Levon
Newborn Degu
Posts: 8 
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Post by Levon on Oct 17, 2015 0:32:48 GMT
I have two female Degu's, about a year old, and up till now, haven't posed any problems at all. Now, I recently bought a bag of treats (Healthy for the degu's, I had been using them for training as they escaped from their cage and were reasonably pretty scared of people afterward's.) It doesn't have any sugar or molasses in it, the only problem is..they seem addicted? They won't eat their normal food anymore, or even lettuce, which they were ecstatic about before. I'm a bit concerned, but for the time being, I haven't gave them any of the treats in hopes they'll get hungry enough to eat their average food.
Any help is appreciated.
They otherwise seem very healthy.
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Post by uglibug on Oct 17, 2015 7:21:44 GMT
There is probably something in the treats that they have taken a particular fancy too. I would stick with the plan for a day or two, when they get hungry they will go back to eating hard feed. Just make sure they are drinking. What type of hard feed are they on? It may also be worth looking at diferent types of feed, they would obviously be more inclined to eat something they like rather than something they just tollerate. Lots of people feed a mix of foods for variety, personally we feed a mix of science select and p@h hard feed and offer forage and seeds as well.
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Post by moletteuk on Oct 17, 2015 9:59:41 GMT
What is their normal food? And what are the treats? A good diet has lots of elements to it so you aren't dependant on any one thing and it's not such a problem if they go off something. We tend to recommend combining two or three hard foods, lots and lots of varied forage (herbs, meadow plants and weeds, flowers, tree leaves, safe garden plants, grasses, hay), a mix of oil seeds, maybe some roots and nuts. The choice of hard food and forage and can be a little harder to achieve in USA than Europe, but it's certainly possible. Have a look at our feeding guide and USA specifit thread for more info: deguworld.proboards.com/thread/16425/degu-feeding-guidedeguworld.proboards.com/thread/16569/links-herb-supplies-american-threads |
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Levon
Newborn Degu
Posts: 8
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Post by Levon on Oct 17, 2015 14:45:26 GMT
What is their normal food? And what are the treats? A good diet has lots of elements to it so you aren't dependant on any one thing and it's not such a problem if they go off something. We tend to recommend combining two or three hard foods, lots and lots of varied forage (herbs, meadow plants and weeds, flowers, tree leaves, safe garden plants, grasses, hay), a mix of oil seeds, maybe some roots and nuts. The choice of hard food and forage and can be a little harder to achieve in USA than Europe, but it's certainly possible. Have a look at our feeding guide and USA specifit thread for more info: deguworld.proboards.com/thread/16425/degu-feeding-guidedeguworld.proboards.com/thread/16569/links-herb-supplies-american-threads-- Their main food tends to lean towards Manna Pro rabbit food, as it doesn't have anything harmful in it and was recommended to me by their original owners. I do give them variety when possible, though for the past week that hasn't been the case as we've been fairly low on money. Hopefully, it won't be too long till variety comes in again. The treat is what I believe is...Vitakraft nibble rings for small animals. Other than that, good news is they have began to eat a bit earlier this morning, though reluctantly. Thanks for the links! |
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Levon
Newborn Degu
Posts: 8
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Post by Levon on Oct 17, 2015 14:46:59 GMT
There is probably something in the treats that they have taken a particular fancy too. I would stick with the plan for a day or two, when they get hungry they will go back to eating hard feed. Just make sure they are drinking. What type of hard feed are they on? It may also be worth looking at diferent types of feed, they would obviously be more inclined to eat something they like rather than something they just tollerate. Lots of people feed a mix of foods for variety, personally we feed a mix of science select and p@h hard feed and offer forage and seeds as well. They're eating a bit this morning, thank goodness. I'll look into those brands, thanks! |
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Post by moletteuk on Oct 17, 2015 17:11:48 GMT
It is not normally safe to feed them rabbit food as rabbit food often contains an anti coccidial drug which can be toxic to other animals. Check out our commercial food chart and the two threads I linked above for help finding something more suitable, you may need to buy via mail order or get a local shop to order something in for you deguworld.proboards.com/thread/17365/commercial-food-chartSunseed and Versele Laga do degu specific feeds that are OK or you may find a guinea pig food at least more suitable than the rabbit food, check out the USA specific thread for feedback and there is a link to a new supplier for forage and seeds at the end of that thread that would be better than any other bought treats. You can have loads of fun experimenting with more natural foods, and you could even go out and pick safe plants and tree branches for them yourself octodons.ch/index.php/Herbs deguworld.proboards.com/thread/15617/safe-tree-wood-list?page=1 |
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Post by animalmadchloe on Oct 18, 2015 20:19:22 GMT
I think some brands of guniepig food can be used but dont hold me to.that your better off feeding them a specific degu food as other foods may not have the nutrition in, rabbit food is defo not recommended as stayed above x we've all done it maybe its worth looking into weaning them off the rabbit food into something more suitable for their long term health
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Post by winic1 on Oct 19, 2015 6:36:52 GMT
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Levon
Newborn Degu
