Vegetable, Seed & Nut Nutrition Charts

[moletteuk]

Vegetables

Vegetables are a good source of vitamins and minerals and are an easy way to add variety to the degu diet. The table is arranged in order of sugar content, so vegetables higher up the table can be fed more freely than those lower down. It's always good to offer a variety. Please take note of calcium and phosphorus levels and bear in mind that the whole diet should have twice as much calcium as phophorus for dental & kidney health and a total calcium content of around 1.0% (1000mg/100g = 1%). Information on supplementing the calcium levels of dried vegetables is shown in the separate dried veg section below. Oxalic acid values are given so that you can try to feed high oxalic acid foods in smaller quantities only as they have the effect of stripping calcium from the body.

Low Sugar Vegetables	Energy kcal/100g	Water g/100g	Protein g/100g	Carbs g/100g	Fibre g/100g	Sugars g/100g	Calcium mg/100g	Phosphorus mg/100g	Oxalic Acid g/100g	Ca:P (P=1)
Spinach	23	91.4	2.9	3.6	2.2	0.4	99	49	0.97	2.02
Beet Greens	22	91.0	2.2	4.3	3.7	0.5	117	41	0.61	2.85
Lettuce (Red)	16	95.6	1.3	2.3	0.9	0.5	33	28	~	1.18
Dandelion	45	85.6	2.7	9.2	3.5	0.7	187	66	~	2.83
Lettuce (Green)	15	95.0	1.4	2.9	1.3	0.8	36	29	0.33	1.24
Parsley	36	87.7	3.0	6.3	3.3	0.9	138	58	1.70	2.38
Lettuce (Romaine/Cos)	17	94.6	1.2	3.3	2.1	1.2	33	30	0.33	1.1
Celeriac	42	88.0	1.5	9.2	1.8	1.6	43	115	~	0.37
Broccoli	34	89.3	2.8	6.6	2.6	1.7	47	66	0.19	0.71
Celery	16	95.4	0.7	3.0	1.6	1.8	40	24	0.19	1.67
Cauliflower	25	92.1	1.9	5.0	2.0	1.9	22	44	0.15	0.5
Cabbage (Savoy)	27	91.0	2.0	6.1	3.1	2.3	35	42	0.10	0.83
Aubergine/ Eggplant	24	92.4	1.0	5.7	3.4	2.4	9	25	0.19	0.36
Green Peppers	20	93.9	0.9	4.6	1.7	2.4	10	20	0.04	0.5
Courgette/ Zucchini	17	95	1.2	3.1	1.0	2.5	16	38	~	0.42
Higher Sugar Vegetables	Energy kcal/100g	Water g/100g	Protein g/100g	Carbs g/100g	Fibre g/100g	Sugars g/100g	Calcium mg/100g	Phosphorus mg/100g	Oxalic Acid g/100g	Ca:P (P=1)
Tomato (ripe)	18	95	0.9	3.9	1.2	2.6	10	24	0.05	0.42
Green (French/Snap) Bean	31	90	1.8	7.0	2.7	3.3	37	38	0.36	0.97
Red Peppers	31	92	1.0	6.0	2.1	4.2	7	26	0.04	0.27
Sweet Potato	86	77	1.6	20.1	]3.0	4.2	30	47	0.24	0.64
Carrot	41	88	0.9	9.6	2.8	4.7	33	35	0.50	0.94
Parsnip	75	80	1.2	18.0	4.9	4.8	36	71	0.04	0.51
Peas	81	79	5.4	14.5	5.1	5.7	25	108	0.05	0.23
Sweetcorn	86	76	3.3	18.7	2.0	6.3	2	89	0.01	0.02
Beetroot	43	88	1.6	9.6	2.8	6.7	16	40	~	0.4
Jerusalem Artichoke	73	78	2.0	17.4	1.6	9.6	14	78	~	0.18

All the values in the table are for 100g of fresh, raw vegetable.

