Store Bought Food
Since degus are relatively new as a pet, it might not be possible to find food specially for degus in the pet store. Some choose to mix guinea pig and chinchilla food, but I don't find that a proper solution since they need different things in their diet compared to guinea pigs and chinchillas. Especially in the sugar/fat department.
I am aware that the local pet store where you live might/probably don't have food specifically for degus. It should be fairly easy to get it online thou, and I have seen several stores both in the USA and in Europe which sells degu food. You want to be aware of dried fruits, added sugars such as molasses and vegetables such as carrots which also contains a relatively high amount of sugar. Fatty ingredients such as sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds and nuts should also be avoided (or picked out and used for a treat once in a while). Besides that you should be careful about starch rich ingredients such as cereals. You should give about 10-15g of hard feed a day. This amount will make sure that they don't become overweight and that they eat enough hay. |
If you fill their bowl with unlimited delicious hard feed they will eat this instead of hay, and they risk not getting enough roughage in their diet.
I use Versele-Laga's "Degu Natural" mix. I have compared it to pretty much any other mix online, and I am pretty satisfied with it. It is clearly one of the best on the market (and most interesting for the degus). On the site degutopia.com there is a list over most mixes, with a rather detail comparison and explanation about wether or not it is a good mix. It might not be the most professional site, but she seems to have a fair bit of experience, and I can respect that. Depending on the food you buy, the composition of their diet will change. However, a rough description would be as follows: 50% Hard Feed 23% Hay 15% Greens (dried/fresh) 5% Vegetables 7% Treats (Each percent is about 0,2g depending on your degus appetite, weight, exercise etc...) |
Degu Natural decription
Sugars 4,7 %
Crude protein 14 % Crude fat 3,5 % Crude ash 6 % Crude fibre 15 % Calcium 0,80 % Phosphorus 0,55 % Methionine 0,23 % Lysine 0,62 % Vitamin A 12.000 IU/kg Vitamin D3 1.500 IU/kg Vitamin E 40 mg/kg Vitamin C 85 mg/kg Copper-cupric(II)sulfat 11 mg/kg |
Ingredients:
Derivatives of vegetable origin Vegetables Vegetable protein extracts Minerals Seeds Yeast Fructo-oligosaccharides Herbs Calendula extract Calendula Algae Yucca extract Mannan-oligosaccharides Grape seed extract Price: 19€/25,5$ for 2.5kg |
This is the second degu mix Versele-laga has made. The first one was terrible and not suitable for degus, but the more information we gather about the relatively new pet, the better and more suitable the food gets. It will probably get better yet as time goes.