 AM
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 16,800
St. Johns, Florida
Srlb Offline OP
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Srlb  Offline OP
Glideritis Anonymous

Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 16,800
St. Johns, Florida
So all of Charlies most recent threads have got me to thinking....scary yes, I know but bare with me here!! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

diet Needs....it is said in the wild the gliders eat mostly protein sources during the spring and summer months when the insects are abundant and in the fall and winter is when they mainly eat the sap and nectar, so my question is...

Do gliders bodies crave food the way that us humans crave certain things when our body is lacking in something?

Do they know the different seasonal cycles therefore know when they should be eating more proteins or more saps?

Granted they really dont have that option living in captivity, but it made me think of all the posts when people say Help my glider was eating such and such and now wont touch it. I know personally there are times where my gliders can not get enough of something and than a couple weeks later they wont touch it and will go onto something else.

I was also thinking about this when reading Winkles post about how hot it is in Australia right now...not that our babies would know that, but together with Charlies threads...

So what do you guys think...do gliders crave certain things like we do when our body lacks a certain thing?


Peggy
Critter Love
Critter Love� Diet Center

If you want to know what a person is like, watch how he treats others.

You'll never know what the outcome is if you don't step up and try.

Re: Do Gliders Know/ Cycles and Seasons [Re: ] #79052
01/22/06 03:19 AM
01/22/06 03:19 AM

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It's good to see you posting this question, Peggy! Love it! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

It's something I've been bringing up time and time again for so long on these boards (from the first day I came here actually, and got into that debate with B), mostly with no good reception. Perhaps they will listen to you! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> lol I feel it's tied into their very biology and evolution to have seasonally changing diets, and several folks including Pockets have said there has been evidence that doing so is beneficial.

It's really a matter of being able to monitor and control the ratios of substances though, and coming up with a standard so that no one can accidentally provide incorrect amounts of things.

Wouldn't that be something... a SPRING/SUMMER BML recipe and a FALL/WINTER BML recipe?! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/yelclap.gif" alt="" />

Many might argue that we've produced through captive breedings an animal that no longer possesses the same sort of biological rhythms as wild gliders. But, have we really? See, we've indeed formed superficial variations of the ancestral prototype, but have we created a very different biological animal over such a small number of generations? Something in me compels me to say <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shakehead.gif" alt="" /> . I feel our gliders are quite receptive to seasonal changes, and I have a hunch that it's in seasonal changes that we may unlock some of the mysteries of captive glider husbandry, like self-mutilation and cannibalism, for instance (when you consider how hormones are directly influenced in seasonal animals by seasonal indicators, like temperature, photoperiod, food availability, etc). Infact, with many reptile, amphibian, and insect species that originate from temperate to semi-temperate regions, if you don't apply seasonal changes (e.g. a winter hibernation period) in captivity, they won't breed properly or won't even breed at all!

It may even be directly linked to other unsolved captive glider mysteries; perhaps a seasonal diet is the key to the proper absoption of calcium (in light of all these current captive gliders with HLP) or the release of iron in the liver (in light of all these captive gliders currently dying from liver complications)...

Anyway, I strongly feel when you tamper with an animal's diet whose wild ancestor has been, for millions and millions of years in its evolution, a seasonal feeder, you are also thus tampering with its very biological rhythms, which includes things like hormonal tides/fluctuations that, again, I feel may be responsible for many of the captive glider issues we presently can't quite put a finger on. If you look at it from an ecological hollistic standpoint, you may understand that gliders have a specific role in the ecosystem, and they're directly linked to other organisms as they extract nutrients from their environment, and provide nutrients to other organisms in various ways... I feel it would be rather abrasive to remove such a vital and active piece of the ecological tapestry in Oceana and expect it to conform to our conception of "suitable living conditions" here in our homes (and not expect problems in the areas of breeding and such, for instance), which in regards to this thread is a stationery, non-fluctuating diet.

Like Peggy said, hasn't anyone wondered why their tastes change so frequently, and how they'll love one food for a long time and then suddenly go on a strike, only to like it again later? Perhaps it can be considered biological, as opposed to simply a change in palate and preference. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumb.gif" alt="" />

Mikey <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/dance.gif" alt="" />

Re: Do Gliders Know/ Cycles and Seasons [Re: ] #79053
01/22/06 08:00 AM
01/22/06 08:00 AM
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 1,659
Wallis Texas
Charlie H Offline
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Charlie H  Offline
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Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 1,659
Wallis Texas
Very well thought out answer Mikey. And yes Peggy, I do think gliders sense seasonal changes. Even though we keep them in controlled enviornments and have altered their breeding season I do not feel gliders have been totally domesticated. Think about your house pets like dogs and cats. Even though they are kept indoors we still see the seasonal shedding of hair. And these animals have been in captivity much longer than gliders have.

Actually there may be a lot of logic in Pockets theory of creating seasonal diets for gliders. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/nixweiss.gif" alt="" /> The problem I see with that is that we can't even agree on a basic diet. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/roflmao.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/roflmao.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/roflmao.gif" alt="" />

It would take someone a lot smarter than me to figure out how we should compensate for seasonal changes for gliders in diet and maybe even sleeping habits. Since the gliders in the wild only breed according to season or diet availability we do seem to have altered that. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" /> If you really think about what we have done to captive gliders it is sad. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />
Charlie H


Rescue & Rehabilation
http://www.angelfire.com/tx/glidertree/
[]glidertree@toast.net[/]
Re: Do Gliders Know/ Cycles and Seasons [Re: ] #79054
01/22/06 11:01 AM
01/22/06 11:01 AM
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 1,382
Kentucky
B
Badgersmommy Offline
Glider Slave
Badgersmommy  Offline
Glider Slave
B

Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 1,382
Kentucky
</font><blockquote><font class="small">Quote:</font><hr />
If you really think about what we have done to captive gliders it is sad.

<hr /></blockquote><font class="post">

Awww now Charlie! Our kids get lovin's and petted, neat stuff to eat..protection, toys. The gliders in the wild don't get nuffin..I feel sorry for them! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />


Soooo, seasons affect when they have babies? I didn't know that. How does that work?

I've also been wondering and worrying about them needing sunlight for natural Vitamin D. Can you explain how that works when they are in here with me all the time?


Glider Kids - Badger and Bonnie, Pepsi and Grace, Victoria.. ahem..I mean ummm..Victor! and Isabella <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />
Re: Do Gliders Know/ Cycles and Seasons [Re: ] #79055
01/22/06 01:39 PM
01/22/06 01:39 PM
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 271
fairytiger Offline
Glider Explorer
fairytiger  Offline
Glider Explorer

Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 271
I think they do, I have noticed they can sense the moon changes so seasons charges are just as likey. I notice if its colder then they want to cuddle more and eat more mealies, and when its warmer the just want to run aroung and eat fruit. Just what I have noticed.


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