Tropifit Degu Food

[littlepaws1999]

Hi everyone! 
 
It’s been a while since I was on the forum. Since that time, Ive lost Willow back in Dec. 2019, leaving her sister Clover alone. Just the other day I travelled to pick up 2 new baby girls to introduce to her. But ill make a intro post for them later on.

Since Clover lost her sister, she’s been very fussy with food. The only food she will eat is Tropifit Degu food. Has anyone had any experience what that brand? I know it comes from Poland. The bag doesn’t mention anything about the calcium: phosphorus ratio, which worries me a bit. 
The young ones are used to eating Versele-laga complete for chinchilla and degu, which Clover will not touch. 
Ive tried her on it a few months ago, as well as the crispy pellets and degu nature from the same brand, Sunseed, and Martin mills guinea pig pellets (which was the original food i was feeding when i had Pixel, Willow and Clover still. As soon as Pixel passed both girls refused to eat it, which is where the fussiness started) 

I guess my question is, is the Tropifit an okay food? Heres an english link for it  www.bigalspets.com/ca/small-animals/food/tropifit-degu-food-400-g.html

I dont mind feeding both brands of food, but I do want to make sure the the tropifit is healthy. 

[deguconvert]

It's good to see you again, Littlepaws1990! I am so sorry for the loss of Willow. I expect it is has been difficult for both you and Clover. Is she showing awareness and interest in the the pups? How old are they? What are you plans for introductions?

I've looked at the link you provide and . . . EEEEK . . . I really don't know if I can say it is good or not. I think it is a certainty that not all the ingredients are listed. In fact . . . they kind of give highlights, this is good for that, and this other thing does this . . . but really it doesn't tell you exactly what veg or grasses, or additives are in it. There could be sweetening to make it more palatable . . . which you can find in MANY pet foods. It is possible that the english translation of ingredients is just lazy, or maybe they really don't give a complete rundown of what is contained. I'll be honest . . . I'm not very comfortable with it. I probably wouldn't use it if it were me, simply because the list of ingredients is so clearly incomplete and nebulous. BUT, you've been using it for a while, so you will have to find a way to introduce something else to her, and that needs to be a gradual thing. Slowly reducing the Tropifit and increasing the other until she is complete converted to the new food. This will give her stomach and taste buds time to adjust to the new contents.

[winic1]

Crude Protein (min) - 15.0%
Crude Fat (min) - 5.0%
Crude fibre (max) - 8.0%
Moisture (max) - 10.0%

If you add up the percentages they do give, you only get to 38%, leaving 62% unknown, and 10% of what you do know is water (moisture).
Now, the protein and fat are listed at minimums, but with 62% up for grabs....not likely it's mostly protein or fats or they would have higher guaranteed minimums.
The part that is not protein, fat, fiber, or moisture, is very likely carbohydrates.  Starches and sugars.  Not good.  Especially since the listing of ingredients is so very vague, so that you can't judge for yourself.

If it does have a high sugar and starch content, which is very possible, that might be why your degu likes it so  much.  Who wouldn't prefer sticky buns to a plate of brussels sprouts?

Probably best to slowly wean her off of it, start restricting the amount she gets so that she has to eat more of other, better things, like hay and a better choice pellet, and get her switched over to a better pellet.  If you get her together with the new little ones and that food is still in their cage together, the little ones might take to it and stop eating the healthier stuff.  If they never get to taste it, then no problems in that regard.

[bouncy]

From what I've found, the ingredients are (not very helpfully) Derivatives of vegetable origin (including alfalfa 25%, Jerusalem artichoke 2%), vegetables, seeds (including flax seed 4%), nuts. It also contains colourants. A little more Googling shows it's predominantly a pellet food, with a couple of colourful biscuits in, plus random fruit tree twigs. It also suggests a high cereal content, which may include grains. Below is the most comprehensive description I can find....

