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Post by apology72 on Aug 19, 2011 12:03:06 GMT
Dear Degu-Owners, Today I will show you how to feed degus without the use of commercial food. Here in Germany we are trying to encourage people to move away from commercial foods because there are almost always also contained ingredients that are not really suitable for degus. Where some finished foods contain too much grain, are also included sometimes fruits. Degus have a tendency to diabetes and the exact causes of diabetes are still not adequately researched, it is generally advised to refrain from food with high energy. Things that contain too much sugar or starch should therefore really be fed only in small quantities and are not given as a daily food. Cereals who includes Starch or gluten should be avoided whenever possible, since starch is converted in the digestive processes in sugar components. It is much better to offer other seeds. If you want to know now how a natural diet might look like: Monday, Wednesday, FridayMallow, plantain, birch, green oats, willow leaves, chickweed, calendula petals, rose petals, rice, puffed  TUESDAY, THURSDAY, SATURDAYPlantain, dandelion, nettle, lady's mantle, hawthorn, sunflower petals, rose petals, parsley root  Sunday MIXTUREJR-field herbs, echinacea (coneflower), sage, parsley, hops flowers, chamomile flowers, hazelnuts, wild chicory, mallow  Daily seed mixWhite millet, amaranth, grass seeds, quinoa  All components of this mixture can be fed unlimited daily.FOREST BIRD MIXTURECanary seed, rape, colza / red, Fichtensaat, black seed, hemp seed, linseed, Perillasaat, oats, red millet, white millet, millet, Japanese millet, buckwheat, Gras-/Unkrautsaat, chicory. (red => oilseed)  The forest bird mixture is fed only every 2-3 days from us, because of the contained oilseeds. I dont want our boys became too thick  Our Degus dont like fresh vergetable, so the VEGETABLES MIXEDEggplant, zucchini, squash, celery, tomato flakes  If I find the time and the weather will allow, some freshly greens picked outside and expand our menu. TIP: Our guys are weighed every 14 days. The weights are documented in a table. Rapid weight loss can sometimes be a sign that one degu is sick. A weight chart can sometimes be useful to detect disease earlier.I hope you enjoy this little trip in my foodworld an sorry for maybe a bad translation. Lovely greetings Apology |
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ava
Burrowing Degu
Posts: 215
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Post by ava on Aug 19, 2011 13:29:34 GMT
Hi, I'm interested in - when I actually get some degus - feeding them a more natural diet, so this was very helpful for me. My main concerns however are - does it cost more to feed them this stuff instead of ready made food in pet shops? And also is it very difficult to ensure their diet is balanced? |
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Post by apology72 on Aug 19, 2011 14:26:31 GMT
Hello ava, at the beginning it looks more complicated than it is. Here in Germany we have two great online shops where all the things shown above (and many more) can be ordered separately. Of course, I had only previously well-read about what things should eat degus. Pellets are also available here but my degus dont eat them. The information about which components are feedable has only cost me time. The most important thing in this natural food way is that components are not too few included . It is quite normal that degus do not always feel like the same leaves everyday. Therefore it is important that enough things to choose from are available. Degus have instincts, which we trust in a little bit. Who wants to switch to dried plants should always offer seeds, because these give much more energy. Only leaves flowers and herbs would be too meager. At least in germany in my experience, this type of food is even cheaper than commercial foods. Are there any products from the company JR farm in the UK/US? Are there any online stores where you could get dried plants? If someone wants to take a look at one German online shop .. futterparadies.de/ |
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Post by bijett on Aug 19, 2011 16:23:25 GMT
It looks more Apetising than the degu nuggets.
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heidi
Warbling Degu
Posts: 30
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Post by heidi on Aug 19, 2011 17:41:25 GMT
I looked online for the JR Farm, range it seems they are available from Zooplus. I shall be trying some at some point. My degus are only just starting on the Woodlands range and so far they seem to be enjoying it, There is some other dried snacks as well on there x
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Post by deguconvert on Aug 19, 2011 18:00:06 GMT
WOW!!! You've give me a TON to think about! I'll have to be doing some research online to see if we have online stores like the one give us the link for. Thank you very much, Apology!!
