Are tomatoes OK for degus?

[JoJo]

I was just wondering whether it was OK to feed my 3 degus tomatoes? I've given them one cherry tomato and they loved it!

Please could anyone let me know if this is OK and if so, how often should I give them? Thanks!

[Erica]

Hi Jo,

Great question.

I only give my degus tons of timothy hay (half and hour before any seed based food otherwise they leave the hay), guinea pig mix, chinchilla food, apple wood sticks / bark and some fresh organic grasses grown in a pot in my house.

A tomato is a fruit and degus in the wild in Chili don't eat them so I don't give them to my clan. Degus LOVE sweet food such as fruits but since they're prone to developing diabetes they shouldn't eat sweeetened food/treats including fruit. I use the fresh grass as a treat for my degus.

I would love to hear what other degu owners think about this...

[JoJo]

I have a bought a book on degus. In it is says they can eat tomatoes?
I think I will not feed them any more just in case.
If anyone else knows for sure please let me know. Thanks!

[tigerlily]

Is tomato really a fruit? I thought it's a vegetable... Tomato isn't very high in carbohydrates (less than exam. in carrot) so I would say that it's ok as an occassional treat.

[JoJo]

A tomato is a fruit, so I'm not sure why the book says it's OK for them to eat?
Oh well, maybe we'll never get to the bottom of it!

[wazioc]

My initial thought was that it may have been ok since tomatos (even though they are a fruit) seemed pretty low in sugar. But after a quick google search, it seems that even tomatos have enough sugar in them to keep me from giving them to my degus.