So, I know that gliders aren't supposed to have aspartame. (like in yogurt)
What exactly is aspartame? Is it toxic to them? Or what exactly does it do?
I just let them have some licks of my green tea and they loved it. It says aspartame on the ingredients list...they'll be okay right? The just had a few little licks of it...

From http://www.aspartame.net/

I honestly don't know "why" we don't feed it. But reading over that site may give you some indications. I know some sweeteners have been known to cause cancer, not sure if this is one of the issues or not.

Aspartame can be toxic even to humans. I almost killed myself with the stuff. For me, it caused extreme migrains, nausea, all sorts of stomach issues, nervousness and irritability (more than my normal) and many more other "symptoms".

If you google aspartame, you will come up with a bunch of different sites. Some will tell you it's poison, some tell you it's safe. I know from personal experience that for me, it is toxic.

Here is one site that lists known side effects of aspartame.

http://www.sweetpoison.com/aspartame-side-effects.html/

Oh wow! How do you avoid that? It seems to be in everything!!

Simple, read labels.

Like Teresa, I choose not to feed it to my gliders because I have problems/symptoms from it and I'm a lot bigger than they are.

I very rarely get small doses (in something I don't notice, or cooking that isn't mine) but I read labels and avoid sugar free.

I am a firm believer that aspartame (and other artificial sweetners) are horrible for our health. The side effects are endless.

There have been studies that show evidence it causes cancer in lab rats. Obviously that's when it's given in very high doses to a very small animal - but it's enought to make ME stay far away from it so I'm surely not giving it to my furrballs.

This is a little bit but, in addition, the main reason that people choose "sugar free" and "light" options is to maintain or lose weight. Studies have shown that this doesn't always work because artificial sweetners inhibit our natural ability to compensate for calories in anything we consume. So in actuality, researchers say that artificial sweetners contribute to obesity (also proven in lab rats).