Flowers/weeds identification

[moletteuk]

A couple of other good sources for degu specific plant safety are the german degu forum www.deguhilfe-sued.de/forum/index.php?sid=c279b816e0344e203467515d6a45c78b and the food pages of degupedia www.degupedia.de/wiki/index.php/Degupedia:Portal_Ern%C3%A4hrung but they are in german so more awkward to use. If you search for latin plant names you often get results. I also google species names (in latin) with toxic and see what comes up.

Cow parsley is currently just a few fresh leaves sprouting from the ground ready for next year, should be hairless and it's usually the most common thing. It probably is best left.

The vetches and clovers are good, they can be a bit rich and cause some gas and can contain small amounts of cyanide, so just go steady with them and you need to remove seed pods first.

Do you mean Greater Plantain, (Plantago major) with the broad leaves? Yes, that is safe.

I used to dry my main stocks of plants for the winter by spreading them on sheets of cardboard in sunlight and then bring them in the shed at night. I used to fill a couple of carrier bags and then spread it out on a couple of 8x4' sheets of cardboard, I probably did this about 6 times in the summer to get enough to last the winter but my goos stayed partially on nuggets. This would fill a couple of sacks.

Chickweed is something to look out for, you can check it is what you think because the stems have a single line of hairs. Common hogweed (Heracleum sphondylium) is easy to find too and worth a go. Also consider tree leaves and sticks, these are good for food and enrichment, my goos favourite pastime was chewing sticks.

My goos were not interested in fresh forage for most of their lives, but all three enjoyed some fresh forage and certain species of fresh grass when they were elderly and unwell. I swear Alice only lived as long as she did because I fed her fresh grass and forage every day for several months at the end. I think I'm saying don't let it put you off that they aren't enjoying fresh stuff at the moment. Spring is the best time for fresh stuff when everything is sweetest, but don't worry if they don't get into it.

[nika]

I didn’t know that about the clovers and vetches - thank you. I’m currently setting up a foraging journal in relation to degus and I’ll make sure to note that. With how many different things I’ve gotten, when I make my mixes I want to know how much to put in or to just offer as an occasional treat

And yes! That plantain.

It’s also good to know that my degus aren’t the only ones that prefer dry, I was starting to wonder if they were broken lol. I’ll continue offering the tenderist pieces fresh, so they always have access to fresh, but won’t hope for it to disappear lol

I’ll look up chickweed

[nika]

And they get tons of sticks - they are currently munching their way through what seems like an entire Ash tree lol.

I’m scared of the Hogweed - anything with white umbels of flowers are tricky. We have hogweed that’s about my chest height, wild parsnip right? I’ve been wondering about the seeds since they are heading to seed now. I just don’t know if they are regular hogweed or giant hogsweed - they are about my chest height and I generally leave them alone lol

[moletteuk]

It's a bit weird that they prefer dry, doesn't make much sense, but that's what lots of us find.

Ash is one of the trees we have less information about, do look out for another tree if you can, just so they don't get only ash. It contains something similar to the problematic glycoside in horse chestnut, I think it's mainly in the leaves rather than the wood. I mean most things have some compound in them that itsn't ideal, it's all about getting a variety so they don't get too much of any particular compound.

I found hogweed fairly straightforward in practice and it's worth looking for because it has big chunky leaves so it's good value for effort, it grows along nearly every roadside. Giant hogweed is properly massive, like 2m plus, usually 3m+ at mature flowering and the leaves are more narrowly divided, usually more lobes and sometimes with teeth, stem is blotchy, usually on disturbed ground or riverside, I only see it rarely. There is a form of common hogweed that has narrower leaves a bit more like giant hogweed, but you could avoid those. I don't mean throw caution to the wind, just take a closer look some time when you feel like it on one of your foraging trips. Common hogweed is currently like cow parsley and throwing up fresh leaves ready for next year. Any hogweed that is in full flour and only chest height can't be giant hogweed. Wild parsnip is something different, it should have yellow flowers.

Feel free to post photos here.

[nika]

I think I’ll have to post photos tomorrow after I go out. Once I get a feel for exactly what I’m looking for I’ll be alright.

The hogweed and I’m guessing wild parsnip are going to seed - I had wanted to ask about the seeds and whether they are suitable?

I think I’m going to head the journal section soon and start a diary, that way I can keep everything in one place lol

Thanks for all your helpx

[moletteuk]

I haven't seen any info directly about the seeds, so I can't say for sure, I used to just collect the leaves and mine would prefer younger fresher leaves so that didn't really coincide with the seed stage. The seeds are probably OK but be careful because I can't say for sure, many of the high calcium oil seeds we feed are umbellifer seeds. I tasted a hogweed seed because someone said how tasty they were and good for spicy flavouring, it was the most disgusting thing I have ever tasted in my whole life and the taste stayed with me all day.

[nika]

Logically, you have to assume that degus - in fact most herbivores and omnivores, have a sense that either we don’t, or one that we’ve lost. The sense that tells them when something is dangerous. As far as I’m aware, you rarely see animals poisoning themselves in the wild. Obviously that doesn’t mean we should just throw a bunch of greens and stuff in there and pray that sense is active in domesticated animals as well... it’s just a thought. I personally doubt the degus would eat something dangerous intentionally.

On that note, I’ll pass on the seeds until I either get positive confirmation that they are safe or until the degus are older and far more sensible than they are now 😂 so, maybe never 🤷🏻‍♀️

[fatfrodo]

Sept 7, 2015 20:06:32 GMT moletteuk said:

I'll try and look these up tomorrow, off hand I have no idea about zinnia, but morning glory is potentially safe as bindweed is safe.

Can chins eat bindweed?

[moletteuk]

I don't think I can give a definite answer. I have fed my degus bindweed, specifically Calystegia sepium, with no ill effects and they liked it, be aware there are other species in the genus that look similar and also some in the Convolvulus genus that I cannot vouch for. Many rabbit groups say it's not safe, Degupedia says not many people have fed it but some degu and chin owners had fed it and reported it was OK.