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19 Mar 2017

Feeding Your Degus A High Fibre Diet

Posted By : Guest

Filed Under : Nutrition | Pet Care | Degus | Bunny Nature | Newhay

Degus are not common household pets so there is a misconception that they are hard to look after, or they have special dietary needs. This could not be further from the truth, degus are very easy to care for and feed.

The only special consideration revolves around their susceptibility to health problems related to high sugar foods. Degus are very sensitive to sugar in the same way humans are with diabetes. Sugary foods should be avoided. But with some care on your part, it’s not hard to make sure they are receiving a healthy balance of nutrients from their food.

The degu diet in the wild consists of grasses, seeds and roots. It is nutrient poor so they spend a great deal of time foraging and eating. Degus need to keep their digestive systems busy with a mix of two kinds of fibre moving through their gut at all times (these types of fibre are called digestible fibre and indigestible fibre).

The majority of the degus diet should be high in indigestible fibre such as timothy hay and should exclude all sugary foods including dried fruits. The diet can be supplemented with a very small amount of Bunny Nature Degu pellets (only a tablespoon daily). Fresh vegetables should be fed sparingly because degus are susceptible to bloat and diarrhoea. Fresh water should be available at all times.

In captivity, degus do not have to spend as much time searching for food as they would in the wild so it is best to challenge them to look for their food or giving them food that they have to work at. A few pieces of chicory root wrapped in a ball of hay and stuffed into a strong cardboard tube or deep inside a rope of plaited hay will help replicate a more natural pattern of eating.

Make any diet changes gradually

If you realize you need to make some changes to the diet of a degu you need to implement it slowly. Degus are creatures of habit, and when faced with a dramatic change in anything they can become stressed. If you are introducing a new feed, slowly introduce it over the period of a week. Start by placing a few pieces in their old food mixes each day, increasing the amount of new food steadily while reducing the old food content until it is completely replaced.

If degus don’t get the right amounts of both digestible and indigestible fibre in their diet, it can rapidly lead to serious health problems. We call the correct ratio of these two types of fibre ‘Beneficial Fibre’. This is why you must never feed your degus a dry food mixture (muesli type food) because it is too rich in carbohydrates and they will eat a lot less hay reducing their fibre intake substantially.