Homemade Mixes

[smithomatic]

Hello everyone!

Although I very rarely venture into the realm of natural nutrition, I have recently updated my website with an article on my 50/50 feed. You can check it out here:

deguchronicles.weebly.com/1/post/2012/05/degu-diet-project-issue-2.html

I have made a post in my blog section on this forum aswell but thought id pop it here too, I know not everyone checks the blog section.

Thanks everyone!

Till next time!

[smithomatic]

Hello everyone, I had a moment to post the pictures here direct:







It contains

Seeds

millets, grass seeds, quinoa and oats, nijer seed, sunflower seed, mixed birdseed

herbs

herbs and grasses, nettle, marigold, camomile, thyme, rosemary, mint, parsley and sage

Dried flora
dandelion leaves, birch tree leaves and apple and blackberry leaves, rose petals

Hard feed

Mashed and dried vegetables (Carrot, Peas, tomato, parsnip, corn), degu pellets

[mommakirk]

I am struggling with trying to figure out what to feed and when, a bit overwhelming. I have tried 3 different bags of pellets that they dont like, cant find a veggie that they like. I'm not sure where to get my seeds and stuff, Ive tried bulkbarn but not sure how good that is. They seem to love all the stuff thats not so good for them, peanuts sunflower seeds. I did try my hand a mixings they seem to like it, but I want to make sure they are getting all they need. What I have for them is brown rice, barley, sesame seeds,rapeseeds, something that looks like barley( I have memory issues) sunflower seeds, a canary mix. So what should I add, take out? Thank you in advance for the help.

[moletteuk]

Have you seen the Feeding Guide? That's your best starting point and links to lots of other useful threads

You need a bigger range of seeds, depending on what is included in the canary mix. Also watch out for additives and egg products and so on in American bird mixes, you need to look for plain seeds, sometimes sold as sprouting seed.

The main thing degus need is digestible fibre, this means plant matter, they need as many leaves, herbs, flowers, grasses, tree leaves as you can find.

There are a couple of american based food threads on the board at the moment, let me know if you have trouble finding them

[mommakirk]

Thank you,I found my receipt and the names of the other seeds I bought, brown flax seeds, pot barly, I guess thats all of them. I guess I need to go to a bigger store for the food selection. I did check the ingredients of the bird mixs for eggs, what additives would I look for? I had a friend who cut a tree down this past summer and she gave us a large supply of branches. Im starting to learn how to navigate through all the threads, thanks for the help.

[moletteuk]

Sometimes they put pellets in with vitamins and random things like orange oil in, which aren't so good.

The tree sounds good, my degus love to eat bark, does it still have leaves on? Your degus might like the dried leaves.

Do you have access to markets or somewhere you could get suitable salad leaves or other veg?

[mommakirk]

I have tried different vegies but I saw one pic which looks like a mixed salad and thought I might try that and if they dont like it the kids can eat the rest. I found a treat mis of dried veggies and rose pettals and they love it, so I was going to see what they have a bulkbarn with dried veggies and stuff.
The tree doesnt have any leaves left on it but does have little buds and they LOVE that.
Thanks for the help

[degunorrisandchunk]

do you use these mixes as an alternative to pellets/high brand food ? and is it cheaper ?

[moletteuk]

Yes, they are instead of commercial food, although you can still feed a percentage of commercial food. You need to supplement vitamin D if you reduce the bought food below around 50%.
It is not cheaper unless you can collect and grow all the plants you need yourself. It is musch healthier and a more natural diet fo the degus. Even if you still rely a lot on commercial food you should offer a good range of fodder plants for healthy, happy degus.

[degunorrisandchunk]

Feb 9, 2014 14:27:04 GMT moletteuk said:

Yes, they are instead of commercial food, although you can still feed a percentage of commercial food. You need to supplement vitamin D if you reduce the bought food below around 50%.
It is not cheaper unless you can collect and grow all the plants you need yourself. It is musch healthier and a more natural diet fo the degus. Even if you still rely a lot on commercial food you should offer a good range of fodder plants for healthy, happy degus.

is there any problems with them picking wat they want and leaving the rest ? also what kind of plants, weeds and herbs can degus eat ?