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Post by apology72 on Aug 19, 2011 18:59:01 GMT
Hello, Zooplus is a shop we also know here in Germany When the assortment is the same then you could try the following matters:  or similar bags like these  Here are several varieties available that you can mix together. |
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Post by Maravilla on Aug 19, 2011 19:34:20 GMT
My degu diet is quite similar to the one apology72 has already presented. I change it from time to time, to provide some variety, and it also depends on the stuff I have at home. 1) Flowers, herbs and small leavesmarigold (calendula off.) rose (rosa) cornflowers (Centaurea cyanus) hibiscus hawthorn (Crategus) purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) camomile (Matricaria chamomilla) jerusalem artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus) lemon balm (Melissa officinalis) peppermint (Mentha piperita) St John's wort (Hypericum perforatum) sage (Salvia officinalis)  2)Leaves and weedsapple tree hazelnut common/ European hornbeam (Carpinus betulus) tilia gingko (Ginkgo biloba) dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) buckhorn (Plantago lanceolata) jerusalem artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus) green oat green spelt  3) Seedsgrass seed millet (differet types) linseed sesame amaranth chicories' seed milk thistle seed buckwheat ... and a couple of other seeds, the online dictionary doesn't know. All in all, we are talking about 15 different kinds of seeds my degus get regularly.  Talking about costs... I bought a couple of books, read several web sites and learnt some plants suitable for degus. Between spring and autumn I am collecting lots of leaves, flowers and weeds and dry them. This is really cost saving. |
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Post by amie on Aug 19, 2011 23:13:27 GMT
I'm loving that there are new German members. So much degu wisdom to be found from you!  |
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Post by apology72 on Aug 19, 2011 23:37:13 GMT
I´m very glad that you think so. It makes me happy that many of you are interested  |
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Post by NightwishRaven999 on Aug 20, 2011 1:19:54 GMT
@ Apology
Thank you so very much for this information !
This topic is going right into my favorites.
It has been a project of mine to include more herbs, plants and flowers in the diet of my degus. As Faith mentioned, this has given me a lot to think about.
The photos you provided are very useful as well.
Thank you sincerely
Jordan
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Post by degualot on Aug 21, 2011 21:14:32 GMT
this is really interesting, i must look into this in more detail, After all have my xtravital Degu food get's thrown out. They don't eat all the mix and leave all the litte soya pellet things, bowl full at the end of the day and get's put in the bin. I might try this, very excited... it's nice to have the German Degu lovers here to help by adding to the knowledge pool.
On the downside in the uk, it's hard to come by all those natural ingredients. the JR food is available online, but the other things I don't even know where to start. I wish I could understand the German sites and then I would order from them but I'm not sure what to try.
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Post by davx on Oct 2, 2011 17:54:13 GMT
My winter food is also quite similar. I present you the mix from last winter (the text is from last winter, I translated it only and adapted it slightly): Seeds, nuts & Co.I'll start with the favourite food of my degus, the seeds. Seed mixture (self created mixture consisting of bought seeds)- paddy / rough rice * - Mung beans* - canary grass seeds* - niger seed / ramtil* - turnip rape seeds* - spinach seeds* - quinoa - rosehip seeds - various millet seeds - sesame (- grass seeds) (- hemp seeds Hanfsamen) - sunflower seeds (self collected) - beech nuts (self collected) * ingredients labelled with a star I use in large quantities and are an important part of my mixture. () ingredients in brackets are only contained in small quantities. The mixture consists of different ingredients, I always mix in a new composition, when I buy new seeds. In the mixture listed above I used a germination seed mixture for forest birds (contains mainly oil seeds) and a wild seed mixture as base. I added then left overs from previous mixtures, pure seeds for birds (paddy, canary grass seeds), but also pseudo grains like quinoa (grocery stuff). Nuts & Co. (self collectet)- walnuts - hazelnuts - rose of Sharon seedcases - acorn - beech nuts - pumpkin seeds Dried fruits (self collected)- hawthorn berries - barberries, in small quantities Herbs, flowers & Co.flower mixture- rose of Sharon - calendula - rose flowers Rosenblüten - sunflower flower leaves Sonnenblumen-Blütenblätter - red clover - common chicory - mullein - peppermint (inflorescences) - annual fleabane - various mallows (Malva species) Herbal and shrub mixture (self collected)- hazel leaves* - rose of Sharon leaves* - raspberry leaves* - hawthorn leaves - hop - greater plantain - blackberry leaves - wild strawberry foliage * ingredients labelled with a star are main ingredients of the mixture commercial tea mixture "Nieren- und Blasenbeschwerde" (bought)A mixture from the pharmacy called "Nieren- und Blasenbeschwerde" (kidney and bladder suffering). The best before date was 1/2009 but the herbs smelled well. - birch leaves - hawthorn - rosehips - cat's-whiskers (Orthosiphon) - nettle FeedingThe feeding is quite simple. Ingredients from the category "seeds, nuts & Co." I feed