Afraid he's not eating...

[melrohner]

Okay, I may have my first actual problem. The pet store was feeding my guys hamster food, but I've switched them to guinea pig pellets (degu food is pretty much not available here, and I chose gp over chinchilla because of the added vitamin c). My big guy, I'm afraid, hasn't taken to it very well. Either that or he's getting sick, they've both been a little sneezy since I got them. I don't think they're feeling too bad though, the sneezing actually seems to be getting a bit better, and they have no other symptoms. Anyway, my big guy is looking a little skinny to me. It's hard for me to tell how much he eats since there are two of them in there. Out of the cage, I can't entice him to eat the pellets. The food does have some orange pieces mixed in (maybe for the vitamin c?) and he'll eat those. But they're just a tiny fraction of the entire food. I know I have seen him eat some hay. I just wish I could catch him eating the pellets! I'm worried that he's not getting enough to eat. Could it be that he's used to the hamster food and doesn't like the guinea pig food? And if that's the problem, what do I do about it? Should I worry that he's sick? I hope not. After being repeatedly assured at the store that degus are now legal in my state, someone has told me that they actually are not. To be honest, I'm afraid to really find out. Which means I'm afraid to call the vet:-( I'm already pretty attached to these guys, and I'd hate to have them taken away, or even worse, taken away and destroyed.

[emz]

Switching an animal straight over to a new food can give them stomach ache/bloating. Also switching from a muesli to pellets can be difficult as most rodents seem to enjoy muesli style feed more. I'd recommend a muesli style feed like gerty guineapig. It use to be really popular with my degus but I switched to degu nuggets from Pets at Home as it was much cheaper and luckily they liked it. Gerty is a pretty good feed to use or xtra vital degu also.

It might be that due to the very quick change he is plain rejecting the new feed. Get some scales if you don't have any and try to weigh him every few days and monitor is weight also. If it goes down then there is more cause for concern. When I change feed I mix the new and old together and slowly make the ratio of new feed more until it is just the new stuff.

[deguconvert]

I don't know if you would have noticed this thread at the top of the Degu Health board, but here is the link to it for ease of getting there. This is a recipe for degus that need a little help health wise, or who are picky eaters, or whatever. Have a look at it and see what you think. It might be something to have in the back of your mind if you do find that you need to augment his food.

The weight scales, mentioned by Emz, are an excellent way to track the health of a degu. Due to their thick fur, weightloss is often disguised by the way they fluff up, and it can be quite shocking once the loss if discovered if we rely only on what our eyes are telling us.

[emz]

I think you forgot your link?

deguworld.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=health&action=display&thread=6023

[melrohner]

Thanks!

I'm honestly not sure what a "muesli" type food is! But I had read somewhere that Gerty gp was not good for degus. So you think it is? I am in the US, so I wonder if there's any difference?

As for mixing foods, I've always done that to switch too, but I'm afraid in this case it might not work. The hamster food is a mix, it does include pellets, but also sunflower seeds, etc, so I'm afraid he'll just pick out what he likes and still not eat the pellets.

I had seen that recipe already, but thought it was more for degus who won't eat anything. I can get him to eat the things he likes, just not his pellets. Can that recipe be used as everyday food?

Okay, I feel like I'm leaving something out here, so you may be hearing from me again very soon:)

[deguconvert]

OOOPS!! Thanks Emz! LOL! Can you tell I was still working with half a brain?

Well, it is more of a supplement than a day in and day out food, although you can mix it with the foods you are trying to get him to eat. The concern for me right now is his loss of weight. Something to know would be the cause of that loss. Did the hamster food make him fat and now that he is without it, is he just losing exess weight, or is he losing healthy weight to become unhealthily thin? If you feel that he is getting too thin, than it wouldn't hurt at all to mix some of this stuff up and help him to put some weight back on.

If the sugars in the hamster food were high, has he developed diabetes, or pre-diabetes? That is hard to determine, but something that is very helpful, and often recommended by Smux, is the use of ketones strips that you can pick up from a pharmacy. They are dipped in the urine to detect ketones that often flood the urine when diabetes is present. I have never used them, but apparently they are easy to use, and much cheaper than getting your vet to test for diabetes.

Gerty gp over here is different than what they sell in the UK. There they offer more options and choices. With what you can get here, I find that you just need to look through and pull out any recognizable bits of dried fruits. For the most part, it is OK. I also like to mix it with Sunseed degu products, or Sunseed Chinchilla products. Both are very good. It can take a little fussing to find out what they will consistantly eat.

In our city, I find that the pet stores seem to never carry the same things all the time. It's a constant battle to find the same products that I know from experience they will happily eat. I hope you are able find suitable things for him soon. Please keep us up on how it is going.

[emz]

I think that America has the same type of Gerty here now. It is true that a year or so ago the US version was unsuitable but don't think so anymore. That is according to degutopia anyway. The UK version is definitely fully suitable (don't have to remove anything) so if it is the same there now then yes it is fine.

This is a muesli food:

It is usually more popular but produces selective eating.

Nuggets:

Can be less popular if they start on muesli feed but it means no selective feeding and ensures they get all they need in an easy manner.

I agree to check your degu for diabetes. Hamster feed is not ideal for a degu especially considering how delicate they are when it comes to becoming diabetic.

[melrohner]

Thanks. I'll try to test him. I had already considered diabetes, since I knew they were on hamster food and they do seem to drink alot, and I know that's a sign for other animals. I just wonder how you get enough urine from them to test. The bad eater is my non-escapee, he's still in his cage. Good news, though, I did see him eat pellets tonight for sure. I wonder if being by himself helps him to eat, since my little guy was very bossy.

[deguconvert]

In the hope that your little guy will return safe and sound, it might be helpful to have two dishes of food for your boys to eat from. It can really save the peace in a cage, as food tends to be a hot point of contention between degus, and it also gives those that are being bossed the chance to eat in peace. We have one bowl each for our three, and there is seldom an arguement anymore . . . unless I wasn't thinking and put their favorite treat in one bowl only. They know now to go to their respective bowl and check it out . . . usually.

[melrohner]

They did have two food bowls, but if the little guy saw him eating, even from another bowl, he would usually jump him. Like I said, VERY bossy! So I think he would usually grab his favorite bit and hang onto it for dear life! At least with him being alone now, I can better monitor what, and how much, he's eating. I do have a scale somewhere, but with all the escape drama I haven't really looked for it.