Charts are based on USDA National Nutrient Database and USDA Oxalic Acid Content

[moletteuk]

Oil Seeds and Other Seeds

Seeds are often high in nutrients like calcium and phosphorus and are very well liked by degus. They are essential to natural diets for providing energy, and are an invaluable supplement to commercial diets for their minerals and the interest they provide. Some research shows that there should be twice as much calcium as phosphorus in the overall diet and we aim for a total calcium content of around 1% (1000mg/100g). The seeds in this chart are arranged in order of Ca:P ratio to help you choose. Always feed a variety of seeds rather than relying on one or two types.

Oil & Other Seeds	Energy kcal/100g	Protein g/100g	Fat g/100g	Carbs g/100g	Fibre g/100g	Calcium mg/100g	Phosphorus mg/100g	Ca:P ratio (P=1)
Dill	305	16.0	14.5	55	21	1516	277	5.47
Nigella	~	21.0	40.6	~	8.4	1860	530	3.51
Celery Seed	392	18.1	25.3	41	11.8	1767	547	3.23
Fennel Seed	345	15.8	14.9	52	39.8	1196	487	2.46
Cumin	375	17.8	22.2	44	10.5	931	499	1.87
Coriander	298	12.4	17.8	55	41.9	709	409	1.73
Poppy	525	18.0	41.6	28	19.5	1438	870	1.65
Sesame	573	17.0	49.7	23	11.8	975	629	1.55
Anise/Aniseed	337	17.6	15.9	50	14.6	646	440	1.47
Caraway	333	19.8	14.6	50	38	689	568	1.21
Chia	486	16.5	30.7	42	34.4	631	860	0.73
Rapeseed	~	20	45	~	10	490	740	0.66
Fenugreek	323	23.0	6.4	58	24.6	176	296	0.59
Niger	~	21	42	~	15.7	400	690	0.58
Linseed/Flax	534	18.3	42.1	29	27.3	255	642	0.40
Hemp	503	19.5	32.1	36	35	168	830	0.20
Safflower	517	16.2	38.4	34	~	78	644	0.12
Sunflower	584	23.7	51.4	20	8.6	78	660	0.12
Pumpkin	559	30.0	49.0	11	6	46	1233	0.04
Milk Thistle	~	23	27	~	~	~	~	~

You can find seeds in supermarkets, health food shops, among bird feed supplies, and from online specialist suppliers. Have fun scattering seeds around for your degu to forage for.

[moletteuk]

Nuts

Nuts can be fed in small quantities as a treat, they are very high in fat and protein, but very low in calcium relative to phosphorus. It can be very entertaining for you and your degus to occasionally feed nuts in their shell, find out which goos have the staying power to open their nut, just be ready for lots of squabbling!

Nuts in shells can be fed slightly more freely to degus on higher percentages of natural nutrition if the Ca:P ratio is accounted for, after a while you may find that they hoard them and use them as a longer term food reserve.

Nuts

Nut	Energy kcal/100g	Protein g/100g	Fat g/100g	Carbs g/100g	Fibre g/100g	Sugars g/100g	Calcium mg/100g	Phosphorus mg/100g	Ca:P (P=1)
Hazelnut	628	15.0	60.8	17	9.7	4.3	114	290	0.39
Walnut	654	15.2	65.2	13.7	6.7	2.6	98	346	0.28
Pecan	691	9.2	72.0	13.9	9.6	4	70	277	0.25
Peanut	567	25.8	49.2	16	8.5	4	92	376	0.24
Brazil	656	14.3	66.4	12.2	7.5	2.3	160	725	0.22
Cashew	553	18.2	43.9	30.2	3.3	5.9	37	593	0.06

All charts are based on:
USDA National Nutrient Database
www.feedipedia.org
www.mendeley.com/research/study-nutritional-value-black-cumin-seeds-nigella-sativa-l-1/

[moletteuk]

Dried Vegetables

Many of us like to feed dried vegetables to our degus, but due to the different moisture contents of various vegetables, the percentages of sugar and fibre can be quite different once they are dried out. This table gives percentages of fibre and sugar for vegetables dried to a water content of 10%, given in order of sugar content. Calcium and phosphorus levels and ratios are also shown for dried veg, along with supplementation rate for Calci-Dust (40% calcium supplement) to correct the calcium phosphorus ratio to 2:1. Phosphorus levels in vegetables are not in themselves bad at around 0.3 to 0.5%, it is only the corresponding low calcium levels which are a problem, so supplementation of calcium seems a reasonable solution given that it is easy to apply by shaking together in a plastic bag and seems to stick well to the vegetables.

