Oat hay - too sugary?

[s]

I recently got some Australian oat hay for my degu to try and he really loves it! He's been eating a bit every day for about two weeks.

However, I'm a little worried that it might be too high in sugar? I saw online that oat hay has a higher sugar content than other hays. I don't want to risk diabetes and I'm wondering if I should stop using it.

The variety I have is a yellow colour, if that helps. I can't find any specific nutritional information about it because I got it in a taster pack.

If anyone has experience with oat hay I'd appreciate your advice!

[moletteuk]

To my mind if he likes it and eats it then it's fine. It's no good having the healthiest hay if he doesn't eat it. It would be great if you can find some meadow hay that he also enjoys, or timothy or small amounts of alfalfa and and other variety of meadow plants. As much forage as you can find in a variety are great for degu health.

Here is a link to a chart with some nutritional info for different hays www.guinealynx.info/hay_chart.html
It looks like oat hay is a bit low in calcium so you could add some alfalfa, dandelions or kitchen herbs (or other meadow plants) to add more calcium. Also make sure that his nuggets have a good calcium content.

[bouncy]

Ditto moletteuk! We've had many discussions on here about hay because some goos can be extremely fussy, or even reluctant to eat it. For a while, mine would only touch those pressed together to form cookies - hardly the choicest hay.

The hay helps them keep their molars in check, so it's great that they're eating it!