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We all know that birds love to eat seeds, especially sunflower seeds, but can sugar gliders eat them, specifically sunflower seeds? The short answer is yes! Most sugar gliders typically love to eat sunflower seeds.

For many smaller animals, sunflower seeds make for a great snack. They’re packed with healthy fats and carbohydrates and are often quite nutritious. One benefit of using sunflower seeds as a treat is because they’re relatively cheap to buy compared to other treats.

Can Sugar Gliders Eat Sunflower Seeds?

Yes, sugar gliders can eat sunflower seeds. In fact, they’re usually a favorite treat for sugar gliders. Watching sugar gliders eat sunflower seeds is quite a cute sight for their owners to watch as they hold them in with their paws and nibble away. As sugar gliders will eat sunflower seeds for much longer than they should, it’s important to not overfeed them.

Types of Sunflower Seeds
There’re are many kinds of sunflower seeds. Some of these come from slightly different plants, but the majority of sunflower seed varieties have to do with how a producer prepares them.

Striped sunflower seeds
These sunflower seeds can be identified by their stripes, which run down the centers and sides. This variety tends to be the most common type of seed that you can buy. Sugar gliders will almost always love them and can safely eat them, but with moderation.

Black oil sunflower seeds
This variety isn’t as readily available for commercial consumption but is more of a desirable addition to bird feed. Black oil sunflower seeds have a higher oil content and tend to be meatier on the inside. Visually, these seeds are entirely black and tend to be much thinner than striped sunflower seeds.

So out of these two varieties, black oil sunflower seeds will be harder to find and feed your sugar glider outside of a bird feeder. Anyway, it’s better for them to eat striped sunflower seeds, as sugar gliders don’t need the extra calories that black oil seeds have.

Beyond these two types of sunflower seeds, there’re also various ways that sunflower seeds are produced and packaged. They can be shelled or unshelled, and both varieties are safe for your sugar glider, though shelled sunflower seeds are arguably better as allowing the sugar glider to un-shell the seed will help to occupy your sugar glider and improve their jaw and teeth health.

Why You Should Avoid Feeding Salted Sunflower Seeds

When buying sunflower seeds from the store, make sure that they’re not salted. While salted sunflower seeds are quite popular for humans, the extra sodium isn‘t healthy for sugar gliders. The salt from the exterior of the sunflower seed is enough for a sugar glider to begin suffering from high blood pressure.

Nutritional Benefits Of Sunflower Seeds For Your Sugar Glider

Sunflower seeds, when given in the right amounts, can be a healthy snack for your sugar glider. They’re loaded with vitamins and nutrients that can help improve a sugar glider’s overall health, including:

  • Iron
  • Potassium
  • Calcium
  • Magnesium
  • Vitamin E
  • Vitamin C 

Sunflower seeds help to aid with the health of your sugar glider bones and teeth. The vitamin E in sunflower seeds can help to keep your sugar gliders’ eyes and skin healthy.

Potential Dangers Of Sunflower Seeds

If you want to give your sugar glider sunflower seeds, you should only feed in moderation to prevent any adverse health issues. The biggest risk that sunflower seeds pose is the fat content. Not only do sunflower seeds contain high amounts of fat, but too much can cause obesity and diabetes. Both of these downsides can be hard on their health and can end up reducing their lifespan. You could consider sunflower seeds as a dessert for your sugar glider. Sugar gliders can quickly fill up eating them, and doing so doesn’t encourage a diverse, nutrient-rich diet.

Although ingesting vitamins is generally a good thing for sugar gliders, too much can do too much harm. Too much vitamin C, in particular, can cause stress on their digestive system.

How To Feed Your Hamster Sunflower Seeds

Your sugar glider should only be given sunflower seeds as a treat after they have a variety of other food. If you enjoy giving your sugar glider treats every so often, then sunflower seeds should go down well. By restricting the amount of sunflower seeds that you feed them, not only will you be making it safer, but you’ll still be bringing the joy of a tasty treat into their lives. 

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