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Post by carissa on Dec 8, 2005 21:44:29 GMT
The store I usually buy my pellets in bulk from has both guinea pig and chinchilla pellets. To my eye the look the same except for size. There's no ingredient list. Am I better sticking to guinea pig food or should I switch to chinchilla pellets? Or even get a mix of both?
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Post by diet otaku on Dec 9, 2005 2:30:57 GMT
some people use a mix, some people buy custom-made degu food, but i just use guinea pig pellets. a vast majority of my degus' diet is hay anyway, so i don't see the harm. a degu's nutritional requirements are closer to a guinea pig's as well, because degus are also deficient in vitamin C. my boys get guinea pig pellets, guinea pig vitamin crunchers, and an assortment of hay and calcium treats.
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Post by squirrelygirl3 on Jan 12, 2006 18:35:56 GMT
Last night, after cage cleaning time, I read the ingedients on the bags of food.
I noticed that there was molasses in both. My immediate reaction is want to stop feeding them this. The problem, is that I live in a very reomte mountain village, and I can't just run out to the store to but new food. It will be at least 2 days until I can change this.
Any thoughts?
I am currently feeding the girls a mix of chinchilla (fruit removed) and guniea pig pellets, along with alfafa hay.
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Post by diet otaku on Jan 12, 2006 18:56:48 GMT
almost all except the most highly specialized (and expensive) pet food is going to have molasses in it, in varying amounts. if you're like me, you can't afford $20 or whatever for a bag of pet food. the key i look for is how far down the ingredient list the molasses is. if it's one of the first 5 ingredients, ditch it, but if it's further down than that, it's probably in such small amounts that the few pellets a day a degu does eat won't contain enough to hurt them. not to mention, this is the ONLY thing with even a TRACE of sugar of any kind that my degus get, so i feel it balances out adequately.
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Heddy
Foraging Degu
Posts: 63
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Post by Heddy on Jan 13, 2006 11:01:28 GMT
I don't feed anything to the degus that got molasses in it. Even if it only is in the pelletts in small amounts, molasses basically equals sugar. I managed to find some rabbit pellets and some guinea pig pellets without molasses, but it is really difficult. From a producer's point of view, molasses is ideal: easy and cheap to use for producing pellets as it sticks the ingredients together very well.
@squirrellygirl: if you fed it for a while, two more days will not do much extra harm. Just cut down the amount of pellets and increase the amount of hay. Our degus get a diet day every week, when they only get hay.
If you are not sure whether your food contains sugar or not, just try it yourself. When you chew a pellet and it tases horribly bitter it is almost certainly does not contain a huge amount of sugar.
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Post by jsandland on Jan 16, 2006 19:14:46 GMT
I just found out that i have the same problem. I give my babes timothy hay and guinea pig pellets and chinchilla pellets ( i buy the kind without fruit or anything added). I had NO idea that it had molasses in it until today reading this and I have had my degus for 3 years. I live in the US and am wondering what brand and where can i buy food with out this added? Thanks Jess
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Post by diet otaku on Jan 16, 2006 20:36:48 GMT
i'm starting to look into sugar-free foods, and the best thing i've spotted so far is kaytee supreme daily blend for guinea pigs. it's $5 for a 5-lb bag and has no sugars or added ingredients (like bits of corn, peas, seeds, etc). i'm going to pick up a bag on my way home from work today. :3
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Post by ra on Jan 16, 2006 21:56:01 GMT
I would think if the only feeds readily available to you contain molasses, your Degus would be far better off just eating Timothy hay.
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Post by squirrelygirl3 on Jan 16, 2006 23:38:55 GMT
I gave them timothy hay for the first time a couple of days ago. (they have always had alfafa) Has anyone else noticed that that it seems to be the great degu tranquilizer? Instead of fighting, they just eat the hay and then fall asleep.  |
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Post by jsandland on Jan 17, 2006 8:47:59 GMT
Will timothy hay alone be suffiecient source of food by itself? Is there anything else that I can give them that may help them stay healthy? They are extremely healthy right now but since i have given them this same stuff for three years i dont want it to have a negative effect in the long run, you know? Let me know what you guys would do. Thank you Jessica
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Post by diet otaku on Jan 17, 2006 16:26:23 GMT
the degus will probably want something crunchier than the hay, just as a sidedish. harder foods help wear their teeth down, which is something hay can't do.
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Post by ra on Jan 17, 2006 16:39:50 GMT
diet, you are right. They do need to keep those teeth worn down. How about some of the Guinea Pig biscuits? They are fortified with vitamens especially vitamin C. My girls like to de-bark dried apple tree branches. Those rabbit treats I mentioned on the other thread are various herbs and vegetables which should be good for the degus.
Peter's Premium vegetable rice bars
Peter's Premium herb rice bars
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