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Post by dejagu on Feb 13, 2019 17:02:54 GMT
Hi, I’ve been reading through the threads on the 50% natural nutrition project and am really interested in this as I’d like to get our rescue off the pellet food he’s been kept on.
I’ve made up a mix to introduce to him (it’s all stuff he’s had in small quantities for forage with us, so it’s nothing new to his digestive system), which we’ll introduce slowly with the pellets he’s got. I’m just looking for some advice as to whether it’s a good mix, and if there’s anything I should add or remove. As a note, he also gets fresh herbs and some fresh veg on occasion when I have it available.
The mix I’ve made up is a range of both premade mix packs and additional herbs and things that we use as forage. I didn’t measure exact quantities, I did it more by eye for the 50:50 ratio, although seeds and similar were done in much smaller quantities.
It contains:
Parsley
Plantain
Nettles
Peppermint
Willow bark
Birch leaf
Rose hips
Rose petals
Fennel
Marigold petals
Dandelion leaves
Dandelion roots
Nettle roots
Alfalfa
Dried carrot and beetroot (in very small amounts)
Red clover
Red millet
Yellow millet
Red Dari
Black sunflower seeds (again a very small amount)
Quinoa
Oats
Wheat flakes
He also gets unlimited access to a mixture of Timothy and meadow hay every day, and alfalfa occasionally.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated. TIA ☺️
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Post by deguconvert on Feb 13, 2019 17:26:07 GMT
I would probably not give the wheat flakes or oats, and possibly not the Quinoa, as a food, but as occasional treats they are OK. Everything else looks good to me, but we have others who are much better at diet information than I, and I expect you will have comments from them as well. Just a side question . . . how big are the pieces of all the natural leaves, petals, bark, and roots? The smaller they get, the less interested degus tend to be. So whole leaves, whole petals, long bits of root (well at least 2-3 cm) are more appealing. Which can be hard, because it feels like many suppliers tend to sell these products in a state that looks more like crushed or dust, than whole or recognizable.
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Post by dejagu on Feb 13, 2019 18:44:13 GMT
I would probably not give the wheat flakes or oats, and possibly not the Quinoa, as a food, but as occasional treats they are OK. Everything else looks good to me, but we have others who are much better at diet information than I, and I expect you will have comments from them as well. Just a side question . . . how big are the pieces of all the natural leaves, petals, bark, and roots? The smaller they get, the less interested degus tend to be. So whole leaves, whole petals, long bits of root (well at least 2-3 cm) are more appealing. Which can be hard, because it feels like many suppliers tend to sell these products in a state that looks more like crushed or dust, than whole or recognizable. Thank you! That’s ok, they make up a very small percentage of the whole mix, but I’m happy to sift them out anyway ☺️ The flower petals and leaves are whole yes, and the roots are around 4cm I’d say. |
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Post by moletteuk on Feb 13, 2019 19:51:18 GMT
The 50% natural nutrition project dates from right back at the start when everyone was experimenting, so we've learnt a bit since then. Make sure you have a good read of our feeding guide as that is more up to date deguworld.proboards.com/thread/16425/degu-feeding-guideI would say to keep all your forage separate to everything else and keep flower mixes separate to leaf mixes because flower mixes are more likely to bring moths. The grains should all be treats only unless you have a sick degu, so that includes the millet, dari, oats, wheat, quinoa. The veg and rosehips and roots should be separate as treats too. I know you have mixed it all now, so make sure they are well distributed and keep in mind small quantities only of all those things. The main thing to bear in mind while they are mixed up is they will mess up the calcium phosphorus ratio, so you will need extra calcium to compensate and zero extra phosphorus. Take a look at our nutrition charts to acquaint yourself with the calcium and phosphorus values for various groups deguworld.proboards.com/thread/15602/vegetable-seed-nut-nutrition-chartsMost people who do high percentage natural nutrition feed high calcium oil seeds, so you should seriously consider that. Also you must consider what to do about providing vitamin d. You can supplement direct or supply a UV lamp. Where are you? Most people doing natural nutrition find that big orders to Hansemanns in Germany are worth doing for the better quality and variety. Don't forget that collecting your own is a great way to get great quality forage for time and effort only. Don't forget to weigh your degus regularly. Welcome to the forum  |
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Post by bouncy on Feb 13, 2019 20:06:51 GMT
Ditto Molette!
I took the plunge and mine are on 100% natural diet. This is primarily dried, but I also give some fresh too. This is made up of Hansemann mix, which is mixed specifically for goos, and seeds that I mix myself.
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Post by dejagu on Feb 16, 2019 21:15:37 GMT
The 50% natural nutrition project dates from right back at the start when everyone was experimenting, so we've learnt a bit since then. Make sure you have a good read of our feeding guide as that is more up to date deguworld.proboards.com/thread/16425/degu-feeding-guideI would say to keep all your forage separate to everything else and keep flower mixes separate to leaf mixes because flower mixes are more likely to bring moths. The grains should all be treats only unless you have a sick degu, so that includes the millet, dari, oats, wheat, quinoa. The veg and rosehips and roots should be separate as treats too. I know you have mixed it all now, so make sure they are well distributed and keep in mind small quantities only of all those things. The main thing to bear in mind while they are mixed up is they will mess up the calcium phosphorus ratio, so you will need extra calcium to compensate and zero extra phosphorus. Take a look at our nutrition charts to acquaint yourself with the calcium and phosphorus values for various groups deguworld.proboards.com/thread/15602/vegetable-seed-nut-nutrition-chartsMost people who do high percentage natural nutrition feed high calcium oil seeds, so you should seriously consider that. Also you must consider what to do about providing vitamin d. You can supplement direct or supply a UV lamp. Where are you? Most people doing natural nutrition find that big orders to Hansemanns in Germany are worth doing for the better quality and variety. Don't forget that collecting your own is a great way to get great quality forage for time and effort only. Don't forget to weigh your degus regularly. Welcome to the forum Sorry for the really slow reply! The seed/millet/wheat mixture hadn’t been mixed in when I made the original post, so they’ve been kept separate, thank you. I haven’t included oil seeds yet as I wanted to make sure I got that part right, with the calcium:phosphorus ratio being so important, before I introduce it to him. We’ve got a UV lamp ready to use should we need it. We’re based in the UK, do they do international shipping? He gets a mixture of fresh when we’ve got it growing, we’re still using some of the dried leftovers from last year! Thank you ☺️ |
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Post by deguconvert on Feb 17, 2019 0:33:41 GMT
Hansemanns are really good with their international shipping. We have several members that regularly ship from them, and even some that do a group order together to share shipping costs.
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Post by bouncy on Feb 17, 2019 11:15:05 GMT
With Hansemann, you can place your order online, and they will email you with the shipping cost. The "free delivery" only applies to Germany and Austria. Your order will arrive by DHL, which lets you change the delivery day or designate a safe place if you're not home. There's loads of other bits to try on there, and their site became dual language in January |
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