[tinamarsh]

My degu keeps rolling over is this normal for him to do it??
he has a dust bath regular aswel and i cant think of what it could be please help

 

[Sasami]

Maybe he's just rolling on dust that's spilled in the cage?

 

[tinamarsh]

maybe, but then i have cleaned the cage and he does it on the hay and the wood. I have read somewhere that it could be an aggression thing could this be right ??

 

[Sasami]

Aggression? I have never heard of that, it just sounds like he enjoys bathing. Or maybe he's itchy? What kind of shavings are you using? Pine and cedar shavings shouldn't be used and I also had one degu who was allergic to aspen (I switched her to paper-based bedding).

 

[Charlotron]

Sometimes my degus roll about on hay to flatten it before re-arranging it as bedding... maybe they could be doing something similar?

 

[tinamarsh]

Thank you so much for your help i appreciate it

Although i have a slight problem with another degu, i have notice that he has been losing fur on his front feet, he is active and in good health they have plenty of toys to play with in their cage so they dont get bored. im really worried about him please could you help ?? xx

 

[Sasami]

Are his paws irritated at all? Are there any red bumps? If not, I wouldn't worry too much--it might be over-grooming. What kind of wheel do you have? Sometimes degus loose fur on mesh wheels.

 

[kokuhaku14]

Aspen bedding? It isn't harmful to degus?

 

[tinamarsh]

Hi, no his paws arent irritated and no red bumps either, they have a plastic wheel so they can run in.
I had to use hay as there bedding because the pet shop i went to wasnt sure what bedding was suitable and wouldnt irritate them, so she told me to go back when her boss was there.
My degus all send their love and say hello, from ninja, scrappy and dereck x

 

[Sasami]

Aspen bedding? It isn't harmful to degus?

Aspen bedding is safe for degus although I once had a degu who was allergic to it.

 

[tinamarsh]

ok thank you so much for your help, me n my degus really apprecaite it xx

 

[tinamarsh]

hi,
i have just a quick question, i was given some chinchilla food, is it safe to give to my 3 degus?
lots of love
derek x
ninja x
scrappy x

 

[Bandit997]

I would read the ingredients and look for things that are really high in sugars and salt, like I see molasses a lot in foods and I wouldn't feed them any of that..

 

[Kristen25]

I actually feed my Degu's a 50/50 mixture of basic Chincilla food and Timothy Hay Guinea Pig food. As well as Timothy hay and Alfafa Hay and they do great with this I've been using Kaytee brand for years now and they get along just fine

Kristen
Loki
Lexi
Laci
Lani
Lori
and 5 baby degu pups

 

[tinamarsh]

Hi, its a brand named Beaphar, XtraVital chinchilla food.
On the back of the bag it says : low in fat and a high roughage contents. It contains nutritious ingredients such as alfalfa, carrots and pea flakes, and is enriched with raisin to satisfy energy requirements.
Would you recommend me using it ? xx

 

[Bandit997]

As long as theres nothing else on there thats really sugary or salty that dosnt sound to bad.. my guys love hay hah, they all three had never had it before and they all go wild for it

 

[Sasami]

Hi, its a brand named Beaphar, XtraVital chinchilla food.
On the back of the bag it says : low in fat and a high roughage contents. It contains nutritious ingredients such as alfalfa, carrots and pea flakes, and is enriched with raisin to satisfy energy requirements.
Would you recommend me using it ? xx

Could you post the full ingredient list? That'll help a lot as I'm unfamiliar with the brand .

Are the raisins just mixed in? You'll want to remove them, degus shouldn't eat such sugary foods.

 

[tinamarsh]

Hiya.
The raisons are just mixed in so i took them out and i took the carrot pieces out aswel as i wasnt sure if they would be ok with that either as i know they cant have many veg.
Stephanie, i looked on the packet and all it says on there is what i wrote earlier hun, iv still been given them plenty of hay aswel and i mixed a herbal mix in for them that is suitable for degus as they love it. Thank you so much for all your advice i must seem like im going on a bit lol but this are my first degus and i just want to make sure that they stay healthy and happy.
love ninja xx
derek xx
scrappy xx

 

[Kristen25]

Alfalfa is good for them, but carrots and raisin's to contain a bit of sugar so I would make sure that it's not too much sugar in those fruit/vegtables. Maybe if the raisin's are just whole thrown in you could pick them out? But a great website to see if you're food is good for degu's that I have went by is degutopia
They have a section in there about what Fat, Protein % makes for a good food as well as other sections about other info about degu's that has been very helpful for me. Alot of the other websites don't give as much acurate info as this place does. Sorry can't post the actual website address as I've not posted enough on here yet, but just search degu and a sight called Degutopia will come up and I think it works wonders! Samari actually referered me there and it's great info

 

[Sasami]

Hiya.
The raisons are just mixed in so i took them out and i took the carrot pieces out aswel as i wasnt sure if they would be ok with that either as i know they cant have many veg.
Stephanie, i looked on the packet and all it says on there is what i wrote earlier hun, iv still been given them plenty of hay aswel and i mixed a herbal mix in for them that is suitable for degus as they love it. Thank you so much for all your advice i must seem like im going on a bit lol but this are my first degus and i just want to make sure that they stay healthy and happy.
love ninja xx
derek xx
scrappy xx

You can use the carrot pieces as treats but yeah, removing them was a good idea . Degus can eat vegetables but you have to limit sugar and calcium-rich ones (carrots, spinach, kale, etc.).

Since the food has alfalfa, make sure to feed timothy hay as opposed to alfalfa. I'm not a fan of alfalfa-based diets for degus but as long as you limit it you should be fine.