Thunder from Down Under

I'll be blunt...Taz is a chunk. At his last vet visit, he weighed in at a hefty 221 grams. Sydney's weight is a very typical 151 grams and although we don't have the exact weight of Bruce, he and Sydney are pretty close in size. Just as when adults are overweight, it can lead to health problems, sugar gliders are no different. After spending some time with Taz, we think we've figured out the two major culprits of his large size, addiction to a sweet treat called Gliderade and lack of exercise. I'm not sure the lack of exercise is a personality thing yet or a direct result of his size. It's tough to lug that extra mass around!

Gliderade is one of those well meaning products that is fine for some, but is considered by most experienced owners to be a very occasional treat. Taz and Sydney's former vet was unaware of the latest consensus of this fact and recommended it as a daily supplement to their diet. With Sydney it doesn't seem to have been a problem, but Taz LOVES the stuff. He will run to the bottle and drink like a junkie with his stash.

For being so big, he is still pretty agile. He can climb around the cage, even hanging upside down. He just moves slower. We also haven't seen him jump or attempt to glide yet. (Probably is nearly impossible for him right now.)

SO...it's diet time for Taz. Our first step will be to wean him off the Gliderade. I don't want to shock him by completely taking it away cold-turkey, but we'll dilute it with water and keep doing so until his bottle only contains regular water. Hopefully this will help him from having too many empty calories. Second, we are going to switch both him and Sydney to the BML diet that Bruce is currently on. We are also going to try to increase Taz's exercise during tent time. Hopefully we'll see the weight start coming off!