Just curious if anyone has had any experience with feeding hard-boiled eggs in the shell. Not even just chicken eggs but maybe even smaller ones like quail eggs.

DONT use the shells, gliders systems are sooooooooo tiny and fragile and shells can puncture their little systems, bourbon says not to use shells because it has the potential to do this, same thing with peanuts btw

Yep...take the egg out of the shell when you feed it. Actually, though...hard boiling eggs is not a bad thing at all. The calcium in an egg comes from the shell so when you boil it, some of the calcium is retained in the egg itself.

I feed quail eggs in the shell. They do eat bird eggs in the wild and there is noone there to boil and peel it for them. If you do it, I would watch them for the first few times.

I boil the fuzzies eggs to avoid salmonella. I know they eat eggs raw in the wile, but what diseases do wild gliders have? How long are they living if they die 'naturally'? (Read: Not as prey.)

I've heard of people offering hard boiled eggs with taking just the top portion of the shell off, allowing the gliders to tear it apart.

I wouldn't know, personally, because my gliders don't like eggs. The day I stop offering eggs to my gliders wouldn't be soon enough for them.

I don't boil, but suggest people do if their gliders aren't use to raw..everything my babies get is raw.

Thank you, I was leaning toward it being acceptable simply because raw, in shell eggs are part of their diet in the wild. But I hesitate because I don't know what differences there might be in our domesticated gliders.

I appreciate everyone's input, its something I'll have to give further thought to.

But you have to understand the risk of your gliders getting sick too. Remember, wild gliders live 5-7 years. Part of that is preditors but part is because they don't have human slaves looking out for their best interest and helping to keep them safe from parasites and bacteria. Raw eggs can have salmonella. I'm not willing to risk it with my gliders.

I feed hard boiled eggs sometimes here. My vet actually recommended keeping the shell on. It makes dinner time a game for them, too, because they have to work to get to the good stuff they like. I use chicken eggs, and have been doing it for a few years here with out any issue.

Yea it is acceptable in the ild, and that is exactly why wild gliders only live 5 to 7 years. The only reason they live so long in captivity is because we kep thm safe from predators and from things that are not healthy or safe for them.

I would not use raw, for this and other reasons.



I understand this point of view, but can't really lend it much credibility unless someone can provide a first hand account of a sick or injured glider as the result of getting a shell-on egg. So far only positive first hand experiences with shell-on and even raw eggs have been shared. Bourbon was mentioned as stating the danger - can anyone direct me to where that might be recorded?

Just talk to bourbon and she will explain to you why the shell and other things like peanuts are dangrous, she explained it to me very well and honestly, even if I heard only good things about shell on and other foods liike that rom every owner I talk to id still never give it to him after what she explained to me, to me even a minute risk is not worth it, jmo

People used to feed shell on hard boiled eggs, BML used to even include putting in the whole egg (shell and all). I used to cut hard boiled eggs in half and let each cage get the rest of the egg out on their own. (I gave them an un-cracked hb egg once, and it was hilarious watching one of my kids roll around with it, lol.

Some people felt like the shell could pose a risk of injury to the gliders, so most people stopped feeding the shell. I don't give the shell anymore, mostly because I had to pick up all of the little shell pieces spread around the cage.

I feed scrambled and Kona LOVES it. I have not been able to get Kalua yet but maybe thats because she is a baby fresh away from mama??

That's why I said others should boil it. I don't, but my gliders have been on RAW for 4 years under supervision of Oklahoma State University. I know that nothing I get has any bacteria- buy locally- and I have not had any issues with E Coli, Salmonella, Giardia, or Coccodia. I also feed my dogs raw and all of my animals thrive on it.

Nothing is bacteria free, especially when the animals (such as chickens) eat anything, including their own poop.

I have and know of other people that have fed boiled eggs with the shell on/cracked to invite some foraging type behavior. My gliders did not get hurt or die from this.

However. The danger that was stated is coming from a vet. Yes, BML did used to use the whole egg, shell on. A vet consulted at one point did say that, since the blender is not going to completely 100% pulverise the shell into dust, that there was a small chance that a piece of shell *could* be ingested and potentially perforate the esophagus, stomach, or intestine. That is when Bourbon started advising against using the whole egg, since the calcium added by it is minimal at best.

It is up to each of us individually to decide what risks we are or are not willing to take with our gliders.

I have not fed shell-on eggs myself since learning what I have above.

Also, peanuts are their own separate issue IMO and go more into aflatoxins; the shell is the least of my worries there.

Gliders in the wild also have half the life span of gliders in captivity. I would not advise giving gliders raw eggs, because of the salmonella risk alone.

Agreed! Salmonella is something that's always freaked me out.

I've fed all of my animals nothing BUT raw for 4 years. This is taking the discussion off track, so if anyone is curious about my diet, I can post all my info after work.

the only problem I see with raw eggs is the danger from salmonella.

I just read an article on yahoo news about the 10 dirtiest foods and eggs are listed. It advices that even after HANDLING eggs by cracking them in a pan or bowl, that you should THOROUGHLY wash your hands before touching any other foods.

It also advices that eggs be cooked thoroughly as eating even sunny side up eggs increases the risk. With this in mind, I would never feed raw eggs. So if you are going to feed a boiled egg in the shell, I feel it should be safe as it has been boiled, thereby killing the salmonella. Just be sure to wash your hands after you handle the egg

If one was to feed raw eggs, I feel the commercially available eggs are too risky. Perhaps if you raised your own and they were free range it would be less risky.

If I was able to get quail eggs, I would certainly boil them and offer them to my gliders. Would be fun