Enriching My Degus Diet

*UPDATE* Enriching my Degus diet

Here you can find my original what I feed my degus with all the information about treats and fresh food. 

I have recently moved to the UK and my degus will soon run out of their food which I cannot find here in the UK. So I have to find a suitable new food for them and I have decided to try them with Pets at Home Degu Nuggets. I have not yet given them the nuggets but I plan to slowly introduce it before their old food runs out.

Here is the nutritional information:

Total sugars - 4.2 %

Protein - 16%

Fat - 3%

Fibre - 16%

Ash - 6.5%

And it includes suitable levels of:

Vitamin A

Vitamin D3

Vitamin C

Vitamin E

Copper 

And the Calcium : Phosphorous, ratio is suitable as well

The Protein is slightly high but this is fine as this is not the only thing I am going to feed them.

The Degu Nuggets are great for picky eaters because there is only a single kind of pellet. However I feel like this will limit variety in my degus diet so I am planning on feeding them these pellets in the morning and a dried herb mix in the evening.

For the dried herb mix I will be using JR Farm Garden Herbs and JR Farm Milk Thistle

The JR Garden Herbs include:

Green Oats, Parsley, Green Wheat, Nettle, Balm, Dandelion, Peppermint, Hay, Alfafa, Chamomile

The Nutritional Information

Protein 16.9%

Fat 2.6%

Fibre 21.2%

Ash 10.9%

Moisture 10.9%

The JR Farm Milk Thistle is just pure Milk Thistle 

The Nutritional Information

Protein 9.9%

Fat 2.3%

Fibre 21.4%

Ash 13.8%

Moisture 9.7%

I will be scatter feeding them a mix of these dried herbs in the evening when I let them out in their play pen as I believe this will allow them to mimic their natural foraging behaviours.

I will still be giving them fresh vegetables once or twice a week and I will feed these when they are in their play pen and if they don't manage to finish the vegetables I will move it into their cage along with them. 

To enrich their diet further I am planning to purchase some small animal grass and put this in a pot in their play pen so they can have fresh grass when they are out and about.

I feel like this change in diet will improve their health due to the natural foraging behaviours that will be encouraged but also the Degu Nuggets in the morning to avoid selective eating.

My Degus
I have 2 little girls called Shyva and Oreo. Shyva is the smaller one of the two and she is quite wary. She is more shy since she shed her tail but sweet all the same. Oreo on the other hand, she is bold and always wants to know what is going on. Oreo is actually quite a bully, often pulling shyva out of her way by grabbing the base of her tail in order to get most attention. When no one is around though, Oreo and Shyva become best buddies, snuggling up together on their top ledge.