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Post by Karma on Apr 3, 2012 19:03:57 GMT
My "shamrock" finally flowered and confirmed to me that it is in a fact pink wood sorrel (oxalis species) and is edible. YAY!!!
But .... the degus won't touch it!! Nor will they eat the sprouted millet/bird seed mix nor oat grass nor most vegetables. They will eat dried carrots alright, and fresh carrots sometimes. They will not touch dried/fresh zuchinni, celery, spring mix with herbs, strawberry tops or any small bits of fruits! (tried that to get them to go for anything).
They will eat my marigold petals but since they are not the edible marigolds those are a no go. Boo goos!! Eat the good stuff -grumble grumble-
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Post by davx on Apr 3, 2012 20:08:08 GMT
I only tested a weedy yellow flowering wood sorrel species (Oxalis stricta) and the degus liked it much. It might be possible that some other species taste bad for the degus or they have to become familiar with all the new plants and that needs time, perhaps up to 6 months or more. It also depends on the degus and what they are used to eat since their early days. Also degus do not eat everything, e. g. tops of fruits often is of poor nutritional value and the degus reject it. Young leaves, sprouts, tender pods, stems and so on is often more liked.
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Post by luluzellbell on Apr 17, 2012 20:37:42 GMT
I was wondering whether all types of grass are safe? It's just that we seem to have at least 4 types growing around our garden, and I wouldn't want to feed a bad one. There is some really thin grass, like hair almost, some REALLY long luscious green grass, some average grass, (it's on the main lawn and probably the most popular) and some tall grass which when you pick it your fingers almost stick when you run your fingers up it. I know I've been very vague, but maybe someone understands me? Thanks
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Post by davx on Apr 18, 2012 12:23:39 GMT
Grasses from normal meadows are safe. Moist meadows and swamp like meadows can contain at least problematic. In addition aquatic or semiaquatic plants are suspected transmitting water parasites. I don't know how likely this really is.
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Post by moletteuk on Dec 18, 2012 17:06:28 GMT
Davx, I see that dried mulberry leaves are safe, but did you come to any conclusion about the plant as a whole?
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Post by xxxshadsxxx on Dec 19, 2012 13:06:07 GMT
just a quick question, is radish safe for degus or not? i have some left over salad that isnt going to be eaten and i was going to give them it to see if they liked lettuce or tomato, but i wasnt sure if they could have radish so i thought id check to see if i should take it out, or if i could let them try it too thanks in advance
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Post by deguconvert on Dec 19, 2012 15:45:02 GMT
Radish the bulb, I think it should be removed. Not sure about the leaves of the radish though.
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Post by xxxshadsxxx on Dec 19, 2012 16:10:52 GMT
ok i wasn't sure so i just have them the lettuce and rocket, they really seemed to like the rocket, so i hope thats ok for them to have
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Post by lessthansign3 on Dec 19, 2012 17:58:05 GMT
Radish leaves are okay for rabbits and other critters, so I would assume the same would apply to degus. Generally the bulbs aren't recommended for small critters because they can cause stomach upset. They can even be hard on our stomachs, lol!
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Post by davx on Dec 23, 2012 12:50:34 GMT
Hello,
yes mulberry is safe. Btw. the berries are very good in taste... unfortunately they are rare here in Switzerland (I love this berries).
Radish leaves are suitable as well.
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Post by xxxshadsxxx on May 15, 2013 18:53:50 GMT
I was just out for a walk in the local country side, and went to a part I had never been to before and discovered quite a large beech grove. It says on the lists that beech is safe for degus, so I tried them on the leaves and they love it. I was just wondering what other parts of the tree they can have? Like is the wood and bark ok? Can they have the beechnuts? and the shells that the nuts grow in? I just wondered as the grove is pretty close and if they could have the nuts and cases too it would be a nice variation to add into their diet.
Also, I was wondering is it just silver birch that is safe for degus? or can they have other types of birch too?
Thanks Shads
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Post by moletteuk on May 15, 2013 19:30:09 GMT
All parts of beech are safe. The beech nuts are high in tannins, which degus deal with better than other small animals, but I gather they still don't taste too good, so they are unlikely to be very popular. If they enjoy the leaves, that is great, tree leaves make good fodder, and I'm sure they will enjoy pieces of wood too.
Did you have another type of birch in mind? Most UK native birch trees are silver birch, the smaller ones don't always look all that silvery, the branches can be dark red, there are loads of silver birch in your area.
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Post by xxxshadsxxx on May 15, 2013 19:39:05 GMT
There are quite a few silver birches around here, unfortunately a lot of them are in places where i cant get to the leaves / branches thought. I'm not entirely sure what type of birch this is, it was quite large though, and had no sign of silver on the bark, but I took a small branch off and brought it home to identify and its definitely a birch leaf. May be a Downy Birtch, but not certain.
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Post by xxxshadsxxx on May 15, 2013 21:01:22 GMT
here are some pictures of the leaves in question, just incase this helps thanks
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Post by moletteuk on May 16, 2013 13:34:27 GMT
So,I've just been looking up downy birch, and it seems that loads of the trees around here (near me and you, Shads) that I assumed were silver birch are probably downy birch! They look very similar, downy birch are smaller and tolerate wetter ground, the leaves are rounder and have single serrations on the edge of the leaves rather than a more jaggedy double tooth on the silver, and the downy birch shoots are smooth with fine hairs. I can't find written information about Downy birch in relation to degus, but it is very closely related to Silver birch to the point that they can hybridise, so I don't see any reason to think it wouldn't be safe. Also, my degus have had quite a lot of birch wood, which in retrospect was probably downy birch, with no problems. See these pages for more info: www.treesforlife.org.uk/tfl.birch.htmlwww.woodlands.co.uk/blog/tree-identification/birch/I'm totally with you in wondering how we are supposed to collect tree leaves for feeding - slight problem in that they are up a tree!!
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Post by ntg on May 16, 2013 13:38:32 GMT
I'm totally with you in wondering how we are supposed to collect tree leaves for feeding - slight problem in that they are up a tree!! Take someone tall with you, that or a stepladder
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Post by moletteuk on May 16, 2013 13:43:57 GMT
Thanks for the insightful tip!
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Post by ntg on May 16, 2013 13:49:28 GMT
You're welcome
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Post by xxxshadsxxx on May 19, 2013 19:17:19 GMT
just another quick question regarding safe trees, I was just wondering if copper / purple beech (Fagus Sylvatica F. Purpurea) is safe for degus? Didn't see anything about it on the lists, but as far as I can tell the only difference between it and a regular beech is the leaf colour. So just thought I'd double check and see if anyone knew anything. I'm not going to give them any just now, I'm just trying to compilate a picture guide (perhaps also dried leaves) of leaves that I'v picked to hep me remember what the degus can have and what they can't. So just wondering if I can add copper beech to my collection. thanks for any help shads
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Post by moletteuk on May 19, 2013 20:06:21 GMT
I can't find anything on it specifically, but I've fed copper leaved cherry (leaves and wood) and they like it the same as ordinary and I haven't seen any problems, so I would think it's OK.
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