Can Sugar Gliders Eat Apples? [What About The Skin?]

Can sugar gliders eat apples? If you’re the owner of a pet glider, you’re probably aware of how difficult these little marsupials are to feed. They require a very specific diet and knowing what you can and can’t feed them is not always easy. This guide will help you with that.

When you set your teeth into a deliciously refreshing apple you might wonder if your sugar glider would want some of it too. After all, it’s always tempting to share our favorite foods with our pets. But can sugar gliders eat apples? For humans, the saying goes: “an apple a day keeps the doctor away” but does the same apply to sugar gliders? Let’s find out!

Sugar gliders can eat apples and most gliders absolutely adore eating them. They’re a good nutritious treat that contains a good amount of fiber, vitamin C, and potassium. It is a good fruit for them that you can occasionally add to their diet if you prepare them properly. Do make sure to remove the seeds before feeding, because those are harmful!

Keep reading to get the most complete information on feeding apples to your pet glider.

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Are apples nutritious for sugar gliders?

Apples are a rich source of vitamin C, potassium, and fiber. 100 grams of them contains the following nutrition:

• 52 calories
• 86% water
• 0.3 grams of protein
• 13.8 grams of carbs
• 10.4 grams of sugar
• 2.4 grams of fiber
• 0.2 grams of fat

Also, they contain vitamin C and potassium. Vitamin C is good for your sugar glider’s immune system and potassium is good for their heart.

None of the nutrients in this fruit are harmful to sugar gliders, in fact, they’re quite beneficial for them. So yes, they are a good nutritious treat for your sugar glider!

Can sugar gliders eat apple skin?

You might have heard that the skin of the apple contains the most nutrients, and yes, this is indeed the case. However, there’s a drawback. The skin usually contains pesticides, insecticides, and wax if you buy them from the supermarket. For humans, the wax on them is fine to eat, but sugar gliders do not have the same digestive system as us.

If you have access to organic, fresh apples then you can safely feed them to your sugar glider with the skin on them. Organic fruits usually aren’t treated with pesticides and insecticides so they’re much safer for your sugar glider.

However, if you have apples that have been commercially produced there’s a relatively high chance that there are pesticides on the skin. In addition, they usually have wax on the skin. And this is not something you want your sugar glider to ingest. For those reasons I always remove the peel before feeding my sugar glider apples from the supermarket. If you really do not want to remove the peel, you should wash it carefully before feeding. The best way to get rid of pesticides on the peel is by using baking soda.

With or without seeds?

When you give your sugar glider apples make sure to remove the seeds. The seeds contain small amounts of cyanide and this is very dangerous for sugar gliders. For humans, eating the seeds isn’t really a problem (even though most people don’t do it).

However, since sugar gliders are much smaller than us you shouldn’t give them the seeds. Make sure that you carefully remove all the seeds before you give them the fruit.

Preparation

If you want to feed your sugar glider some of this delicious fruit, just follow these steps:

1. If you have apples from the supermarket take off the skin. If they’re organic you can leave it on.
2. Cut the fruit into very small pieces.
3. Remove the seeds.
4. Give it to your sugar glider to enjoy!

Is it safe for sugar gliders to eat apples?

Giving your sugar glider apples is safe. Just to reiterate; before you feed it to your sugar glider make sure to cut it up into small pieces and remove the seeds. Also, if you have organic fresh apples then you can safely leave the skin on. If yours aren’t organic then it’s probably better to take the skin off. When they’re commercially farmed they often contain pesticides on the skin which you do not want your sugar glider to ingest.

The absolute most important thing you have to remember is to remove the seeds because this is the only part of the fruit that’s dangerous for your glider to eat.

Something else that you need to keep in mind is that you introduce it to their diet slowly. If you give them a large amount of new food at once they can develop diarrhea, which is obviously something you’d want to avoid. Also, by introducing new foods to their diet slowly it gives you a better chance to see how they respond to this new addition to their diet.

Do sugar gliders like apples?

Most sugar gliders absolutely love apples. They are quite sweet and the “sugar” in the name sugar glider comes from the fact that they love to eat sweet things. For that reason, apples and sugar gliders are a very good match! To get an impression of what your pet will look like munching on some of this delicious fruit, check out this video, it’s adorable!

 

However, every sugar glider is different. If your sugar glider doesn’t seem to be interested in eating this particular fruit as a treat don’t force it on him. Simply give him a different kind of food that he does enjoy. Take a look at the list below for some ideas.

Other fruits that sugar gliders can eat

If your glider doesn’t seem to want to eat apples, there are many alternative fruits that you can feed him instead. Here are some suggestions:

• Bananas
• Cherries
• Blueberries
• Nectarine
• Papaya
• Watermelon
• Pears

For a full list of fruits that gliders can and can not eat, and an overview of the best diet for your glider, check out this guide.

Can sugar gliders eat applesauce?

Yes, sugar gliders can eat applesauce. If you’re going to feed it to them, it’s best to go with a natural/unsweetened variant. The sweetened version usually contains a lot of high fructose corn syrup which contains no nutritional value and is therefore not beneficial for them.

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Conclusion

So, today we’ve discovered the following: Sugar gliders can eat apples and they love to eat them because of the sugar in them. As long as you follow the instructions above, feeding this fruit to your sugar glider is completely safe.

If you have any questions, suggestions or just want to share some pictures of your sugar glider munching on a piece of this delicious fruit, feel free to leave a comment, I’d love to hear from you!