Safe wood and treats for Degus?

[Zoe]

Hello everyone

Im new to this site so i will start by telling you a little bit about myself. I live in Northampton, UK with my boyfriend and 6 male chinchillas who i adore. They have there own room which they get to come out and play in twice a week. I have recently been doing some research on Degus and have arranged to take 2 females from my local RSCPA centre. I have purchased a cage from John Hopewell which will arrive on Friday and will be picking Bubble and Squeak up on Sunday. Im very excited!!!

So i have been doing lots of research on the internet on safe treats and safe wood but have come across so many and some websites say that some things are ok and others say they are not so i have got a list!!! ;D
I was wondering if you guys could help and let me know if any of the following are not suitable for my girls.

Wood

Pine
Hazlenut
Hawthorn
Eating Apple
Willow

Treats

Carrot
Brocolli
Dandelion
Spring Onions
Cucumber
Tomato
Dried Peas
Dried Corn
Puffed Wheats
Shreaded Wheats
Peanuts
Hazelnuts
Brazil nuts
Dried Apple
Pumpkin Seeds
Cauliflower
Rose hips

Also if i give them veg as a treat does it have to be dried beforehand?

Thank you in advance for any help and advice.

Many thanks

Zoe

[diet otaku]

it would be best to avoid the pine, as it can be toxic to some (but not all) animals. aspen is the recommended wood for bedding, but the best bedding is either carefresh or a brand called yesterday's news. dried wood from apple trees make great degu treats, and many pet stores also sell prepackaged blocks of fruitwood that are suitable.

as for treats, a degu's diet really should consist primarily of molasses-free pellets and timothy hay. rose hips are a good source of extra vitamin c for degus, and dandelion leaves (pesticide free) are a favorite treat. degus also enjoy pumpkin seeds and peanuts, but they should be very limited because they contain higher levels of fat (the same goes for most any kind of nut). dried apple simply has too much sugar (natural sugars). i believe some members here give their degus shredded wheat as an occasional treat, but you have to be very careful as even seemingly healthy cereals have lots of sugar in them. veggies are a source of a lot of controversy... some say carrots have a lot of natural sugars, others say they don't. some give their degus broccoli and cauliflower as treats... personally, i just avoid the veggies since i can't really know for sure how much sugar they contain. i can tell you that cucumber and tomato would probably be too watery and would give a degu the runs.

[thegrouchybeast]

If you're in the UK, and you don't already use it, then you might want to try and track down some Megazorb for bedding. It's a horse bedding material made from woodpulp, very like Carefresh in texture but it's only ~£5 for an 80l sack, which makes it incredibly good value compared to most things sold as small animal bedding.

You can also buy a specific degu diet from www.zooplus.co.uk/web/index.jsp. I've been feeding it to my degus for a couple of months, along with a few Burgess guineapig pellets, and they love it. They also stock a great variety of dried food plants -- I have a selection of different ones, and I rotate through them, putting a dish of a different one in the cage every day.

There's a very useful resource for looking up the nutritional content of different foods here:
www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/search/

[Zoe]

Thank you for the info and advice so far.

I feed my chins on Canadian Gold Timothy Hay and Duggin pellets. Would this be a suitable diet for the Degus? I was also planning on mixing the Duggin pellets with some Burgess Supa Guinei Excel that has been recommended.

What do you guys think?

When i asked the lady at the RSPCA what they are currently being fed on she said that they do not really have a specific diet at the moment mostly veg and breakfast cereal!!! She said thats what they were being fed on by there last owner but i will be changing this when i get them. Any suggestions on how to go about this?

Thank you again. x

[diet otaku]

it's pretty easy to switch a degu's diet. just take out the old food, put in the new food. the degus will probably snub it at first, but when they get hungry they'll eat it, and grow to like it.

[Zoe]

Sounds easy enough. Will it upset their tummys?

[diet otaku]

as long as the food you're switching them to is degu-safe, they'll be fine.

[Hanlou]

Hi Zoe!! The main thing is to check that the Duggins pellets don't contain any molasses..... as lots of them do. Breakfast cereal?! How horrible.... Am glad they'll be getting a nice 'mummy' soon!!

They may not convert to pellets easily - mine are very fussy with their pellets ever since I tried them with the JR degu food. They used to eat them but now they know there's something they prefer, they won't touch them! The Burgess Guinea Excel pellets are great for degus and tbh I would just give them those without the chin pellets.

Welcome!