Complete food for degus, with the addition of bark and twigs of fruit trees to help wear growing rodent teeth. The main component of the diet is cereal pellets and alfalfa, obtained by extrusion, which increases the digestibility and assimilation contained in cereals and alfalfa nutrients. In addition, extrusion of bacteria and fungi present in natural materials. Food offered is a composition enriched with flaxseed - a source of unsaturated fatty acids (EFAs) which enhance the appearance of rodent fur. Is supplemented with artichokes, rich in natural prebiotic inulin, which prevents the development of diabetes - the most common disease degus. Mix, thanks to the addition of leeks and herbs, has a unique flavor and aroma to encourage animals to eat.

Not the best food out there, but needs must!

[littlepaws1999]

The pups are 12 weeks old. Currently the intros are put on hold as I had just brought Clover to the vet. She was sneezing last week (Thursday) and has some nasal discharge, I was just able to book the appointment for today. She’s on baytril for suspected respiratory infection (that seems to not have reached the lungs yet, which is good). But I have them in a separate cage (the prevue 528) temporarily until Clover is in the clear. Which ill then divide the critter nation and swap them between sides.

Yeah I assumed it wasnt the greatest of foods, but was hoping it would make do. Hmmm I wonder if I could email the company asking for a better analysis. Not sure why I didnt think of it before but my mom is Polish so she could write up an email for me.

It just so hard finding good food in Canada, especially where in live in Ontario. Jeez even Degus are hard to find lol, these pups are from Quebec. I went to every single pet store and got them to special order me every type of degu formulated food. I was desperate to get something she would eat, without really paying much attention to the analysis, up until now (I know, shame on me). But her weight is steady at 278 g for quite a while now (she just turned 5 in April). She does get hay, and I’m giving her some dried herbs/flowers.

[deguconvert]

Your cage . . . is it just a single Critter Nation, or is it a double?

Canada is actually pretty sucky when it comes to food selection and options for our animals. It's not easy to do, that is, find a good healthy food. I used to buy dried herbs and such from the grocery stores, as well as lots of different seeds (NOT cereal grain seeds) and would mix those with the pellets I bought. I had a hard time sourcing pellets though. Recipies are frequently changed however, and I usually spent a long time reading through ingredients lists every time I had to buy more food. There used to be a gerbil food that I used because it had no sugars in it, and it was fairly balanced in comparison to other small animal foods, but it wasn't always available in store. That meant looking all through the city (I learned that using the phone was MUCH easier) to locate a store that may have some in stock.

Even buying for our dogs and cat is extremely challenging AND expensive.

[bouncy]

I've just been looking at some of the foods available on American sites (assuming a slightly better choice than just Canadian ones), and I can totally see your problem! The ingredients typically read like kids candy from the 70s!

However, if you wanted to try a more natural approach, I found this!

www.chewy.com/browns-natural-behaviors-grain-free/dp/241843

Although it's for piggies, it's got a similar composition to some of the UK foods, and foraging may tempt her appetite?

Edit: petsmart Canada also sell it

[littlepaws1999]

The cage is a double critter nation.

Now if I remember reading correctly Supreme Science selective is a good brand...? Correct me if I’m wrong. I had noticed that a Canadian website (Canadian pet connection), sells all of the supreme line, except for the degu one. I was thinking of contacting them and seeing if they could sell it.

I actually just bought that browns mix from petsmart last week!. I was only giving her maybe half a handful... maybe less than that... every day. How much of that would I be able to feed? All three seem to like it. Would that be a daily diet without pellets?

[bouncy]

The ingredients are very similar to a natural diet mix, so I can't see why you can't feed it as a main food, although you may want to add a few seeds every now and then.

[moletteuk]

The Tropifit is poor even just looking at the fibre content.

Good find with Brown's Natural Behaviours, Bouncy. That's definitely worth a try, it would be interesting to see how well liked it is as grass pellets in UK mixes have mixed degu approval. Calcium and vitamin d are on the low side, so extra calcium seeds would be a good addition and UV light and potential small amount of vit d supplementation could be considered.

The Science Selective is OK, is has good calcium and is well liked but has more grain in it than is ideal. You could mix Science Selective and the Brown's stuff to end up with something reasonable.

[littlepaws1999]

So far all three eat everything from the mix.

Ill see what I can figure out food wise to wean her off the tropifit then.