A question about hay.

[skullblits]

Just wondering how often do you change your degus hay?

They don't seem to eat too much of it.

I got them their own hay. But it's gone off now I think. So just use Timothy hay.

Any advice? Thanks

[moletteuk]

Degus are really, really fussy about hay. Most will eat it if you can find one that they like, so generally it's worth trying different ones until you find out what they like. Mine used to prefer finely stalked hay. I used to offer new hay twice a day, they don't tend to be interested much after it has been sitting around a while.

[savvy]

Mine are opposites, Dixie likes one type of hay and only when it's put in fresh while Reggie prefers the stalkier one and only after its been there a day.

As Moletteuk says, it really is trial and error with degus and hay. You're very lucky if you find one they like straight away.

[skullblits]

I tried a hay called. Rediegrass or something I can't remember. I saw one of them eat one bit.

I stuff there wooden houses with it. And they burrow into it. But never looks like they eat it.

I wish they had some sample packs or something because some hays are a little expensive

[savvy]

www.timothyhay.co.uk may send you a sample if you ask. They do stalky and not stalky and it's great value for a very large bale, but does need storage space.

You may find though they are eating the hay while they are in bed, a lot of degus love to snack in bed.

[skullblits]

Not sure about that. They nap in the open. Then they have a soft bed filled with toilet roll. Unless they drag some in during the night.

Thanks for the tip

[skullblits]

May 21, 2019 10:36:04 GMT savvy said:

www.timothyhay.co.uk may send you a sample if you ask. They do stalky and not stalky and it's great value for a very large bale, but does need storage space.

You may find though they are eating the hay while they are in bed, a lot of degus love to snack in bed.

Ughh I swear being a pet owner in northen Ireland sucks. None of the good places deliver to here. Grrrrr

[savvy]

May 21, 2019 11:35:14 GMT skullblits said:

May 21, 2019 10:36:04 GMT savvy said:

www.timothyhay.co.uk may send you a sample if you ask. They do stalky and not stalky and it's great value for a very large bale, but does need storage space.

You may find though they are eating the hay while they are in bed, a lot of degus love to snack in bed.

Ughh I swear being a pet owner in northen Ireland sucks. None of the good places deliver to here. Grrrrr

Sorry, I didn't realise you were in Northern Ireland, although I should have remembered.

Have you tried searching for any local farms etc who have fallow fields who may have some?  Alternatively, it's very easy to grow yourself if you can.

[skullblits]

It's not your fault lol.


I've looked before but all I seem to get is big chains that sell it. Ect.

Have to have a good look later

[katta94]

Mine pref Timothy hay (OXBOW-westeren timothy hay)..they won't eat cheap hay..obv ..
Also i don't give them much hay at the time..because then i can change the hay often..(3-4times a week)
- and if the hay is on the ground..they will not eat it..
+ i save a lot of hay doing that

[skullblits]

Hmm maybe I should fill there boxes up with something else and put some hay in there old metal tray we used for sand baths.

[ntg]

It's not as cheap as timothyhay.co.uk but you could maybe look into the hay box club who do deliver to Ireland (and presumably N Ireland too) the hay looks like it should be of comparable quality from there.

[skullblits]

Yea seen that might get some and try it with them

[deguconvert]

I used to keep a "hay manger" of sorts, but it didn't work like "I" wanted it to. The degus habitually did two things . . . they would get up there and a throw it all out . . . OR . . . if it was hay they didn't like . . . they would thoroughly saturate it with wee! The only hay they would eat, and rather sparingly at that, was hay that was very green still, and that smelled sweetly. I KNOW for a fact that I looked very odd, walking through the aisle of the pet store, picking up the small, plastic covered rectangle of hay and giving them all a good sniff. 50% of the time I couldn't smell anything, and usually that meant they had been sitting for a while, so then I just had to try and get the greenest one they had. Which was no guarantee, because the lights in the store tell lies!! I'd get home and find it was actually rather yellow, and not the green it looked in store. Anyway . . . if it smells good, there is a much stronger chance that your degus will like it as well.

I realize that ordering online makes that an impossibility.

[skullblits]

Is gay very important for their for their diet??

[deguconvert]

If you are an owner uninterested in providing forage (as I recall you have been trying to provide a varied diet), dry or fresh, as a large part of their diet, hay becomes very important for the much needed process of wearing down constantly growing teeth and providing fiber for their gut processes. However, while there are degus that enjoy hay as a food source, they are not the majority. Forage, if new to degus, is something that they seem to require time to acquire a taste for. (And will also have to develop the needed bacteria in their gut for proper digestion. Which will happen if they are fed in small amounts that are introduced slowly.) This is especially so if they were only acquainted with degu pellets (of some form) and hay as young pups.

Are you having more successes with the foods and forage you are offering these days?

[skullblits]

May 21, 2019 22:17:24 GMT deguconvert said:

If you are an owner uninterested in providing forage (as I recall you have been trying to provide a varied diet), dry or fresh, as a large part of their diet, hay becomes very important for the much needed process of wearing down constantly growing teeth and providing fiber for their gut processes. However, while there are degus that enjoy hay as a food source, they are not the majority. Forage, if new to degus, is something that they seem to require time to acquire a taste for. (And will also have to develop the needed bacteria in their gut for proper digestion. Which will happen if they are fed in small amounts that are introduced slowly.) This is especially so if they were only acquainted with degu pellets (of some form) and hay as young pups.

Are you having more successes with the foods and forage you are offering these days?

Hmm interesting.

My girls eat forage in the box. ( I hold a big box of stuff upto there cage and they jump in and eat all sorts.)

Then they hide thier biscuits. They get a crock onece a day. And a tiny biscuit with linseed init.

As for the hay. Unknown. I'll have to sort something out to try and monitor it to see if they are eating any

[moletteuk]

The more forage they eat, the less hay they may eat, but they need to eat a lot of forage for you not to have to worry about the hay.

[winic1]

We would put a handful of hay into the cage every day. And the pile would immediately disappear, as they carried it away. They built the biggest mound of hay and substrate as a giant nest (like more than 50cm square and 20cm high) and then slept only in the edge of it. We figured, why are we giving them so much hay if they don't actually use it? But then, on poking at their giant nest, I noticed that while it was made of mostly hay, the hay was now in thin, tiny bits. Clearly, at night, or when snuggled behind it, they were chewing up the hay. So, some of it was being eaten, and the chewing on the rest was keeping their teeth in good shape. So, not wasted at all, tho not being used the way we thought it should.

We would buy big bags of hay, and then keep it in an airtight container, so that it didn't absorb humidity and get damp and stale before we used it all up. Did this for years, and it seems to work well, if they liked a bag of hay at the start, they liked it to the end.

My degus liked green, soft, fresh-smelling hay. Not the hard stalky kind. When we had guinea pigs, they liked the hard stalky hay, not the green grassy kind. So, between the two, we never had wasted hay. Once we no longer had guinea pigs, we had to be much more careful about what bags of hay we chose.

Another kind besides timothy hay, is to look for something called "orchard grass". They usually sell it at pet stores because it's good for hamsters and guinea pigs and the like. It's usually a long, fine grass, so not hard and full of stalks like some hay is. If you can get this, it gives you another option to mix in with their hay to make sure they have something they'll like to chew on.

[moletteuk]

That reminds me that the location you put the hay makes a difference, it's best to put it next to somewhere they like to hang out.