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Post by Maravilla on Jan 26, 2012 17:52:29 GMT
Yes, but start with small amounts and try to give them a range of different herbs so they can chose what to eat. |
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lee
Newborn Degu
Feeding the squirrels in Battery Park
Posts: 6
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Post by lee on Feb 3, 2012 19:34:16 GMT
I've only had my ladies fortnight, from Camp Nibbles in Leeds ( http://www.http://campnibble.com/ ).
I didn't want to change their diet immediately so I've been feeding them P@H degu pellets and Woodlands Herby Harvest hay, though I'm planning to vary the hays.
This week I've been trying them with fresh veg, just a small quantity as part of their evening meal. So far broccoli, celery and cucumber are popular as are celery leaves. Potato, mushroom and cabbage stalk are not. Yesterday morning I notice that some of their stools were larger and softer looking than before so instead of the fresh veg I gave Woodlands Herbal Delight.
What I'm now thinking is to alternate the fresh veg with the herbal delight and gradually introduce more natural food while phasing out the pellets. They also have a strand of millet in the cage now which they seem to enjoy.
I've also been feeding them various treats to try and get them out of the cage onto my hand. This is a work in progress! I started with a small mammel treat shaped like green or orange carrots but these continue to meet with complete disinterest, so I've settled for putting 2/3 into one of their bowl once a day, I had more success with the crock complete herbs but the best results are with wholemeal porridge oats and fennel seed.
This has made me wonder if they might like any other seeds from my larder; I have whole cumin, coriander, cardamom and black pepper. Has anyone tried any of these? They would be good in terms of availability.
I have apple trees, a flowering cherry, oak saplings and some sort of prostrate willow in my garden. I've read that the cherry should be baked before giving it to degus; what temperature and how long for? Any one got a recipe for baked wood ;-)
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Post by fred on Feb 3, 2012 20:05:52 GMT
Hi lee and  to the forum. It is great to hear that you are going for a varied, natural diet straight away. You are right to make the changes slowly; degus need to get used to new food and it is important to start with small amounts. I will have to look up a few things from your list; could you clarify for me what the small mammal treats and crock complete herbs are? You don't need to bake the branches. If you have healthy branches from healthy trees that have not been treated with chemicals, you can put them into the cage as they are. From the trees you mentioned, you can give branches with leaves. |
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Post by NightwishRaven999 on Feb 4, 2012 8:29:41 GMT
Hello lee ! Glad to see you are taking interest in introducing natural feeds to the degu diet !
This is a big step in the right direction.
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lee
Newborn Degu
Feeding the squirrels in Battery Park
Posts: 6
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Post by lee on Feb 4, 2012 15:16:48 GMT
These are the Crock Herbs www.equinecaninefeline.com/catalog/clearance-verselelaga-crock-herbs-chinchilla-degu-p-2313.html and these are the other treats (Woodlands Carrot Patch Crunchies) www.petsathome.com/shop/woodlands-carrot-patch-crunchies-treats-200gm-15758[/url] They get the Crock Herbs about once a week to entice them onto my hand. I don't think they've been handled much in the past so they are cautious. They will stretch out to take things but only rarely will the actually sit on my hands and are back into the cage if I as much as breathe the wrong way  I'm sure we'll get there though. I put a couple of the carrot Patch Chrunchies in with their pellets in the evening as they aren't interested in them as a treat! 200 gm to get through so they should last then about a year;D They are cute and adorable and I can now tell them all apart. Initially only Daisy was easily identifiable as she has cataracts, but I've realised one is slightly smaller and more ginger than the other two so I've decided she is Lily so Rose is the big one without cataracts. |
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Post by davx on Feb 4, 2012 15:19:53 GMT
Hi,
Spices usually aren't intended to be food. We humans use them also in small quantities. Well mammals can feed them in small quantities too, but pepper I think its better to avoid it.
But you can use bird seeds. They are also available in bigger quantities and are a good addition for the degu diet. In wild degus feed around 20-40% seeds, the rest are herbal parts like leaves, twigs, roots, stems, bark etc.
