Picture from http://www.papayahealthandbody.com/otm/food-papaya.html
I am actually not too fond of papaya. When I go to restaurants that serve papaya on their buffet tables, I would never take any. When there is a fruit platter offered after meals at certain places, I would eat the pineapple or watermelon but never papaya. Why? Let’s just say I have never liked the texture of papaya.
Today, I actually have papaya in my shopping list but it is never for me but for my 9 sugar gliders at home. Yups, I pamper them more with the good stuff while I take the odd banana or apple once awhile. My gliders eat better than me. Anyway, I would like to highlight about papaya and the benefits it gives to our little suggies.
The first thing I would like to point out is the vitamin contents. Papaya is very high in Vitamin A and Vitamin C. Since papaya is not acidic, it would rarely give diarrhea too. Vitamin C is essential for animals, it can help to build their immune system. It also has a good source of beta carotene.
The papaya has an enzyme called Papain, which aids digestion. Papain also helps at reducing pain and discomfort to human patients that have back problems. This is good use for gliders that have suffered falls, are injured or have flesh wounds. Why I mention about wounds? Well, it aids in the healing process. By taking some ripe papaya and applying to a flesh wound, it can help reduce swelling, ease the pain and heal at a better rate compared to leaving it alone. Since gliders tend to lick themselves a lot, applying papaya to wounds is super safe and tasty for them.
Do not ever let your glider take any of the seeds as it is toxic whereby it reduces the pulse rate and depress the nervous system. So only give the sweet ripe fruit.
After consuming papaya, the gliders would have quite stinky poop, so when you handle them, just make sure you have some tissue on standby. The smell is a bit like rotten papaya. I would say never deprive your glider of this good fruit, it is beneficial for them and papaya is not too expensive either.
Have a problem storing papaya? You can always buy a slice from fruit stalls that sell cut fruits. A slice of papaya can be kept nicely in the fridge for a maximum of 2 to 3 days before it starts to turn bad.
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