This food is fantastic!  Our babies love to play with it before they eat it.  They toss it around, bowl with it, tug of war, you name it.  When they finally do eat it, they eat all of it, and I mean all of it.  We would like to thank you and those who came up with this wonderful food.  Not only is it good for them, they will actually eat it too. 

- Debbie and Casey K

I just came from my vet and he is THRILLED with the new ingredients of Wholesome Balance...and my vet is very renowned in the exotic world.

- Kris

My order arrived yesterday of the new staple food and a toy, just in time.  I was running really low on the Zookeepers.  I put some Wholesome in their bowl for their evening meal.  I can honestly tell you that the level of excitement they had over this new food was off the charts!  This morning, when I changed out their food, ALL of it was gone!!!  And Murphy stayed up until 9AM to get some more!!  I guess that's a real vote of confidence.  Both boyz came out of their sleeping pouch again at 2PM to munch on more!

- Sandi

Hey Lisa, i just read the newsletter on the new staple food.  I got the sample of it with my last order of zookeepers secret and fed it to my glider boys for a few nights.  I found they loved it! ate more of it than they usually do of zookeepers secret.  I was glad to see this because most of the time I feel I am wasting a good portion of their staple food simply because they don't eat it all and it dries out.  As I said I did just buy a bag of zookeepers secret but will surely buy the wholesome balance for my next time around.  Thanks for the updates and information in the newsletter:)  I'm attaching some super cute pictures of my boys too :)  Hope you like!! 

- Kayla

Finally, a staple food that my glider will actually eat.  He LOVES it!  I had tried them all, even Zookeeper's with no luck.  I was afraid that he was not getting proper nutrition with fresh fruits and vegetables, gut-loaded crickets, and Leadbeater's, but that's all he would eat.  Thank you for such a great product.

- Melissa and Cruiser

Ingredients: Chicken Meal made from Human Grade Chickens, whole grain brown rice flour, whole grain barley flour, flaxseed oil, dried whole egg, oat groats, fish meal, flax meal, calcium carbonate, blood meal, animal plasma, dried kelp, Vitamin E supplement, salt, potassium chloride, Vitamin A acetate, D-activated animal sterol (source of Vitamin D3), DL-alpha tocopheryl acetate (source of Vitamin E), menadione sodium bisulphate complex (source of Vitamin K), Vitamin B12 supplement, calcium pantothenate, niacin supplement, riboflavin supplement, pyridoxine hydrochloride, thiamine mononitrate, biotin, folic acid, ferrous sulfate, zinc oxide, zinc sulfate, maganous oxide, sodium selenite, manganese sulfate, copper sulfate, calcium iodate, dried tomato pomace, yeast culture, monosodium phosphate, sodium sulfate, ferric sulfate, manesium oxide, cobalt sulfate, cane sugar, di-methionine, pyridoxine hydrochloride, ferrous fumarate, sea salt, l-lysine, lecithin, potassium iodide, beta carotene, zinc methionine complex, hydrochloric acid, yucca schidigera extract, algae meal, diatomaceous earth, cobalt choline citrate complex, ferric choline citrate complex, calcium pantothenate, copper choline citrate complex, magnesium amino acid chelate, zinc amino acid chelate, calcium amino acid chelate, iron amino acid chelate, manganese amino acid chelate, copper amino acid chelate, cobalt amino acid chelate, thiamine mononitrate, ferrous carbonate, amylase, cellulose, maltase, phytase, protease, lipase, mixed tocopherols, citric acid, ascorbic acid, lecithin, rosemary extract.

This product uses natural preservatives and should not be stored longer than 6 months to ensure the nutritional value of the food is protected.

Wholesome Balance^™
Chicken & Brown Rice Blend

Sugar Glider Food

$13.97 for 1.5 lbs

A 2 month supply for 2 sugar gliders
Larger and Smaller sizes available

Product ID # 5060

Back in 2006, SunCoast partnered with renowned animal nutrition scientist Dr. Ellen S. Dierenfeld to undertake the first clinical study of sugar glider nutrition.  Dierenfeld is formerly of the St. Louis Zoo and the Bronx Zoo; her full background is here.

Needless to say, we were pleased when Dr. Dierenfeld agreed to help us create a new kind of sugar glider food.  After 2+ years of activity since the study, we are proud to introduce this product, developed with Dr. Dierenfeld and information obtained in feeding trials.  

Wholesome Balance Chicken and Brown Rice Blend is the first dry sugar glider food to use animal protein as the main ingredient while at the same time providing a more natural approach to sugar glider food.

Prior to developing this food, ZooKeeper's Secret was one of two commercially available sugar glider foods where  animal protein is the primary nutrition source.  However, both these foods are moist and uneaten portions should be discarded and replaced each day.

Because it's a dry food, Wholesome Balance does not have to be replaced each day. Sugar gliders love the taste and it's easier and more economical to to feed.

Wholesome Balance Chicken and Brown Rice sugar glider food is a healthy alternative approach to glider nutrition that can save you time and money too!  And for those of you concerned about soy in pet food, this product contains no soybean meal or soybean oil.

Why is Animal Protein in Glider Food Important?

The selection of chicken was based on the knowledge that diets using animal protein as the primary ingredient (as opposed to vegetable protein like soy or corn) contain a better balance of essential amino acids to help gliders maintain health and thrive, not just survive.  This dry food was designed to balance amino acids that may be lacking in other components of the diet; the animal proteins also mimic consumption of insects eaten in the wild.

