Special Degu food available in the UK

[Sammy H]

I'm sure some of you may use this already, but there is a special degu food now available in the UK in some places. It may have been around for a while.

Its called Menu for Degus, manufactured by Vitakraft. I still mix it with chinchilla pellets and occasionally some guinea pig food.

It is sugar free with added vitamins with grains and vitamins " just like the degus natural diet in Chile" (so says the packet).

Mine won't eat anything else now. They turn their noses up!

Unfrotunately, I've only seen it in a few places and not really available on the internet. My local petstore (who stock other Vitakraft foods) order it in for me in batches of 8 boxes when i need it. RRP is £1.49 for 600g.

[Purplebunny]

Quote: Originally Posted by Sammy H I'm sure some of you may use this already, but there is a special degu food now available in the UK in some places. It may have been around for a while. Its called Menu for Degus, manufactured by Vitakraft. I still mix it with chinchilla pellets and occasionally some guinea pig food. It is sugar free with added vitamins with grains and vitamins " just like the degus natural diet in Chile" (so says the packet). Mine won't eat anything else now. They turn their noses up! Unfrotunately, I've only seen it in a few places and not really available on the internet. My local petstore (who stock other Vitakraft foods) order it in for me in batches of 8 boxes when i need it. RRP is £1.49 for 600g.

I will look that up thanks!
Did you know that Chinchilla pellets are high in fat, so should be given in moderation?
I give mine a mix of Guinea pig pellets and GP food, with the bad bits taken out..

[Amethystbelle]

I already buy that food and have been using it for about a year now but i only use it as a supplement to there other stuff, i mix it in with the guinea pig excel biscuits and guinea pig food and occasionally i sprinkle a few chinchilla pellets on the top (but i read about them being high in fat too so moderation with them too )! Only thing i have to say i know it says sugar free and all the vitamins and minerals essential in a degus diet but i did read somewhere on the web that its not as good for your degu as you would be led to believe so feed in moderation which i do now! I agree its hard to get hold off i only know 3 shops that sell it around me and they are all between 5 and 15 miles away so i buy a few boxes at a time too

[Sammy H]

Yeah, I've heard similar things which is why i'm still mixing with other foods. the problem is however, that i've heard bad things about most of the foods we feed degus with. I've heard that GP food has too much sugar and fat in which is why you are told to mix it with chin pellets. I've heard that the biscuit things are really fatty (especially the ones you get in Gertie GP food and reggie rat food). and Charlie chincilla food hads fruit and is too sugary!

I don't think you can win. Thats why i do the mixes of all of them. generally they don't eat the pellet stuff in Menu but the veggies and grains. i also give them alfafa hay, brocolli and carrot. they occasionally have treats (when i'm trying to get them back in the cage!!!).

I also read that "a commercially available degu food" was bad for degus, but i'm not sure if they meant the menu food or the food that is available in the US. Unfortunately i read this after i'd fed them on it, and tried to stop after reading it, but they won't eat regular food anymore!!

i think the probelms are most likely to occur when they get overfed, then they will only eat the bits they like (no doubt the less healthy options!).

Why do the little fellas have to be sooooo picky?

[Amethystbelle]

Glad its not just mine that are picky, my oldest degu Basil won't eat anything remotely fresh looking he will only eat dried food and treats such as nuts and raisons and dried carrot but my other degu Rupert will eat on the side from his dried food and treats small pieces of broccolli and carrot and the odd piece of tomato but thats about it, he used to eat a few other things but gone off them now as hes got older!

[Purplebunny]

Mine are fussy too! I get the guinea pig food and take out the bits they shouldn't have, like glucose pellets etc

[Brant]

I feed my Degus on Guinea pig pellets and they seem to like them.

What Chinchilla Pellets do you all use?

[Sammy H]

Whatever i can find in the shops generally. you can get cheap packet or buy in bulk (loose pellets). I will try guinea pig pellets with mine now and see what they prefer (probably the one thats bad for them!)

[Amethystbelle]

Mine prefer the guinea pig excel pellets to chinchilla pellets so i always feed those now to them although i do occasionally throw a few chinchilla pellets in but once bags used up i won't as probably throw more than they eat lol!

[Sasami]

My degus eat Hagen guinea pig pellets...they seem pretty good and have no sugar. All the other guinea pig pellets around here have mollasses...>.< Also they occasionally get Chinchilla mix, more as a treat (though I pick out the raisins). And I give them fresh vegatables too (usually brocolli, carrots, or romaine lettuce).

[Sassy]

When I had my degus I fed the a 50-50 mixture of Mazuri chinchilla pellets and mazuri guinea pig pellets along with free feeding timothy hay. My sister in law still has my degus on the same diet and they are doing great.

[Runt]

I do the same as Sassy only I mix it with tradition chinchilla feed and gunea pig food.Mine get along great with it and never had them to be pickywhen I feed them.