New Degus

[GerbilCrazy]

Ok well I just got my first degus. Born on february 20th from a litter of 6. They are in a large cage and love to climb up and down the sides wether inside or outside the cage. Both are good about climbing onto my hand. anyone have any ideas for treats? I want to train them to respond to their names (daisy and maisy). Just would like some more information on degus in general can they be given sunflower seeds if given very sparingly? right now they are on a diet of pellets (dont remember what brand the breeder had them on but I know it was from a pet store that is no where around here and some horse grade hay cubes. They are in the process of being litter box trained. and favorite activity is climbing upside down on the roof of their house and making loud squeaking noises that makes my dog get up and bark at them to shh

[Amethystbelle]

Follow link in my signature and there is a treat list Sunflower seeds are fine as an occasional treat

[Sasami]

Yup, sunflower seeds are fine . I've found my degus go especially crazy for peanuts and carrot slices as far as other treats go.

Make sure whatever pellet feed you give them has no sugar of any kind. That includes "evaporated cane juice", "molasses", "dried beet pulp", and variants of those names.

Congrats, by the way!

[GerbilCrazy]

I gave them both a sunflower seed and they ate the whole thing, shell and all, is that ok for them?

[strep486]

Eating the whole sunflower seed wont hurt them, mine love sunflower seeds and locust beans as well. If you are looking for more treats Zoo plus do a really good range of dried grass etc which mine love. They also do specialised degu food, which is correctly balanced for degus and a little more exciting then pellets. Three of my degus also love dried mealworms which i give them as an occasional treat

[Amethystbelle]

I wouldn't give them mealworms as too high in protein for degus as degus are herbivores.

[CrWoodyspets]

Good for you!! Congrats!!