help greedy goos ?

[jojomckeown]

Hi iv always given my goos the recomended amout of food sugested by degutopia. At first the goos seemed ok with that along with treats and hay but now are fighting over the food when i top it up and eating it reaaly quickly leaving nothing through the day, so i decided to split the portion in half given them feed at 9am and the next feed 5pm each day but still very greedy little googles! Do you think im doing the right thing by changing meal times or should i leave it as it was i used to feed them once on a morning and that was it all day, goos have a bowl each and get 10grams of feed each per day. Treat wise i only give puffed buck wheat when out for play and plenty of hay all the time. Thankyou from jo and fluffs x

[Jaiye]

Mine used to do that as well when I first got them; would stuff their faces first thing in the morning and leave nothing. But now - I didn't change anything feeding wise - they seem to have a few first thing and then the bowls are still part full when i get in from work, then gone by next morning.

I always had hay on tap and topped up as and when, and they get treats when out to play. It almost seemed with mine that they went off the nuggets and took a liking to hay instead =)

All the above happened within a month so maybe see how it goes? They won't go hungry with hay on tap so....

[Whizz]

At first my boys were a bit rowdy at meal times, due to fact that when they had food in p@H they had to share between 8 of them, it was only a small sized bowl that was left in there all day (I presume the boys didn't get much food). They got use to having their own bowls and quickly settled down, we now feed them on XtraVital Degu.

I feed my boys at 10am and then 6pm, they get about a 10 grams each (they have their own bowls too). And only have the bowls in the cage for about an hour and a half. Whatever they don't eat (They don't usually eat everything in their food) I just put back in the tub and give them it later.

Between the meal times I give them treats to chew and play with (as I'm usually out most days). Depending what is (I use a variety of different treats on different days) they will eat more of their dinner or will eat less.
They always have a supply of Hay (Timothy and bog standard Hay). Although with their grass house (They pick bits off and eat it!) and other wooden nibbles (I give them wooven willow balls and other toys that are wooden).

I have only ever left the food in all day a couple of times, when we go out for a long period of time and won't be back until the late evening. They seem to eat most of when they're hungry and will just leave some (they don't like these brown sticks in their food).

[deguconvert]

How long approximately have they been acting so ravenous? Have you weighed them lately? Healthy weight is between 150 grams and 300 grams. What food are you using?

[nickymills30]

my trio boys are piggies too

Dave, declan and dexter seem to eat all day long! They are not fat boys, but after reading and watching them, relised they bury, a lot of their food, so stuck to only feeding them once a day.

But over the last week, they seem to be hungry all the time.

I normally feed them late evening, which i do every day, then first thing of a morning they get a shreddie each, but this morning, they went mad for their shreddie, as if they haddn't been fed, and all the food i;d given them last night had gone! Me being soft, have given them another bowl of food, and they are sitting eating that know.

My other boys aren't like this.

[jojomckeown]

Thankyou all for comments i really am greatfull. Deguconvert i have 3 goos all weigh just under 200 there eating p@home nuggets always have only started acting this way since last week my bf thinks it could have something to do with the cold weather as us humans eat more when it gets cold so he was thinking maybe they are the same? wat do you think?

[nuttz]

my 2 boys are the same.. as soon as i put their food in they eat the lot, straight away!! i was giving them 2 small handfulls a day, plus hay and treats but i have reciently increased this to 3 small handfulls as i thought they were hungry, they still manage to eat the lot within about 30 mins..........
do you think its a male thing? my hubby is the same...lol

[amie]

Mine are quite picky and keep leaving all the light green bits in the Xtravital food. (I just can't get them to eat those bits!). However, Dean loves to take ALL the Supreme Science from the other bowl and bury it so Sammy can't get it, lol.

[kaininaste]

My two boys are the same, they two are from P@H and are about four/five months old. They get a teaspoon each twice a day and have separate bowls but have loads of wood toys and get treats too.

Mine tend to pick fights with each other when they've been awake a bit longer and are more active - they get fed around 7am and 6pm.

[deguconvert]

They sound like they are a good weight, and the food is good. It probably is to do with the cooler weather alright, and needing extra calories to keep warm.

[gemmagreaves]

hi Jo sounds like youve got your hands full! how are the little goos doing? i bet they're not so little anymore? xxx

[grumpy89]

Oct 25, 2010 9:41:28 GMT amie said:

Mine are quite picky and keep leaving all the light green bits in the Xtravital food. (I just can't get them to eat those bits!). However, Dean loves to take ALL the Supreme Science from the other bowl and bury it so Sammy can't get it, lol.

Mine do that too! they won't eat the green bits so when we clean them out the cage is littered with them! they love the rest of it though - we mix it with the nuggets and its the first thing to be eaten!

[sophie9901]

Hey guys, I'm a bit concerned, one of my degu's has recently put on a lot of weight.. We rescued him and when he came to us he was always quite big, but lately he's got bigger since I've changed their food. They are now eating gerty guinea pig food which I read on degutopia is suitable. I weighed all of them today and most of them weigh in the region of 220g and 275g .. but the big goo who has got bigger is now weighing in at just over 300g!! I read on degutopia that a healthy weight is 220g-250g, so I am a bit concerned. If anyone has any suggestions that they can share with me that would be great

[fred]

I am afraid, gerty guinea pig food is not something that is suitable for degus and I can't understand why it is recommended by degutopia. It can be a particular problem if your goos are selective. I did feed it myself before I looked into the details No need to panic, but you should look out for alternatives. We have started here to discuss preparing our own mixes and there will be more of it in the very near future. Maybe this is something you will want to join in.

What else have you tried before?

Over 300g is a bit much and you need to be careful that he isn't gaining any more weight. Is he eating particularly much or is he very lazy? If they all live together, you may have to reduce the energy-rich stuff for all and give the others a bit on the side.

[Kins]

I have 4 goos.

The 2 'little' goos weigh about 240g each, Stan & Nige. But the 'big' goos are heavier. Jim is 280g and Dave is 290g. They all run on their flying saucers constantly and I top the food up in their bowls every morning. There is always food left from the previous day in every bowl. They are all fully grown.

So they all have 'unlimited' food and weight different amounts. I think it varies from one goo to another. I wouldn't say that any of mine are over weight even though there is a 50g difference between the smallest and biggest. As long as there isn't a dramatic weight change in any of them I don't think you need to be too overly concerned really. Some goos are just heavier.

This is just my opinion though as I feel all of my goos are a healthy weight and don't necesarrily fit in the recommended/healthy weight category.

Like Fred says though, is he particularly lazy? Or does he hog the food bowl? Is he definitely a he and not a pregnant she? I know you had trouble before with incorrect sexing...