GliderCENTRAL

Darcy's Diet Anyone?

Posted By: Anonymous

Darcy's Diet Anyone? - 07/11/06 02:31 AM

I was wondering, does anyone use "Darcy's Diet". I'm concidering useing this for my gliders diet because it sounds pretty good and requires less ingredients than BML. Here's the recipe:

**Ensure To one can of Light or Regular Ensure (any flavor but chocolate) add 3/8 teaspoons of Calcium Carbonate (I use Ruger's, a human-grade pharmaceutical powder.)

Nightly (ingredients are for one glider)

1 Tablespoon of the Ensure mixture , (more or less) in a bowl *
various fruits & veggies, emphasis on variety and moderation. (No large
amounts of any one thing)
about a tablespoon of protein source per glider (amount depends on what it is.
Chicken or duck meat - about one tablespoon per glider; Crickets - live, frozen or freeze-dried (up to two tablespoons would equal one tablespoon measured out) Also wax worms, mealworms, egg. ***

I have a few questions-

- What is "Light or Regular Ensure"?

- How many fruits and veggies should be given each night? Like how many table spoons?

- At the very end it says "Also waxworms, meal worms, egg" Does this mean you NEED to feed those 3 things or are those other protein options?

thanks so much for the help! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: Darcy's Diet Anyone? - 07/11/06 02:56 AM

Originally the darcys Diet was created for a sick glider called Darcy to help him recover from illness. There have been discussions as to if it should be used as a long term diet for a healthy diet as there are a lot of vitamins and minerals in the Ensure. This is something you should research and discuss with you vet before feeding it.

The plan per glider each night (as far as I know) is:
1 tablespoon Ensure
1 tablespoon mixed fruits & veggies
1 tablespoon protein (any from the list you posted but not limited to any one in paticular).

I'm not sure what 'light' Ensure is but would imagine it has less fat than regular. The diet plan calls for the regular and not the 'high calcium' or 'high protein' Ensure. Do Not offer the chocolate flavor.
HTH.
Posted By: North_Nocturne

Re: Darcy's Diet Anyone? - 07/11/06 03:01 AM

I feed Darcy's diet and my boys are doing really well on it. The best part about it is that they love the vanilla Ensure because it tastes just like yogies. I used a different diet when I first got my gliders but I got sick of trying to find ways to tempt them into eating it.

There is the normal Ensure product that the diet refers to as "regular" and there is also a "light" version of Ensure with fewer calories and less fat. I feed the regular Ensure and don't think you'd need to use the light Ensure unless your glider was seriously overweight.

I give one tablespoon fruit and one tablespoon veggies each night for each glider.

I feed chicken or mealworms for protein. All the protein sources listed are options and I've tried all of them and have found the ones that work best for me and my gliders.

Hope that helps!
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: Darcy's Diet Anyone? - 07/11/06 03:26 AM

Thanks so much for the help!
Posted By: Anmaw

Re: Darcy's Diet Anyone? - 07/11/06 07:03 PM

</font><blockquote><font class="small">Quote:</font><hr />
- What is "Light or Regular Ensure"?


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

Wasn't sure if you were questioning what Ensure is or just the "light or regular" thing, but just in case. Ensure is a supplement for humans who have health problems. In some countries Sustagen (instead of Ensure) is the product to look for to use in the Darcy Diet. Didn't know if Ensure was available in Canada or not.
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: Darcy's Diet Anyone? - 07/11/06 07:37 PM

Mine are on Darcys Diet but they get a heck of a lot more than 1 lousey tablespoon fruit and veggies per night or they'd starve poor things. More like a 1/4 cup!
Posted By: Anmaw

Re: Darcy's Diet Anyone? - 07/11/06 11:43 PM

Krystal,
Are you giving 1 tbl. Ensure, 1 tbl. fruits & veggies and 1 tbl. protein per glider as someone posted above? If you are that's 3 tbls. of food and their stomach is only about the size of a thumbnail. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/nixweiss.gif" alt="" /> Just curious.
Posted By: North_Nocturne

