Degu diet: what to feed every day

What is the best food for degus?

Hay. It isn't the exciting answer, but it is the right one. The RSPCA says hay should make up most of a degu's diet and matters more than any bag of nuggets. Woodgreen breaks the ideal down as about 80% hay, 5% nuggets and 15% natural forage such as dried herbs, leaves and safe twigs. Burgess suggests a pile of hay at least as big as the degu every day, and in practice that means a rack that never runs empty.

Degus are strict plant-eaters from the dry hills of Chile. Wild degus live on grasses, leaves, bark, roots and seeds, and Degutopia says up to 60% of what they eat is fibre. Their gut is built for tough, low-sugar food. They are also prone to type 2 diabetes, which is why every good source puts sugar at the top of the "no" list. Our page on degus and sugar explains why it hits them so hard.

Degu diet at a glance: how much of each food

Sources differ on fresh greens. Burgess suggests a small handful daily, while PDSA and Degutopia say once or twice a week. We'd follow PDSA and Degutopia, because too much fresh veg can cause bloating and loose droppings in degus, then build up slowly if droppings stay firm. Seeds are another split: Degutopia allows one or two several times a week, while Burgess says to avoid sunflower seeds and peanuts. If your degu is heavy or getting older, take the Burgess line and skip them.

How to choose degu hay

Pick a grass hay such as timothy, meadow or orchard grass. Degutopia says good hay is pale brown-green, not bright green, with a fresh, sweet smell. Throw away any hay that smells musty or shows pink or white damp growth. Alfalfa (lucerne) is a legume hay that is high in protein and calcium, so keep it to a small handful mixed in for flavour, or for young degus as PetMD suggests, never as the main hay.

Selective degu food and other nuggets: what to look for on the label

Choose a plain extruded nugget, where every piece is the same, not a muesli-style mix. In a mix, degus pick out the sweet, fatty bits and leave the rest, which is exactly the habit you're trying to avoid. The RSPCA says plain guinea pig or chinchilla nuggets are fine if you can't find degu ones, provided they have no molasses. Rabbit, hamster and gerbil foods are not suitable, and nor are chinchilla mixes with dried fruit.

Degutopia gives a simple label guide, which we follow:

Read the ingredients too. Degutopia warns off molasses, honey, syrup, glucose and fructose. Supreme's Science Selective range is sold on "no added sugars" and high fibre, and its chinchilla food lists 19% fibre, 16% protein and 3% fat, so it sits in the good band for fibre and fat and just over the line for protein. Burgess recommends its Excel Chinchilla Nuggets with Mint for degus at about one egg cup per degu a day. Whatever you buy, change brands over a week, mixing more of the new food in each day, because Degutopia notes degus cope badly with sudden diet changes.

How much should you feed a degu?

About 10 g (a little over 1/3 oz) of nuggets per adult degu a day, plus as much hay as it wants. That figure comes from both PDSA and Degutopia. Degutopia adds that a 25 ml shot glass holds roughly 10 g of most nuggets, which is a handy measure. You can give it once a day or as two 5 g portions, ideally in the morning or early evening when degus are most active.

Don't leave a bowl topped up all day. Degutopia says nuggets shouldn't be fed freely, because degus will fill up on them and eat less hay, which leads to weight gain and worse teeth. Measuring the nuggets is the single easiest way to keep a degu slim.

Vegetables, herbs and forage

Fresh food is a small extra, not a meal. Degutopia suggests a few thumbnail-sized pieces per degu once or twice a week, and to rotate the types. Good everyday choices include dandelion leaves, broccoli, green beans, celery, red or green pepper (bell pepper), cauliflower leaves and herbs such as basil, mint, parsley, oregano and coriander (cilantro). The RSPCA lists carrot, sweet potato, beetroot and parsnip as high in sugar, so give those only as tiny pieces now and then. Lettuce, cabbage and peas can cause bloating if overdone. The full list, with amounts, is on what can degus eat.

Dried forage is the part most owners miss. Dried dandelion, marigold, rose petals, hazel leaves and parsley are low in sugar and make good daily treats. Woodgreen also suggests apple, pear and willow twigs, which give degus something to gnaw as well as eat.

Water

Use a bottle with a metal spout, keep it full and change the water every day. The RSPCA asks you to check the bottle for leaks and blockages daily and clean the spout properly. Plain tap water that is safe for people is fine, says Degutopia, and a healthy adult pair drinks roughly 1 litre (34 fl oz) a month, more in warm weather. A degu suddenly drinking much more than usual can be a sign of diabetes, so it's worth knowing your normal. See our degu health guide for what to watch.

What not to feed degus

• Fruit as a regular food, including dried fruit and raisins
• Anything with molasses, honey, syrup, glucose or fructose on the label
• Sugary shop treats, yoghurt drops and seed sticks
• Rabbit, hamster and gerbil food (wrong protein, wrong additives)
• Human breakfast cereals, biscuits and leftovers
• Anything with caffeine, chocolate or artificial colours
• Apple pips (seeds), which contain cyanide compounds
• Meat, egg or dairy: degus are herbivores

A sample degu feeding day

1. Morning hay. Shake out yesterday's trampled hay and refill the rack and a pile on the floor. Check the water bottle runs freely.
2. Measured nuggets. Weigh or scoop about 10 g per degu and scatter it in the bedding or stuff it into a hay-filled tube.
3. Forage pinch. Add a small pinch of dried herbs or flowers, or a safe twig, for chewing through the day.
4. Fresh veg, twice a week. On fresh-food days, give a few thumbnail-sized pieces each, in separate piles so you can see who eats what.
5. Evening check. Look for hoarded fresh food in nest boxes and remove it before it goes off, as the RSPCA advises.

Degus eat some of their own soft droppings, called caecotrophs, straight from the bottom. Burgess and the RSPCA both say this is normal and gives them nutrients from the fibre, so don't try to stop it. For the full routine around feeding, cleaning and exercise, see our complete degu care guide, and for treats that are safe to hand-feed, see can degus eat pumpkin seeds and can degus eat carrots.