Let's walk through some of the main ingredients:

Chicken Meal made from Human Grade Chickens 

We found a plant that creates Chicken Meal from broiler chickens processed for human consumption.  The unused meat from these chickens is cooked off the bone and ground to make the meal.  Some fine bone is ground and intentionally added back to the meal for the mineral content, but this chicken meal contains no feathers, viscera, heads, or feet. Besides the animal protein, chicken meal brings omega-6 through the fat content, which helps maintain healthy skin and shiny coat.  This chicken meal is preserved with all natural tocopherols, rosemary extract, and Vitamin E, and contains no synthetic preservatives.  

Whole Grain Brown Rice

The processing of Brown Rice removes only the outermost layer, the hull of the rice kernel, preserving much of the nutritional value of the rice.  Among grains, rice is easily digested and least likely to cause allergic reactions.  Brown Rice is rich in fiber, B vitamins, calcium, and phosphorus, an excellent source of manganese, and a good source of the minerals selenium and magnesium. 

Barley Flour, Flax Meal and Oat Groats

Barley Flour is very high in fiber.  Flax meal supplies omega-3 fatty acids, and oat groats are high in several amino acids, particularly lysine, methionine, cysteine.

Flaxseed Oil, Dried Whole Eggs, Fish Meal

Flaxseed oil is low in saturated fat, contains no trans fat, is high in monounsaturated fat and very high in polyunsaturated fat - a great source of omega-3 fatty acids.  Flax oil also increases the palatability (improves taste) of the food - who knew gliders love the taste of flaxseed oil?  The whole eggs are for added protein, and the fish meal provides both added protein and those great fish oils including omega-3 fatty acids.

What about ZooKeeper's Secret?

It's important to have a staple food available "free choice" for your sugar gliders.  For years, our choice for the job was ZooKeeper's Secret.  The selection of this food was based on the knowledge from our vets that a food with animal protein as the primary ingredient (as opposed to vegetable protein like soy or corn) would result in healthier animals.  In this respect, Wholesome Balance is no different than ZooKeeper's Secret - animal protein is the main ingredient.

However, over the past 8 years, customers have brought forth some challenges to ZooKeeper's Secret: some gliders just don't like it (even a few of our own, which is why we started this project), and it needs to be replaced each day because it dries out and gliders don't seem to like it much when this happens.

Also, even though Zookeeper's is a "gold standard" used in zoos all around the world, some people have a personal concern with meat by-products as the main ingredient; they prefer more selective ingredients.  This is a husbandry choice, and certainly OK with us.

We view all the above as valid concerns, and SunCoast has set out to answer these customers.  The result is Wholesome Balance Chicken and Brown Rice Blend.

You don't need to follow a special "food switching plan" with sugar gliders; if you'd like more info on this topic see our newsletter here.  For those concerned about switching to a dry food, we have tested this food on our own glider population for 2 years now.  Our gliders generally liked Wholesome Balance better than ZooKeeper's and ate more of it per day, while not experiencing lumpy jaw or any other negative effects associated with some dry foods.  If you want to avoid the "dry food issue" completely, ZooKeeper's Secret is the animal protein-based staple food choice for you. 

What about the rest of the Diet?

Like ZooKeeper's Secret,  Wholesome Balance Chicken and Brown Rice Blend is intended to meet only part of the sugar glider's nutritional needs.  You will need to continue supplementing your sugar glider's balanced meal plan with a single serving of fresh fruit or veggie,  a fresh protein such as mealworms, hoppers, crickets, boiled chicken, or other low fat / high protein food sources, and a vitamin and calcium supplement each evening.  If you are currently feeding ZooKeeper's as the "free choice" part of the SunCoast Diet, simply swap the Zookeeper's for Wholesome Balance.  You don't need to change any other parts of the diet.  

Wholesome  Balance is nutritionally balanced as a freestanding food, but Vionate and RepCal are still needed to balance the fresh food offerings that are recommended for the overall SunCoast diet plan.  Wholesome Balance can also be fed free choice with the other sugar glider diets such as BML, Leadbeater's, or popular variations on these mainstream diet plans.

Instructions

We suggest that you offer one tablespoon of Wholesome Balance in the evening per sugar glider.  If they don't eat all the food and don't spoil the food, you can "top off" each evening to bring the offering up to one tablespoon per sugar glider.  1.5 pounds of Wholesome Balance sugar glider food will feed 2 gliders for 2 months or 4 gliders for 1 month.

Store in a cool dry dry place and keep bag sealed between uses.  Refrigeration or Freezing of this Product is not Required, as long as the product is used within 6 months.  Storage over 6 months without freezing is not suggested as the natural preservatives may lose some of their effectiveness.

Wholesome Balance Chicken and Brown Rice Blend, 1.5 lbs feeds 2 gliders for 2 months:
                                              $13.97

* Save with Quantity Discounts *

Need more glider food?  Get the 3 lb Economy size for $23.43, feeds 2 gliders for 4 months,

and you save $4.47  -->

Have a lot of gliders?  Get the 9 lb  Colony size for $58.22, feeds 6 gliders for 4 months,

and you save $12.07 -->

Trial Size

Want to try this food?  Get 3/4 pound for $7.64, feeds 2 gliders for 1 month --> 

Customer Service e-mail:
Click to E-mail Lisa

Customer Service phone:
727-343-8577

SunCoast Sugar Gliders