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Post by nat on Sept 9, 2005 16:43:22 GMT
What Should I do? I don't want them to starve
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Post by Sunshinemeg on Sept 9, 2005 18:20:27 GMT
what food are they eating that is sweet? it really shouldnt even be available to them. If you put in a food mix such as rat food, guinea pig food or if you can find it a specialist degu food, then you shouldnt need to put anything else in other than occasional treats. Your degus wont starve, if the suitable food mix is all thats available, then they will eat that.
meg;D
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Post by nat on Sept 9, 2005 19:53:28 GMT
I give them differend food everytime. But the special for degus they just left or throw away. They just prefer to starve rather than eat those :/ They like some fruits and they go mad when they will sniff chocolate. Unfortunatelly I don't know how thos food that they like is called in english :/
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Post by themoosevodka on Sept 10, 2005 21:42:49 GMT
omigawsh! be careful with the sweets, they really shouldn't eat them~!~
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Post by nat on Sept 11, 2005 15:24:36 GMT
I know. But what can I do? I hope that they won't be sick. Not every degu has to be. But they potencially can be
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Post by worthym on Sept 11, 2005 16:03:01 GMT
Nat, degus really shouldn't be fed anything "sweet", as they cannot metabolise the sugar, and they WILL get sick - they will develop diabetes and this will shorten their lifespan considerably. There are lots of threads already discussing the food that degus should be given, but the general feeling is that a mix of 50% guinea pig mix and 50% chinchilla pellets (check that they do not contain molasses), is a good start. Plenty of hay should also be available, timothy hay and alfalfa hay although the alfalfa can be limited as it is quite rich. Also some fresh vegetables, but not too much as they can develop diarrheoa if they consume too many. Your degus certainly won't starve if you feed them the right foods, they might not immediately dive in and eat them, but as long as food is available they will eat it. I tend to find mine will eat all their "favourite" bits first, and so I will leave them for a while with just the "nasty" bits left, to encourage them to eat it all and not pick at it. This will usually work, and they will eat everything this way. As the owner it is your duty to feed the degus the right foods, as unlike in the wild, in the home environment the degus do not have the choice of food.
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Post by nat on Sept 11, 2005 20:19:32 GMT
"Plenty of hay should also be available, timothy hay and alfalfa hay although the alfalfa can be limited as it is quite rich."
Sorry but I don't undarstand it. They like also everything that is dry.
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Post by rosberry on Sept 12, 2005 3:28:14 GMT
Maybe just keep being persistent in giving them the chinchilla/ guinea pig mix. I can only find guinea pig food that does not contain cane molasses and when I first gave them the mix they ignored the guinea pig food without the molasses and ate the other stuff. Now they eat everything. Plus I kept giving them the fresh stuff and now they are eating some of that also. Good luck.
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Post by Aimeelou on Sept 12, 2005 10:14:47 GMT
DONT GIVE THEM ANYTHING SWEET!!!!!! STOP NOW!!!!! They will frefuse their normal food if they think they are going to get chocolate! It will be a bit of tough love, but you realy cant go on giving them sugary food!
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Post by diet otaku on Sept 12, 2005 14:29:43 GMT
"Plenty of hay should also be available, timothy hay and alfalfa hay although the alfalfa can be limited as it is quite rich." Sorry but I don't undarstand it. They like also everything that is dry. lots of this: some of this:
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Post by rosberry on Sept 12, 2005 23:32:37 GMT
Ours don't eat the alphalpha cubes but I found some that have a little bit of carrot in them and they love those!!
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Post by diet otaku on Sept 13, 2005 11:54:07 GMT
yeah, the alfalfa cubes i use are actually different from those... those will crumble easily, while the ones i have are cylinder-shaped and very hard. the degus enjoy gnawing away at them, and i'm happy because they last longer.
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Post by nat on Sept 14, 2005 20:17:36 GMT
but they need some suger don't they? I'm not giving it them all the time. My degu is now with me and hi's trying to run away ...
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Post by diet otaku on Sept 14, 2005 20:42:00 GMT
no, degus do not need sugar, as there is no sugar in their natural diet. they get all the nutrients they need from the hay, pellets, and vitamin supplements if you choose to give it to them.
bear in mind that while all animals require glucose for energy, you don't need to consume sugar to produce glucose. sugar is simply a quick way to produce a lot of glucose at once. but because the degu's natural environment is virtually all shrubs and grass, they function on the low levels of glucose produced from an herbivorous diet.
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Post by nat on Sept 18, 2005 17:21:00 GMT
I wonder why they getting so excited when they sniff nicotine ...
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Hanlou
Burrowing Degu
Basil
Posts: 284
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Post by Hanlou on Sept 18, 2005 19:16:25 GMT
Pardon?! Are you serious? Why would they be sniffing nicotine? I don't understand. You know sugary things are bad - so don't give them to them. End of story. You know nicotine is harmful - so keep it away from your degus. *Easy enough to work out I think* I feel a bit suspscious when I read posts like this. The old 'trip-trap' scenario springs to mind, which is why I have been so blunt. Apologies if you are genuine.
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Post by diet otaku on Sept 18, 2005 21:00:15 GMT
I wonder why they getting so excited when they sniff nicotine ... what on earth are you doing with your degus?!?! i sincerely hope you meant to say something else. is it really so difficult to keep harmful things away from your degus? they need hay, pellets, and water. they will not starve if you supply them with those things because they should not be around anything else that they might choose as an alternative, ESPECIALLY chocolate and nicotine! my god...
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Post by Sunshinemeg on Sept 18, 2005 21:22:38 GMT
THIS IS A WARNING
I agree with the valued members of this forum that this topic is not sincere. I will close any topic and ban any member that creates prank posts. You have been warned.
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Post by Aimeelou on Sept 19, 2005 10:59:26 GMT
words fail me....
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Post by nat on Sept 19, 2005 18:46:33 GMT
Prank posts? I was bringing my mum cigarette and the sniffed it from about a metr. I wasn't giving it to them!! I don't want to hurt them. I kno thet there is strychnin but I only wander why they was so interested in it. Isn't it bizzar?
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