List of Degu-Approved Foods

[Vanny]

This is a question especially for Pheobe67, since I know she is so degu-savy.

I have started volunteering at a local animal shelter and I am concentrating on the degus and guinea pigs. For the degus, I have been asked to put together a list of foods which are okay for them, and those which are not. Here's my list so far:

Basic Diet:
50-50 mix of chinchilla and guinea pig food.

Additions:
Absolutely plain sunflower or pumpkin seeds
Small pieces of carrot
Apple or willow branches to chew on
Timothy hay or cubes

No Good:
Sweet vegetables
Any fruit (too much sugar)

Can anyone add to this list? Anything you can add will help these degus in need.

[Phoebe67]

Hi Vanny, this is the feeding instruction that I gave to the adopter of a few of my degus. Unfortunately, the list is all screwed up but I hope it helps anyway.
It is awesome that you help those little critters at the shelter. It is important to inform potential adopters about their needs, diet, housing and most important about having at least two same sex degus since they are so social and thrive with a companion. I recently talked to a pet shop employee who had no clue what sex the degus were that they were selling but also told me that they are hard to sell and people often want to return them because they are difficult to keep. I have to see those little guys showing up at shelters without having a future.

FEEDING
Degu are like Guinea Pigs and Chinchillas, they are specific in the type of food that they are allowed to eat. They need a regular intake of Vitamin C. Your Degu will thrive if fed on a diet of Guinea Pig or Chinchilla course mix (as long as there is no fresh dried fruit in the mix, if there is it is advisable to remove it). As well as a dried mix, Degu like to graze on good quality hay: This is longer in length than some pet shops will sell. So you need to look around for this, another sign of good quality hay is that most of it will have flower heads still attached. Degu will also like access to Alfalfa, which is another type of hay. It is important that Degu are kept to a bland diet and offered no treats, as their metabolism cannot cope with the sugar. It is easy to turn a Degu diabetic, and they are extremely difficult to pull round from this condition. Although very bland and boring it is extremely advisable to stick to this feeding regime.(http://www.blackness2000.fsnet.co.uk/degu.htm)

I personally use Gerty Premium Guinea Pig Food (sugar only in the yellow banana biscuits that can be picked out,no fruit, molasses) which I get at Petsmart and Chinchilla pellets from http://www.oxbowhay.com/ where I order the Timothy hay as well. I like to add herbs and dried flowers to the mix because of the calories :-) www.brisky.com also offers pellets for degus which are pretty good and the goos love them.

It is essential that they always have enough hay which should be the most important part of their diet.

Here is a list of foods that should be safe for them. There might be more but thatis what I found so far. Apparently they don´t die from sweet potato skin and they can also have small amounts of carrots. Feed everything but the branches sparingly and in small amounts. It is said that their digestive system gets used to the greens, so give them on a regular basis otherwise they can get constipation or diarrhea.


Herbs:
Veggies:
Other:

Branches and leaves from: birch, hazelnut, willow apple



Basil Lettuce
Strawberry leaves


Dill
Endive
Whole grains


chamomille
Fennel
Grass (natural diet)


Cress
Cucumber
Cat grass


Lovage
Carrots + greens
Hops

Peppermint
Parsnip
Dandelion leaves + flowers

Lemon balm
Ruccola
Spray millet

Oregano
Beets
Calendula

Parsley (slightly diuretic)
(cocktail) tomatoes
Rose petals

Sage
Sweet potatoes Sunflower seeds

Chives
Chicoree Yarrow

Thyme
Pea flakes or dried green peas