Degu is a very interesting animal from the order of rodents, whose homeland is Chile. Keeping degus at home is immensely exciting and can bring many positive emotions to the owner. In order for the animal to be always healthy and mobile, it is necessary to feed it correctly.
In nature, the main food for degus is tree bark, seeds, leaves, and unsweetened fruits. At home, their diet should be as close to natural as possible. Feed should be as varied as possible. The basis of food should be hay, which can be collected and dried independently, or purchased at a pet store. Hay should be collected away from cities, roads and railways. Herbs such as dandelion, clover, and mint should be preferred. If there is no complete confidence in the harmlessness of the grass, it is better to throw it away, because it can be poisonous. The herb should be fed either completely dry or fresh. It should not be dried, spoiled, moldy, this can cause diarrhea. In addition, degus need to be fed with pelleted food made specifically for them. You can buy it at any major pet store. If no food is available for degus, a chinchilla counterpart will work, but will need to remove sweet fruits such as bananas.
Another type of food that degus enjoy eating is tree bark. Branches can be collected in the forest, away from the city. Branches of aspen, birch, hazel, mountain ash are best suited for this purpose. When collecting, it is necessary to pay attention so that they do not have lichen and rot. Before giving branches to degus, they should be doused with boiling water and then dried. Degu branches will not only be able to feast on, but also grind their teeth on them.
The basic rule of thumb when feeding degus is that in no case should they be given anything sweet. The fact is that these animals are prone to developing diabetes, which can be fatal. Therefore, they can be fed with sweets in extremely limited quantities.
Among other things, degus like to eat a variety of grains, such as oats, millet, wheat, etc. As a delicacy, they can be given sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, corn grains.
If you feed your pet correctly, it will always be healthy, mobile and will be able to please its owner, bringing him a lot of positive emotions.