Re: Darcy's Diet Anyone? - 07/12/06 12:13 AM

I know you were addressing Krystal but I also feed Darcy's diet. I feed one tablespoon each of Ensure, fruits, veggies, plus their share of mealworms or chicken each night. That's more than 3 tablespoonsful of food per glider. Both my boys are healthy on that amount of food and neither is at all overweight.
Posted By: Anmaw

Re: Darcy's Diet Anyone? - 07/12/06 12:33 AM

North Nocturne,
I probably didn't phrase that very well. I do the same as you and Stryder isn't overweight. What I was trying to get to was whether she was only giving Ensure and fruits and veggies. Those was the only things she mentioned, nothing about protein. I should have asked a direct question. At the same time 1/4 cup of fruits and veggies is quite a bit if they are getting their protein. If she's not giving the protein the fruits and veggies wouldn't make up for it. As I said, just curious.
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: Darcy's Diet Anyone? - 07/12/06 01:28 AM

Cloey's on a modifcation of Darcy's diet...

i blend fruit with her ensure then freeze it. (she gets other things protein and such with her meals as well) she loves it especially since it's been warmer lately with the summer, she loves to nibble on the frozen ensure.
i found she didn't care for the vanilla flavor as much but loves the wild berry flavor so i recently got a whole case of it lol...

and yes. you can get ensure in canada.
it a couple of dollars for one can.
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: Darcy's Diet Anyone? - 07/12/06 04:41 AM

I also feed my gliders Darcy's Diet. All my gliders have been very healthy and are in wonderful condition on this diet.
I've slightly modified it though... I add in the optional acacia gum and also add bee pollen. Plus, I only give about 3/4 of a tbsp. of Ensure per glider... but 1 tbsp. of fruits and veggies, and 1 tbsp. of protein. (this is all per glider, not per pair). I found my gliders were getting a little chubby on 1 tbsp. Ensure and they weren't eating the other things as well. But once I cut back to 3/4 of a tbsp., they've now been eating everything very well and are all good, healthy weights.

Also, as for the Light or Regular..., I believe it was changed and you're not supposed to use the Light anymore as it has a higher sodium content. You only want to use the Regular - any flavor but chocolate... but mine especially love the vanilla <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />.
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: Darcy's Diet Anyone? - 07/12/06 08:27 AM

Hey there. I was wondering what the ingredients in Ensure are. I live in South Africa so we get very different products and I was wondering if we have something that is Ensure with a different name available in our shops. If someone is INCREDIBLY bored, could you please post the ingredients and amounts (basically the nutrition label) on this post so I can start comparing and see if I can't start hording Glider stuff before my babies arrive <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />
Posted By: glidrz5

Re: Darcy's Diet Anyone? - 07/12/06 09:17 AM

The European name for the Ensure is Sustugen. I believe that it can come in either a powder or a liquid form.
Posted By: Marz

Re: Darcy's Diet Anyone? - 07/12/06 11:08 AM

</font><blockquote><font class="small">Quote:</font><hr />
The European name for the Ensure is Sustugen. I believe that it can come in either a powder or a liquid form.

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

In Australia Ensure and Sustagen are two seperate products and both available on sale.

I believe Sustagen is sold in America and Europe under the product name BOOST. From looking at the ingredients and vitamin/mineral supplement ratios in Sustagen and Ensure, they are very different products indeed. Sustagen comes in several different formats and these also have different ratios to each other. Even though the Hospital Formula and everyday nutritional drink powder are both very low in fat, high in protein, each has different ratios of these plus different ratios of other vitamins and minerals. They also have some different vitamins and minerals in each just to add some confusion to the equation...and this is just sustagen alone. On the Ensure website, their ingredients and ratios are totally different again!

The original leadbetter's diet uses Sustagen so has anyone ever compared the nutritional differences between sustagen and Ensure to obtain the correct ratio?

Cheers Marz
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: Darcy's Diet Anyone? - 07/12/06 11:50 AM

</font><blockquote><font class="small">Quote:</font><hr />
In Australia Ensure and Sustagen are two seperate products and both available on sale.


