degu feeding

[ashlie]

so how often do you treat and feed your degus veggies, right now I do it every 2 days, but I am thinking that they might need veggies more. But could yall tell me how often you feed your degus.And What?

[tinksgliders]

I don't have degus any more, but I used to. And I fed them treats VERY rarely... And I would give them the occassional carrot and maybe once a month I'd give grape. Broccolli (spelling?) is good, too.

[angelic]

I've never owned degus, but the only thing i'll say is that fresh veg, when given too often to other types of rodents, causes stomach upsets. I would say once a week, and only in small amounts then. Perhaps degus are different, but I doubt it.

Angelic

[Die Fledermaus]

I once gave a hamster way too much lettuce; she got diarrhea and dehydrated, but recovered.

Leave a little fresh veggies out every three days. If they haven't eaten it within 12 hours remove it. My hams and gerbs go right after parsley, brocolli, cabbage, and a bit of carrot. All of it combined would equal about a couple of table sp00ns.

[caterpillar]

Correct me if I am wrong - but I thought Degus were to be treated as diabetics and had to have hay and veg every day?

Don't they need high concentrations of Vitamin C?

Cary

[Die Fledermaus]

I was reading the feeding instructions on Degus.org, and they are complex. I suggest people check them out. But I can't find any reference to "high concentrations of vitamin c". Check it out. It does refer to vitamin c drops in their water bottle which should be dark-colored, something gerbs and hams don't need (although I wonder if they would be healthier with it!).

[annvole]

Degus are closely related to chins and guinea pigs but not that close. Guinea pigs and humans are two of the few animals that do not make enough vitamin C automaticaly so we need to have vitamin Cin our diets. Degus and Guinea Pigs are naturaly slightly diabetic and so cannot control blood sugar spikes so they should not get too much sweet things at once. The pet degus we have in North America were from the lab animal degus used in diabeties research. I think they can produce their own vitamin C but because they share the diabeties with GPs, I would treat them like guinea pigs anyways (guinea pig pellets, timothy hay, no sweet stuff, and some veggies daily). As with any animal (even humans) a change in diet can cause stomich upset or diarrhea so do not give a whole bunch of anything new at once.

[Die Fledermaus]

I know about no sudden changes in diet, especially regarding bunnies, but are oranges OK for GP's? They do have a lot of natural sugars.