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Post by degualot on Nov 25, 2011 9:26:04 GMT
has anybody else who uses Beaphar XtraVital Degu Food noticed it has changed again with a new recipe. They seem to have cut down on soya pellets a lot and introduced little dark green tube like pellets. I think the reduction of Soya is a good thing because none of my Degus eat them.
Anyone else noticed this?
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Post by Kins on Nov 25, 2011 9:54:54 GMT
I haven't bought any for a while, but when I was feeding my lot always left the little brown pellets. Definitely seems like a step in the right direction to have changed the content.
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Post by moletteuk on Nov 25, 2011 20:22:21 GMT
What's the protein percentage on your bag?
I got some recently that was 20% protein, which it isn't supposed to be now, but my bags have long date on them, so don't seem to be old stock :-?
I can't see any dark green tubes in my bag. My last couple of bags have had less variety of bits in them than they used to, seems to be mostly made up of the pale tubes, which my goos are indifferent about.
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Post by malteser60 on Nov 25, 2011 20:44:09 GMT
Some of the older xtravital has the higher protein percentage. They've stopped making that particular mix however i'm sure there's quite a few still in circulation. If you're feeding the xtravital only then that is a very high protein percentage. However, if you are 'diluting' it with other feeds (say it's a 50% natural feed) then a protein percentage that high is ok i.e. you don't have to throw the bag away. Obviously never good as a long term feed percentage.
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Post by fred on Nov 25, 2011 21:10:27 GMT
@malteser. What's the assessment “very high protein percentage” based on? I have the sneaking suspicion it's Degutopia's diet and feeding information. Their “Degu Feed Traffic Light System” is preposterous nonsense!
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Post by malteser60 on Nov 25, 2011 23:25:04 GMT
Nope, not at all based on degutopia's info. Surely you know me better than that fred. You must agree, though that a degu's diet is not a protein-based diet. Think of how their gut system works. All I'm saying is if somebody is feeding their degus the 20% xtravital feed, plus the occasional nut, plus a millet spray/piece, throw in the oats, and the protein percentage ups itself. So personally if somebody is feeding their degus a hard feed along with all the extras I would advice a more lower percentage protein base feed, which then gets supplemented with all the other extras. Hence my wording of 'diluting' the feed. Or feed them the higher percentage protein feed but make sure to bulk it up a bit with other lower protein percentage food such as dandelions, plantein, etc.
At the end of the day degus are grazers.
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Post by davx on Nov 26, 2011 3:31:40 GMT
Hi, degus are as well browsers too . I think the problem of hard food is, that it ignores the fact that about 60 to 80 % of the degu diet is plant matter: leaves, herbs, grasses, flowers and not such energy rich food. On the other hand their food isn't really sparse and rich in (indigestible) fibre. In other words degus feed whether energy prone food nor poor indigestible fibre stuff. Their diet lay in the middle between this two extreme positions. Also I think high quality herbs and flowers are a key item in a good degu food. Thus it makes sense to supplement herbs etc. as it is the case in the 50% natural food project. In this sense I agree with malteser and the idea of "diluting" the feed.
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Post by moletteuk on Nov 26, 2011 17:32:30 GMT
yes, it's well diluted. The best before date is 05/13 so I still find it a bit odd that this is old stock, I've had the low protein stuff from the same source about a year ago, and they order it in specially for me.
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Post by davx on Nov 26, 2011 20:29:48 GMT
The food with the reduced soya content is an old package? I used the beaphar food once, because my sister was in Norway and bought it for me there... I thought it is an original Norwegian degu food... Perhaps it helps a bit, I documented the food several years ago, here: www.degupedia.de/wiki/index.php/Beaphar_Degu_Xtravitalcontent in german with translation: Weizen = wheat Hochwertige Soja = premium / high quality soya Faser-Extrudate = fibre extrudates Erbsen = peas Luzerne = alfalfa Johannisbrot = carob Mais = corn Möhrenflocken = carrot flakes Sojaöl = soya oil
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Post by fred on Nov 26, 2011 22:53:38 GMT
Of course I don't disagree with diluting the hard feed (after all I have diluted it to homoeopathic concentrations in my girls' diet ). Just wondering why a 20% protein content should be considered problematic per se. There are a few studies where a diet with 20% protein or more has been given without apparent ill effects. Degus are also know to show preference for protein-rich plants and seeds in their natural habitat. I would be more concerned if the higher protein content in this particular hard feed was accompanied by a substantially reduced fibre content. And there is always the potential problem with all hard feed mixes that if degus are selective, the ingested part may become quite unbalanced. Davx is right to point out that degus are also browsers. So much so that characterising them as grazers may give a somewhat misleading impression. For example, depending on habitat and season, seeds can make up the larger part of their diet.
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