abirose
Burrowing Degu
Forum Helper
Posts: 276
|
Post by abirose on Feb 11, 2012 17:01:34 GMT
Hi I would just like to recommend these dried vegetables that I have given my girlies. www.ratrations.com/dried-mixed-vegetables-p-195.htmlMy goo's tend to snub fresh veg but they enjoy having it dried with their food. Plus it stops the goo's getting bloated from the water content. I would advise picking some of the swede out though as I imagine it will have a higher sugar content.
|
|
19Uhr30
Warbling Degu
Keep calm and DFTBA
Posts: 40
|
Post by 19Uhr30 on Feb 11, 2012 17:36:20 GMT
I would be very careful with both onion and leek. They can cause flatulence and diarrhea. I have never given both to my degus, but if you try use small ammounts and have a close eye on them so you find out whether they get along with it.
|
|
|
Post by fred on Feb 11, 2012 18:38:19 GMT
Leek and onion are not universally suitable; they can cause diarrhoea in some degus, as 19Uhr30 has said. They are fine for others though, so it really is a matter of careful introduction and observation. Carrot is also relatively high in sugars, 4.7% of wet weight as compared to 5.6% for swede (source: ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/foods/list ).
|
|
|
Post by aya0aya on Feb 12, 2012 14:29:03 GMT
I got a lot of goodies from this store and I think it's great. I bought milk thistle, carrot, grass and millet seeds and locust beans, chamomile flowers, dried ginko, beetroot flakes.
I use that mixed all together as treat and they love it. Most of all they love milk thistle. This store is just amazing.
|
|
19Uhr30
Warbling Degu
Keep calm and DFTBA
Posts: 40
|
Post by 19Uhr30 on Feb 12, 2012 15:19:18 GMT
Locust beans contain a lot of sugar. When I started havig degus it was part of a common degu food mixture and everybody picked the pieces out of it. And I can't believe your degus accept milk thistle, chamomile and ginko as treats. Mine would just look irritated and demand a real treat. And not just herbs and stuff... ;-)
|
|
|
Post by malteser60 on Feb 12, 2012 19:24:11 GMT
Mine go mad over the flowers. I try to give them flowers as a staple diet but they still descent upon them as if they've never seen them before.
|
|
|
Post by aya0aya on Feb 13, 2012 8:35:06 GMT
I do know about sugars in locust beans, but I read that they actually lower blood sugar. I didn't know it is bad for them. I'll stop giving it to them. And yes, mine love dried flowers especially chamomile. Well every of four have their own taste, some are more in flowers and some are more in fresh things as home grown oat "grass"
|
|
|
Post by butters on Feb 13, 2012 19:31:54 GMT
Actually how bad are locust beans? My degus get them as treat and they are crazy about them but if it can cause health issues i will stop right away.
|
|
|
Post by aya0aya on Feb 13, 2012 20:09:50 GMT
I have read about it, but it was written for humans. It said they're fine for diabetics because they don't need insulin to digest. I have no idea if this is ok for other species as well.
|
|
19Uhr30
Warbling Degu
Keep calm and DFTBA
Posts: 40
|
Post by 19Uhr30 on Feb 14, 2012 0:27:09 GMT
It is widely assumed that a high sugar nutrition over a longer period makes it much more likely that degus develop diabetes. I am not sure whether that was ever verified in a study. I guess davx might know more about any reliable sources should they exist. But this assumption has lead to a low sugar diet for degus. Most people also tend to keep the ammount of grain and other starch containig food low. Locust beans contain about 40% sugar (mostly sucrose, but also glucose and fructose) and 30% starch.
I did not find anything about locust beans being fine for diabetics. There was some information about lowering blood lipid levels, antioxidant and digestive benefits. But nothing about no need for insulin. And I do not see a reason why sugar from locust beans should be digested any differently then other sugar.
|
|
|
Post by aya0aya on Feb 14, 2012 7:37:07 GMT
Yeah, it was written in Slovenain
|
|
|
Post by malteser60 on Feb 14, 2012 10:23:15 GMT
|
|
|
Post by amie on Feb 14, 2012 10:36:17 GMT
Locust bean can actually be found in Degu Xtra Vital food. They only have a few in the pack though. Personally, I give mine the odd locust bean, like one a month or so on top of other treats.
|
|
|
Post by aya0aya on Feb 14, 2012 18:23:32 GMT
Poor rats
|
|
abirose
Burrowing Degu
Forum Helper
Posts: 276
|
Post by abirose on Feb 16, 2012 11:48:59 GMT
I kind of have a mixed opinion on giving the leek and onion and carrot. I have never had any issues of diarrhea I believe that most of the digestive issues come from when animals are given food with a higher water content which causes them to bloat. Having kept rodents for a long time it has always been common knowledge that if both rats and goos were given to much fresh veg (e.g when we have been making a roast dinner) they would have diarrhea, which is why I have switched to include more dried veg. I feel that it is a more natural way to provide the goos with the vitamins they require ( such as onion having antioxidant properties) as degus in the wild would have very little access to food with high water content due to their environment. In my opinion it is the digestive problems caused from to much fresh veg that prevents the animal from fully absorbing the nutrients.
|
|