Dried Vegetable	Fibre %	Sugars %	Calcium mg/100g	Phosphorus mg/100g	Ca:P (P=1)	Weight of veg per 0.5tsp of 40% Ca powder *
Spinach	23.0	4.2	1036	512	2.02	~
Dandelion	21.9	4.4	1169	413	2.83	~
Beet Greens	37.0	5.0	1170	410	2.85	~
Parsley	24.1	6.6	1010	424	2.38	~
Lettuce (red)	18.4	10.2	675	573	1.18	213
Celeriac	12.0	13.5	323	863	0.37	71
Broccoli	21.9	14.3	395	555	0.71	140
Lettuce (green)	23.4	14.4	648	522	1.24	253
Sweet Potato	11.9	16.7	119	186	0.64	394
Cauliflower	22.8	21.6	251	501	0.50	133
Parsnip	22.1	21.6	162	320	0.51	210
Cabbage (savoy)	31.0	23.0	350	420	0.83	204
Sweetcorn	7.5	23.6	8	334	0.02	152
Peas	21.8	24.3	107	461	0.23	123
Aubergine	40.3	28.4	107	296	0.36	206
Green Beans	25.1	30.6	343	353	0.97	276
Celery	31.3	35.2	783	470	1.67	639
Green Peppers	25.1	35.4	148	295	0.50	226
Carrot	21.5	36.2	254	269	0.94	351
Jerusalem Artichoke	6.5	39.3	57	319	0.18	172
Tomato	19.6	42.5	164	393	0.42	161
Courgette	17.3	43.3	277	658	0.42	96
Red Peppers	24.2	48.5	81	300	0.27	193
Beetroot	20.3	48.6	116	290	0.40	215

For other nutritional properties, please refer to the main vegetable chart.
* Table shows the weight of dried veg in g which half a tsp of 40% Ca powder should be added to to result in the total calcium level in the food being double the phosphorus level. An exact half teaspoon of Vetark Calci-Dust powder weighs 2.5g and contains 1g of calcium.

[moletteuk]

Cereal Grains and Starch Seeds

Please mainly choose seeds from the Oil & Other Seed category.

Grains and starch seeds are no longer particularly recommended for feeding degus, especially not degus whose main diet is commercial feed already containing them or for degus with cataracts. The simple carbohydrates are hard for degus to process and can cause undesirable glucose spikes in the body, and also the calcium to phosphorus ratio is terrible, which can lead to dental and kidney disease.

Grain/Seed	Energy kcal/100g	Protein g/100g	Fat g/100g	Carbs g/100g	Fibre g/100g	Sugars g/100g	Calcium mg/100g	Phosphorus mg/100g
Oat	389	16.9	6.9	66	10.6	-	54	523
Amaranth	371	14.0	7.0	65	6.7	1.7	159	557
Quinoa	368	14.0	6.0	64	7	-	47	457
Millet	378	11.0	4.2	73	8.5	-	8	285
Buckwheat	343	13.2	3.4	71	10	-	18	347
Barley	354	10.9	2.0	73	17.3	0.8	33	265
Wheat	342	11.3	1.7	76	12	0.4	32	355
Corn	365	9.4	4.7	74	7	0.6	7	210
Brown Rice	370	7.9	2.9	77	3.5	0.85	23	333
Wheat Bran	216	15.6	4.3	65	42.8	0.4	73	1013
Oat Bran	246	17.3	7.0	66	15.4	1.4	58	734

[moletteuk]

Please start a new thread if you would like to discuss any of this information.