Degu snacks: small, sugar-free and with a purpose

A degu that comes to eat from your hand is often the best moment of the day. Snacks help with that. They make taming easier, give your degus something to search for and bring variety to an otherwise fixed menu. Still, snacking calls for more care with degus than with many other rodents. Degus are prone to diabetes. So anything containing sugar is ruled out: fruit, dried fruit, carrot, honey, molasses and sweet biscuits don't belong in a degu enclosure.

That is why, for degus, we prefer snacks that are actually enrichment: hay, herbs, flowers and natural material to gnaw on and search through. We work with the products from Zooply, our own premium brand, every day ourselves for the animals in our shop and breeding facility. Zooply came about because the products that worked best for our own animals were not always available from other brands.

In short

• ✓ Only give degus sugar-free snacks: no fruit, dried fruit, carrot, honey or molasses.
• ✓ A snack is a small extra. Unlimited hay and sugar-free degu food remain the basis.
• ✓ Use snacks deliberately: for taming, as a reward and to hide for foraging.
• ✓ Always read the composition. Not every rodent snack is made with degus in mind.
• ✓ In a group, give in several places at the same time, so no fights break out.

What will you find in the Snacks for degus category?

This category contains snacks that we feed to various rodents. For degus, you make your own selection based on the composition. Below you can read which groups there are and how they suit a degu.

Zooply natural enrichment: Hare Field, Flower Field and more

The Zooply enrichment fields are small 85-gram bunches that you stand or lay in the enclosure. According to the product information, they consist of green oats to eat and shred, completed with pieces of millet spray and a dried eye-catcher. For Zooply Hare Field that is bunny tails grass, for Flower Field a daisy, for Heath Field sea lavender, for Meadow Field strawflowers, for Reed Field amaranth and for Dune Field statice. Degus pull the stalks apart, drag them to their hiding place and nibble off the seeds. That is exactly the kind of activity an active degu needs. Because they contain millet spray, give such a field as an extra and not a new one every day.

Zooply Walnuts

Zooply Walnuts come in a resealable 150-gram pack. Walnuts are rich in fat. For a degu, a small piece of walnut is therefore enough, and not every day. As a reward from your hand when taming, though, such a piece works very well.

Zooply Grasshoppers and Silkworms

Zooply Grasshoppers (50 grams) and Zooply Silkworms are dried insects in a resealable ziplock pack, without additives. They are mainly intended for rodents that naturally also eat animal food, such as hamsters, rats, gerbils and mice. A degu mainly eats plant-based food. According to the product information, Zooply Degu Food already contains mealworms, so separate insects aren't necessary. If you do want to offer them now and then, keep it to a single piece very occasionally and see whether your degu is interested at all.

Hay snacks: hay blocks, hay rolls and hay bales

From JR Farm, Trixie and Esve you will find snacks that consist largely of hay, such as hay blocks with flowers, a hay bale with blossom mix and Timothy hay rolls with, for example, cornflower or marigold. For degus, these are often the safest ready-made snacks: lots of fibre, long chewing and little risk, as long as no fruit or carrot has been added. Check the composition per product, because the topping can differ per flavour within a range.

Gnawing snacks, tunnels and edible houses

Towers, tunnels and houses made of hay or wood are snack and toy at the same time. A degu can crawl into them, gnaw on them and pull pieces out. Here too, pay attention to what is in or on them. A tunnel or house with carrot, fruit or a sweet coating doesn't suit a degu; a version with only hay, herbs or wood does.

Biscuits, drops and pressed snacks

The category also contains pressed snacks, such as crackers, gnawing sticks, gnawing rolls and grain-free snacks. Grain-free doesn't automatically mean sugar-free. Many of these snacks contain fruit, carrot, honey or another sweet flavouring. If in doubt, choose a snack from the groups above or dried herbs.

Why sugar is such a problem for degus

Degus originally come from a dry, barren region where food consists mainly of grasses, herbs, leaves, bark and seeds. Their body isn't made for sugar-rich food. If they do get it regularly, they run a greater risk of diabetes. A degu with diabetes may, among other things, start drinking and weeing a lot, lose weight or develop cloudy eyes.

Sugar isn't only found in sweet-like snacks. Dried fruit, carrot, beetroot, carob and corn cobs also naturally contain a lot of sugars. That is why, with degus, you don't just look for the word sugar on the label, but at all the ingredients. With Zooply products, the properties block on the product page helps: it states for each product whether it is sugar-free.

