Q: Degu Food

Answered by raffles on 2/26/03, 1:45 am

A: Degu Food

> Do you know of any chinchilla and guinea pig food I can get
> in the U.S. that does not contain molasses? Molasses is
> high in sugar and I understand that sugar is bad for degus.
>


The following in fo is from http://home-1.worldonline.nl/~hleli/index2.html
The site also has more info and a lovely page where people post about their Degu's.

DO NOT feed your Degu any sugar-holding food, like fruit or raisins. Degus can't metabolize sugar. Also don't feed your Degus the skin or the green parts of pototoes because they are *very* toxic for Degus (and for humans). Be sure not to give to much carbohydrate-holding food (i.e. starchy foods like corn), because Degus can't handle this kind of food. In the area where Degus live in the wild aren't much carbohydrate food sources, so Degus aren't used to carbohydrates. If you are the sort of person who cannot resist giving titbits to your pets, then Degus are not for you.

Degus won't eat all their given food: they eat until they are satisfied. Also if you give a treat (like a peanut) Degus may bury this food. I think it is the same behavior that squirrel display: to bury food for bad times, like winter.
Wild degus mainly live on bulbs, tubers and bark. It is pretty difficult to replicate this narrow and specialised diet in captivity, but let's give it a try.

Feed your Degus a 50-50 mixture of chinchilla pellets and guinea pig pellets, sweet potatoes, carrots, dandelion greens, timothy hay and always a large supply of fresh green alfalfa. Give your Degus sometimes (once in three-four days) a few sunflower seeds or a half peanut, a few kernels of dried corn and sometimes some green beans.

The 50-50 mixture of chinchilla pellets and guinea pig pellets are for the day-to-day nutrients a Degu needs. Degus need the yellow vegetables (sweet potatoes and carrots) for the health of their teeth, for vitamin C, and to provide a fresh component to their diet. The timothy hay and the fresh alfalfa grass is given because Degus need high protein and some special nutrients. Degus like the sunflower seeds or the half peanut as a treat, and there are some ingredients in the seeds and peanut that are good for Degus.

A Degu can survive in the wild without any water, but be sure to give your Degus some fresh hyperchlorinated water every day, because the Degus can't get enough water out of the given food. You must hyperchlorinate the water because Degus are prone to mouth diseases. You can make chlorinated water by dropping one or two drops of household bleach in a quart (a concentration of approximate 1:125000)

also

Degu Delicacies
A good base diet for degus consists of chinchilla pellets with hamster or gerbil food added for some variety. Rodent blocks can be added as a treat; they're good for degu teeth. Timothy hay, along with fresh green alfalfa, is a must for any degu diet. Once or twice a week, your degu may enjoy a small handful of unsalted peanuts or sunflower seeds. Don't offer too many, though, because this could result in a unhealthy, overweight pet that will begin refusing the healthier degu foods.

Offer your degu fresh water every day, bottled mineral water kept at room temperature is preferred. If you have more than one degu, use as many water bottles as necessary to accommodate the number of animals in each enclosure.

Author(s): Lisa and Jeremiah Heebink
at
http://www.animalnetwork.com/critters/profiles/degus/food.asp

and

Diet
It is important to be careful of what you give your degu's. A degu will eat just about anything it is given. Unlike North American rodents and guinea pigs degus lack the ability to properly digest sugar. This is not the result of a failed organ but instead an evolutionary thing. In the part of Chile that degus are located there really isn't very much in the way of fruit, very much like in the prairie's. As a result of this, degus have evolved a body that cannot digest sugar simply because it is not the kind of thing that they can get in the wild. Never Give your degu's anything with sugar! When a degu eats anything with sugar in it and this includes natural sources such as fruit they suffer the same effects as diabetic people do without insulin. Logically you cannot give them insulin so obviously it is best to simply avoid the sugar. The kind of food that is okay to give a degu is food that is meant for the kind of animal that they are. They do like small animal food but the corn and sunflower seeds in it are not good for them.

Sunflower seeds have to much oil and fat. Corn has too much oil. Carrots are O.K. - in a small quantity like a one inch cube per day per degu. Carrots also have a lot of sugar. That is why the yellow vegetable of choice should be Sweet potato (yam is similar but lower in vitamins). In laboratories, degus are fed rat chow (also called lab blocks or rat blocks) and they do well, but you can be sure that they are not all that happy eating it. You could also be well fed if you drank only a liquid called 'ensure' but you wouldn't be happy eating that all the time. Degus should have a yellow vegetable (sweet potato), a green vegetable (dandelion is loved by them but beware of pesticides), but any very green leaf vegetable, preferably not from the cabbage family is O.K. Dont cook the sweet potatoes , give them to them raw. Also make sure to remove the skins and roots, as I have read that these are toxic to degus.

Here is a list of vegtables in the cabbage family as provided by Amanda Rose

Beet greens Horseradish
Bok Choy Kale
Broccoli Kohlrabi
Brussels Mustard Greens
Sprouts Radishes
Cabbage Rutabaga
Cauliflower Swiss Chard
Chinese Cabbage Turnips
Collard Greens Turnip Greens
Garden Cress

Also give them some Guinea pig pellets - not a mix of seeds and stuff, just the pellets. Then some form of hay - timothy hay, alfalfa - oat hay - but some form of hay. Alfalfa blocks are better than no hay.

DON'T give your Degus treats of large amounts of fruit or peanuts. Degus cannot metabolize simple sugar such as is found in fruit, and they will develop diabetes and cataracts if fed sugary fruits and vegetables. They love raw peanuts, but the fat collects in their livers, and is harmful - particularly to pregnant females. A few sunflower seeds are beneficial to your Degu, but not more than 6 per day. Guinea pig pellets are rich in vitamin C and will keep your degu's teeth and gums healthy. Food dishes should be cleaned weekly, with hot water. Their water bottle should be rinsed and refilled every day.


http://exoticpets.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://www.geocities.com/~octodont/degus.html

This link is to a ring hub where you will find more degu links.
http://n.webring.com/hub?ring=degu&id=2&hub