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Post by fred on Feb 6, 2012 15:49:40 GMT
Sorry, this has taken a bit more time since I got distracted by the mushrooms which I have been wanting to research in more detail. Degus in general seem to frown upon mushrooms, which is a good thing because they are believed to be hard to digest. Likewise the other things not popular with your degus are not really suitable for them. The popular veg are. I wouldn't recommend the Crock Herbs and Carrot Patch Crunchies as there are much better and healthier alternatives. However, there is no problem using up what you have got. We are in the process of rearranging the information here on natural nutrition and in a couple of months you will find more examples of healthy and popular treats. With respect to seeds, the best way to start off is a bird seed mix. You only need to make sure that there are energy-rich oil seeds ( deguworld.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=gotopost&board=food&thread=8933&post=66181 ) make up the minor part of the mix and that there are no non-seed additions like egg or shells. |
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ava
Burrowing Degu
Posts: 215
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Post by ava on Feb 27, 2012 12:47:02 GMT
I'm going to plant a Chilli pepper plant sometime this week ('Little Elf' variety); was just wondering if the leaves are safe for Degus?
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Post by fred on Feb 27, 2012 13:04:46 GMT
Stems and leaves of peppers are insuitable for degus, probably toxic. Since chilli peppers also belong to the genus Capsicum, I assume that the same applies.
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Post by smithomatic on Feb 28, 2012 11:10:20 GMT
Hey all,
I have been wandering; one of my boys loves spinach leaves, I have always given him 2 leaves once a month because I was never sure how safe they were for him to eat. Are Spinach leaves ok? He always leaves the stem and the middle of the leaf. The other boys arent interested.
Also, I know this isnt a plant or herb as such but I have always fed tomatoe once a month as a treat also, are other kinds of tomatoes safe for degu consumption? i.e. baby plum tomatoes or cherry tomatoes? It would be easier for me to offer these as I often end up wasting alot of the tomato lol
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Post by fred on Feb 28, 2012 12:05:54 GMT
Spinach is high in oxalic acid and potentially nitrate, and should only be given in moderate amounts as part of a balanced diet. The amounts you are giving him are definitely on the safe side. Tomatoes have a high water content, which means that when they are completely desiccated, the sugar content can get up to 50%. As treats and in small amounts in veggie mixes they are OK. I prefer cherry or plum tomatoes as they dry reasonably well when cut into slices. Only the fruits are OK, all other parts of the plant are not suitable for degus, An extended list of suitable greens/herbs/veg will be included in the forthcoming feeding guide on www.degus-international.org/ |
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Post by davx on Feb 29, 2012 22:55:29 GMT
Tomatoes are safe in general. Cherries especially are suitable because of their "degu-approved" size.
Sugar content... well it is a topic much overestimated. I even fed fruits in smaller quantities e. g. apple and some kind of berries and it never was a problem. In contrast it is assumed that the lack of water in dried fruits might be a problem in metabolism of sugars. Even for diabetic humans it is considered that a fresh apple is better than a dried one.
Finally there is another aspect with diabetes. We have to assume that most degus with cataracts don't suffer on diabetes, but have in fact another metabolic disorder. In addition few degus suffer on diabetes and die soon as consequence. It seems that there are loads of misinformation concerning this topic. Well we don't have hard facts, but we can use Knowledge from other species. E. g. there is no evidence that the degu is the only species do not show a reduced lifespan as consequence of an untreated diabetes.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 3, 2012 23:38:14 GMT
Are oregano (Origanum vulgare) and tarragon (Artemisia dracunculus) degu safe?
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Post by fred on Mar 3, 2012 23:53:03 GMT
Are oregano (Origanum vulgare) and tarragon (Artemisia dracunculus) degu safe? Yep  |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 3, 2012 23:58:16 GMT
Thanks, I'm working on my safe foods list  Do you know if there is such a list already (German is fine, I can use my trusty Google translator and Wikipedia if needed ^^)? |
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Post by fred on Mar 4, 2012 0:00:32 GMT
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Post by davx on Mar 4, 2012 19:15:34 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Mar 4, 2012 19:24:58 GMT
That is great! I started looking last night but didn't really know where to start.. But with these categories it will be easy |
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Post by davx on Mar 4, 2012 19:38:53 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Mar 4, 2012 19:45:24 GMT
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I'm sure we'll get there though. 
Do you know if there is such a list already (German is fine, I can use my trusty Google translator and Wikipedia if needed ^^)?