almost daily, occasionally also as titbits from my hands. The seed mixtures I offer 2-3 times per week, but depending on the hunger of my degus and how well they feed their diet, I adapt the quantity and frequency of feeding. Mostly I make three piles on three different places in the cage. The degus can choice one of the piles and each degu has its own pile. Sometimes I offer nuts (with shell) while I create the seed piles. It distract the degus from the seeds and avoids a bit fights for food. That works fine. Hawthorn berries are a favourite titbit I offer sometimes with the regular mixture, sometimes I lay them in the cage. I offer them only in smaller quantities, because the degus ignore them, when they have eaten some berries and I offered to large quantities. Items from the category "herbs, flowers & co." I feed less regular, mostly 1 times per week and give a palm sized quantity of flower, and also smaller quantities from my shrub- and herbmixture and from the commercial tea mixture. About 2-3 times per week I feed also green stuff (fresh herbs etc.). Actually we have snow [remark: when I wrote this text, it was winter! ;D] and I can only offer spider plant (is much liked) and Callisia (they also eat it). In addition I offer some herbs, growing indoors like sage (often) or parsley (seldom). When the snow disapears, I will collect grasses outdoors, blackberry leaves and some few herbs I can find during the winter. In the cage I have a certain offer of branchens and twigs with dried leaves or without leaves and spruce tiwgs. The degus feed on them occasionally. In addition I give hay and grass which I harvest during the winter, partly fresh, partly dried. Photoshawthorn berries  from left to right: rose of Sharon seedcases, acorns, walnuts  leaves and herbs mixture  flower mixture  tea mixture  seed mixture  dried pumpkin seeds  |
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Post by fred on Oct 2, 2011 18:51:22 GMT
Thanks for sharing these wonderful mixes with us David, and giving us yet more ideas what we can add to ours What I particularly like with the collected material is that it is usually in larger pieces which makes it all the more interesting for our degus. Come next spring we need to start a plant identification and collection thread like the one you have on deguforum.de! |
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Post by NightwishRaven999 on Oct 2, 2011 19:12:02 GMT
Fantastic David ! Thanks so much for taking time to share these insights and photos with us ! As Fred mentions, this is great inspiration for us ! I will be posting photos of your mixes in the degu guide for others to see. It is also great to see you are able to harvest and collect some of these foods yourself Thanks again ! Plant identification and collection thread ? This sounds fabulous ! I know many of us could use such a thread...especially one with photos of the various plants and flowers. This could be a very useful tool ! Good idea Fred ! |
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Post by Kat on Oct 2, 2011 19:21:13 GMT
All if these mixes look great. I am heading your way but am still very nervious about feeding seeds.
I have been seeing a lot of acorns resently. davx do you pick these from the tree or from the floor? How often do you feed these? Does anyone else offer these to degus?
Kat
X
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Post by fred on Oct 2, 2011 19:28:15 GMT
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Post by davx on Oct 3, 2011 4:57:07 GMT
katThe acorns I took from the floor, but they were fresh fallen. They lay perhaps 1 to 3 days at the floor. If the weather is good, they stay fresh. But that was in 2009. Last year was a bad harvest and I didn't collect any acorns, but I had still some from 2009. This year I collected new ones. On the floor were many ones with worms, so I had to take care avoiding this ones and I started to collect from the tree. It is of course easier to pick them up from the floor, but if they lie some days at the floor and the weather changes (cold, rain etc.) you have to check every acorn if there is any small hole and there are many ones you can reject. I feed them occasionally and irregularly. Sometimes I feed them several pieces, but there are also longer periods of several weeks I didn't feed any acorns. However the degus also have their own "schedule", that means the acorns often are stored / burrowed anywhere in the cage or enclosure and they feed them later during the following days and weeks. Other degu owner feeding acorns are sparse, honestly I can't remember anyone specific. But I know that german rabbit owners feed them too. And I also started in 2009 very carefully giving only one or two pieces per time and waited some days or even weeks between. @jordan Yes that's alright, feel free to copy this photos. @fred Good idea!
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Post by malteser60 on Oct 3, 2011 11:03:33 GMT
davx, i'm surprised your degus eat the fresh/raw acorns without the acorns being leached of the tannins (by water), mainly as the taste will be quite bitter. Also, fresh acorns eaten in large quantities can cause kidney damage due to the tannins, therefore do you regulate the quantities fed to your degus?
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Post by fred on Oct 3, 2011 11:28:21 GMT
Degus can deal remarkably well with tannins, this is why all parts of oak have gone from toxic/problematic to safe. They can have a high tannin content in their natural diet in the wild, so it is a useful adaptation. Caution will still be advisable for some other rodents.
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