Posts: 8
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Post by Levon on Oct 20, 2015 16:38:11 GMT
It is not normally safe to feed them rabbit food as rabbit food often contains an anti coccidial drug which can be toxic to other animals. Check out our commercial food chart and the two threads I linked above for help finding something more suitable, you may need to buy via mail order or get a local shop to order something in for you deguworld.proboards.com/thread/17365/commercial-food-chartSunseed and Versele Laga do degu specific feeds that are OK or you may find a guinea pig food at least more suitable than the rabbit food, check out the USA specific thread for feedback and there is a link to a new supplier for forage and seeds at the end of that thread that would be better than any other bought treats. You can have loads of fun experimenting with more natural foods, and you could even go out and pick safe plants and tree branches for them yourself octodons.ch/index.php/Herbs deguworld.proboards.com/thread/15617/safe-tree-wood-list?page=1Ah, really? I wasn't aware of that! I'm definitely going to get a food switch very soon. I've also gotten my hands on some herbs, and they already have a ton of safe branches. Thanks! |
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Levon
Newborn Degu
Posts: 8
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Post by Levon on Oct 20, 2015 16:40:36 GMT
I'll look into that brand, I've heard tons about it! My girls do have access to hay all the time, but they don't seem to favor it very much. |
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Levon
Newborn Degu
Posts: 8
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Post by Levon on Oct 20, 2015 16:42:41 GMT
I think some brands of guniepig food can be used but dont hold me to.that your better off feeding them a specific degu food as other foods may not have the nutrition in, rabbit food is defo not recommended as stayed above x we've all done it maybe its worth looking into weaning them off the rabbit food into something more suitable for their long term health I'll look further into it, though I'll probably be using what I believe is called Sunseed Degu Food or something along those lines. I'll be changing their food rather soon. |
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Post by moletteuk on Oct 20, 2015 17:28:57 GMT
It can help if you try different types and brands of hay, they can be really fussy about hay. If you can add in other types of forage, they will probably like that better than hay and it doesn't matter so much then if they don't eat much hay.
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Post by winic1 on Oct 20, 2015 19:19:11 GMT
It can help if you try different types and brands of hay, they can be really fussy about hay. If you can add in other types of forage, they will probably like that better than hay and it doesn't matter so much then if they don't eat much hay. Definitely. Some brands are better than others. You need to find what they like. Since we also have guinea pigs, we go through a lot of hay. We have found that our degus like a softer, less-thick-stalks hay. Nice and green, not drier and yellow. The grassy looking stuff. Whereas our guinea pigs prefer chewier stuff. Both prefer fresher-smelling stuff, not the old, musty, dead smelling stuff. After a while, you get good at looking through the bag and judging whether they'll like it or not, as even within a brand the quality can vary. Also, if they have too much other stuff, they won't eat hay. We give one medicine cup (like comes on top of a Robitussin bottle) per degu per day of the Sunseed Degu pellets, which is about 4-5 teaspoons. Then, on a rotating schedule, they get one little med cup of dried veggies per degu, or about half a little med cup of seed mix per degu, or oats, or whatever, per day. Some days, nothing extra, so eat more hay (which is good for them, teeth and guts). I figure that in nature, you don't find everything good to eat every day, so some days you get lucky and find seeds or veggies, some days you don't. Seems to have been okay, Chester is 6-1/2, and Chitter just passed away at slightly less than 6-1/2 (and he came from a pet store, ordered in, so who knows his heritage), and neither has ever had any teeth or health problems. |
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Post by bouncy on Oct 20, 2015 22:04:53 GMT
I think some brands of guniepig food can be used but dont hold me to.that your better off feeding them a specific degu food as other foods may not have the nutrition in, rabbit food is defo not recommended as stayed above x we've all done it maybe its worth looking into weaning them off the rabbit food into something more suitable for their long term health I'll look further into it, though I'll probably be using what I believe is called Sunseed Degu Food or something along those lines. I'll be changing their food rather soon. Gerty Guinea pig used to be ok, but they changed the recipe, so the calcium:potassium is now 1:1. I feed a mix of that with oil seeds, then the rest is hay and various Jr Farms forrage, so they get a real mix. Mine go through phases between loose hay and hay cookies, so I just make sure there's some of both in there. |
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Levon
Newborn Degu
Posts: 8
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Post by Levon on Nov 18, 2015 20:34:56 GMT
It can help if you try different types and brands of hay, they can be really fussy about hay. If you can add in other types of forage, they will probably like that better than hay and it doesn't matter so much then if they don't eat much hay. I've got them back on a variety diet, gladly. |
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Post by Karma on Nov 19, 2015 3:41:20 GMT
my degus have gone crazy for the new Higgins food - vita garden .... it even has some herbs and flowers in it (I pull out the peas and bean flakes and use them as treats - they love them a little too much).
Degu nature, versele laga crispy degu pellets (I like that they are grain free versus the high wheat content in sunseed) also good - super easy to find in Canada, not sure for you.
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