Am I feeding them enough

[Cherpi]

Hey, I was wondering, am I feeding my little guys enough? They look healthy and everything but when I get home from school and in the mornings they go crazy with their food, they get on without a hitch all other times but when the food comes they go nuts at each other, i have to put the bowls in different places. I give them two teaspoons (approx) a day and give them half a coconut full of hay a day (about a handfull) and it's all gone in a few hours.

[littlesqueek]

Most Degu's seem to go nuts at feeding time, mine certainly do. Its all to do with their hierarchy, like Lions, the dominant one wants the most/ the tastiest bits and they want to eat first. So giving them separate food bowls and placing them in different parts of the cage is the best thing because the submissive one will get their fair share.

I give my boys 10 grams (the recommended amount) of dried food a night, roughly one shot glass, each. Or in your case you should find a way of giving each Degu five grams each twice a day. Mine tend to eat what they want and leave some till later, but every degu is different; some probably do just demolish the whole lot in one sitting. And one handful of hay sounds about right, but it doesn't necessarily mean they are eating all of it. Do they spread all over the cage floor? Do they carry it off into their nest/ bed?

[Jaiye]

That sounds fine to me (using what i give my two as a guide!). My two used to stuff the food down as quickly as they could when they were younger - or go and hide most of it! - but now the food bowls are rarely empty when I go to give more the next morning.

I tend to give them food once a day, and just give them hay whenever their hay rack empties (never much in there as they turn their nose up after a couple days but always something in their for them).

[Cherpi]

They're quite young so hopefully won't be as greedy in the future, thanks for the advice guys

[Cherpi]

my new cage has a built in hay rack so they'll be able to help them selves whenever.

[sarahh]

That's good built in hay racks are a good idea I have to hanging mine it the cage. Mine seem to like hay more than their dry food which is better as hay they can eat as much as they want like our bunnies and guinea-pigs hay is far better less calories etc than the dry food does.

[Whizz]

My boys go crazy for there food, they usually eat quite a bit when it is put in the cage (10am and 6pm) and then will leave the rest for later (They love having a quick snack before bedtime! ).

They also adore their hay, and because I have four greedy boys they get two handfuls (Maybe more depending on how successful the 'handful' was). They have it in a Hay rack and I started putting it in a wooden basket (Made from Bamboo Wicker) and they jump into the basket all excited that fresh hay has been put in there. They really look forward to when the fresh hay from the bag goes into there cage - they usually eat quite a lot of it then, but I make sure there is enough to last them the day.