[moletteuk]

There shouldn't be any problems with selecetive feeding if you develop you mix over time and experiment with what you can get hold of and what they will eat, it just takes a bit of time and effort to work out.

There are lots of threads on safe plants and herbs etc, take a look around. To get you started, things like dandelion, blackberry leaves, plantain, young dock, ground elder, grasses, daisies, marigold, nasturtiums, clover, most culinary herbs, most UK native deciduous tree leaves (see safe tree thread).

[degunorrisandchunk]

where do you get all the stuff from can you order these things online ?

[ntg]

You can order some of the things on line but a lot of us forage/grow our own to help keep costs down and dry a good sized batch to help and get us through winter. Molette was merely giving you some info as to the easiest things to find when out foraging, if you look at the bought herbs, flower and plant mixes thread (should be stickied on the nutrition board) then it'll give you some ideas of things to buy/where to buy.

[degunorrisandchunk]

May 11, 2012 16:59:34 GMT moletteuk said:

From Maravilla in My Degu-Nutrition without finished products Aug 19, 2011, 8:34pm

My degu diet is quite similar to the one apology72 has already presented. I change it from time to time, to provide some variety, and it also depends on the stuff I have at home.

1) Flowers, herbs and small leaves
marigold (calendula off.)
rose (rosa)
cornflowers (Centaurea cyanus)
hibiscus
hawthorn (Crategus)
purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea)
camomile (Matricaria chamomilla)
jerusalem artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus)
lemon balm (Melissa officinalis)
peppermint (Mentha piperita)
St John's wort (Hypericum perforatum)
sage (Salvia officinalis)



2)Leaves and weeds

apple tree
hazelnut
common/ European hornbeam (Carpinus betulus)
tilia
gingko (Ginkgo biloba)
dandelion (Taraxacum officinale)
buckhorn (Plantago lanceolata)
jerusalem artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus)
green oat
green spelt



3) Seeds

grass seed
millet (differet types)
linseed
sesame
amaranth
chicories' seed
milk thistle seed
buckwheat
... and a couple of other seeds, the online dictionary doesn't know. All in all, we are talking about 15 different kinds of seeds my degus get regularly.

do you mix 1 2 and 3 together ? and im assuming its still 10g per degu

[moletteuk]

Keep them seperate.
Flowers are usually limited by cost but can be fed unlimited to the degus. Leaves should be fed unlimited, the more they eat the better, the bigger proportion of their diet that is leaves, the better. Seeds should be controlled, 3g each is usually plenty, less if they still get a proportion of commercial food.

[Maravilla]

I have 3 containers, one containing the flower mix, one the leaves mix and one the seeds. I have never weighed the amount I put into the cages. I just fill up when it is pretty empty so that my monsters are also forced to eat some of the less popular stuff.

[skits]

So here is my mix!

Lots of things in here..puffed oats, rolled oats, pink roses, alfalfa hay, orchard grass, rye and sesame crackers, parsley, acorn squash, tomato, cucumber, celery, carrots, hibiscus, weeping mulberry leaves, birch leaves, white clovers, canary grass, colza, chardon, lin, thistle, sunflower, peanuts, rape seed, suet, and safflower.

[oreo119]

Hi, 

I am looking into homemade mixes for my degus. I was wondering how much of the whole mix/each area of mix you would have to give them per day? 

Thanks in advance

[moletteuk]

Forage should be unlimited and for a full natural diet the carefully chosen seeds should be around 4g each per day. Don't forget that for a 100% natural diet you need to carefully control vitamin and mineral content and supplement vitamin D.

[oreo119]

Thanks for the information, I'll keep it in mind