Using snacks to tame your degus

Degus are clever and quickly learn that your hand means something good. At first, sit calmly by the enclosure and hold a small piece of snack between your fingers. Let your degus come by themselves. Don't grab them or reach for them; they see that as danger from above. If you do pick them up later, lift them with your hand under the body. Never pick up a degu by its tail: the skin of the tail can come off.

A few minutes a day at a fixed time is enough; degus are active during the day. For these moments, preferably use something small, such as a piece of walnut or a few little flowers. You can also use part of the regular degu food; then you aren't giving anything extra and still build trust.

Snacks as enrichment: let your degus forage

A degu is on the go all day. It runs, climbs, digs and hauls things around. A snack in the food bowl is gone in a few seconds. A hidden snack provides a quarter of an hour of activity. For example, put a Zooply enrichment field on a level, stuff some hay with a few little flowers into a cardboard tube or scatter a few herbs through the bedding. That way your degus don't eat more, but they do stay active for longer.

If you have a group, put snacks in several places at the same time or give each degu its own piece from your hand. That way one degu can't claim everything and things stay calm.

How many snacks do you give per day?

As a rule of thumb: a snack must never come at the expense of hay and degu food. If your degu eats less hay, waits by the food bowl for something tasty or gets heavier, you are giving too much. Hay snacks, flowers and leaves can be given a little more generously. Give nuts, seeds and grains in very small pieces and not every day.

Weigh your degus now and then on a kitchen scale. That way you will notice in time if one of them is gaining or losing weight. Always introduce a new snack calmly, a little at a time, so the digestion can get used to it.

Handy combinations

Snacks work best in an enclosure where the basics are right. These categories go with them:

• Hay: unlimited Zooply hay is the daily basis and an excellent foraging food in itself.
• Degu food: a sugar-free, fixed portion alongside the hay. Hiding part of it is also a reward.
• Dried herbs: Zooply leaves and flowers are often a better choice for degus than a ready-made snack.
• Gnawing wood: Zooply Apple Branches and other untreated wood provide gnawing work without extra calories.
• Toys: to hide snacks and herbs in, so your degus have to search.

Frequently asked questions about snacks for degus

Can a degu have fruit or carrot as a snack?

No. Fruit, dried fruit and carrot naturally contain a lot of sugar, and degus are prone to diabetes. We also advise against a small piece now and then, because your degus quickly get used to it and start asking for it more often. Choose leaves, flowers or a piece of nut instead. Degus are just as happy with those and they suit their natural diet.

How do I recognise a suitable snack for degus?

Look at the composition. A suitable snack consists mainly of hay, herbs, leaves, flowers or untreated wood, and contains no fruit, carrot, honey, molasses or sugar. For Zooply products, the properties state whether a product is sugar-free. For snacks from other brands, read the ingredients list on the product page or packaging. If in doubt, it is better not to give the product to degus.

How often can I give my degus something tasty?

Hay and herb snacks can be given daily in small amounts, as enrichment. Give more nutritious snacks such as nuts and seeds a few times a week in very small pieces. If your degus keep eating plenty of hay and their weight stays stable, you are doing fine. If you notice them gaining weight or eating less hay, reduce the snacks first.

Are insects suitable for degus?

Degus mainly eat plant-based food. According to the product information, Zooply Degu Food already contains mealworms, so separate insects aren't necessary. Dried insects such as Zooply Grasshoppers and Silkworms are mainly intended for hamsters, rats, gerbils and mice. If you want to try them with your degus, give at most a single piece very occasionally.

My degus only want snacks now. What now?

Stop all extras except hay and herbs for a few weeks. Give the degu food in a fixed portion and don't top up until the bowl is empty. Make sure there is always fresh, fragrant hay. After a while, most degus go back to eating hay normally. After that, you can reintroduce snacks very sparingly, mainly as a reward from your hand and as foraging food.

When should I go to the vet?

Go to a vet with knowledge of rodents if your degu suddenly drinks and wees much more, loses weight, develops cloudy eyes, eats less, is sluggish or has diarrhoea. Snacks and herbs support care, but never replace a vet. The sooner you have a problem looked at, the more can often still be done about it.

Degu snacks at Knaagplaza

At Knaagplaza, when it comes to degus, we don't think in terms of more snacks, but better snacks: sugar-free, natural and with a purpose. Zooply is our own premium brand and we use it every day for the animals in our shop and breeding facility. Combine the Zooply enrichment fields and herbs with unlimited hay and a good degu food, and you have everything at home for active, healthy and tame degus.