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

And therein lies my problem, I'm really nervous that I will get the wrong stuff. I don't think we have either product here. Ours could be called anything from cowbellstew to wonderboy supplement. I would not know what to look for unless I knew the ingredients <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/read.gif" alt="" />
Posted By: Marz

Re: Darcy's Diet Anyone? - 07/12/06 12:31 PM

</font><blockquote><font class="small">Quote:</font><hr />
</font><blockquote><font class="small">Quote:</font><hr />
In Australia Ensure and Sustagen are two seperate products and both available on sale.


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

And therein lies my problem, I'm really nervous that I will get the wrong stuff. I don't think we have either product here. Ours could be called anything from cowbellstew to wonderboy supplement. I would not know what to look for unless I knew the ingredients <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/read.gif" alt="" />

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

Gemma You can check out the websites for these products which have lists of ingredients. Here is the ensure one

http://ensure.com/products/index.aspx

and here is the Sustagen Australia one

http://www.sustagen.com.au/sustagen_hospital.php (click on What's in it for me? link for what is in it).

Cheers Marz.
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: Darcy's Diet Anyone? - 07/12/06 12:47 PM

I also feed Darcy's Diet, but they get alot more then a tbsp. per night... They would move out if I gave them those amounts... They dont eat every drop of everything that I give to them but the option is there... Some nights they eat alot more then others so you just cant tell what night they are at... Hungry or not... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/muchlove.gif" alt="" />
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: Darcy's Diet Anyone? - 07/12/06 12:48 PM

<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> Excellent. you are a star! I'll go check them out now. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/read.gif" alt="" />
Posted By: Anmaw

Re: Darcy's Diet Anyone? - 07/12/06 06:44 PM

Marz, that's interesting about the Ensure, Sustagen and Boost being the same as Sustagen. My mother used to buy Boost, she preferred the taste of it over Ensure. I could be wrong, but I believe in the link for the Darcy Diet it says something about using Sustagen in European countries. Ensure has different forumlas also, but the Darcy Diet calls for the regular. I remember not too long ago someone in another country was trying to find a substitute for the Ensure and the Sustagen they found was for children - probably not the right thing because of the different vitamins and minerals. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/nixweiss.gif" alt="" /> It would be nice if these companies would use the same name for a product regardless of what country it was being sold in. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" /> They're making a simple thing complicated.
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: Darcy's Diet Anyone? - 07/13/06 07:01 AM

</font><blockquote><font class="small">Quote:</font><hr />
It would be nice if these companies would use the same name for a product regardless of what country it was being sold in

<hr /></blockquote><font class="post">
<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/offtopic.gif" alt="" /> That would be fantastic if it could happen Anmaw. It gets really confusing but I guess they do it to avoid some very nasty product bloopers. Take for example Vauxhall and Opel. Same car but in the UK you get Vauxhall but South Africa you call it Opel. However if you pronounced Vauxhall in the local South African twang, you would get "Foks-All". Not a car I'd drive in that case.
Could also be already copyrighted names in one country so they have to change it. But thats all off topic so I'll be quiet now <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />
Posted By: Bourbon

Re: Darcy's Diet Anyone? - 07/13/06 05:12 PM

just a few words..

each item named has different ingredients, if it was the exact same thing it would carry the exact same name.. by the way.,. just a few notes.. carnation instant breakfast is also listed with the sustagen and the ensure.. fact is they are all different, having different needs and ingredients. please check and double check everything.

modifying the intended diet plan opens the doors for possible future problems with any diet plan. the darcy diet plan included.
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: Darcy's Diet Anyone? - 07/13/06 11:41 PM

The original "sick glider" version of this diet was unlimited Ensure and unlimited protein (mostly bugs), to put and keep weight on my glider --Lord Darcy-- when he was diagnosed with Lymphoma back in 2002 (by an experienced zoo vet and confirmed by Cornell University.)
Darcy is now on the normal maintenance version outlined here, and he is thriving, as are all my gliders, including Darcy's three children <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/heartpump.gif" alt="" />
(There's GOT to be a way to use the energy generated on those wheels!)

Mine also occasionally get Nekton for Sugar Gliders, but I am very reluctant to rock Darcy's little boat, so it's only about once a week or so.

BTW, Boost has a much higher sugar content than Ensure.
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