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Woodlands Sunshine Munch
by ladyofcampfires
When it comes to treating my four lovely Degus their choice is fairly limited. Degus have a sugar intolerance and as such can't be given the usual treats you buy for other small pets like hamsters, rats, mice etc. Luckily, Woodlands do a whole range of low/no sugar, Degu friendly, natural treats and we've just about tried them all now. ... This Sunshine Munch is by far their favourite though.
The treats come in a clear plastic wrapper with a green cardboard covering on the top which contains the Woodlands logo, name of treats and short description. On the back you'll find the ingredients list and feeding guide too.
The packaging states that 'this tasty Sunshine Munch is perfect for all small pets' although not suitable for small pets under one month old. The mix is made up of flaked corn, flaked green pea and carrot slices. It's easy to see why this is called Sunshine Munch as this is a lovely, brightly coloured mixture of yellow and orange food for your pets.
I have personally only ever seen Woodlands treats in Pets at Home stores where they're usually on a two for £5 offer or £2.99 each for a 220g bag.
My four Degus do absolutely love this. Unfortunately it does have a low natural sugar content meaning feeding to Degus and Chinchillas should be done sparingly. I personally sprinkle about half a hand full on top of their feed once a week and this has done no damage to them whatsoever. In all fairness I probably could give them more than I do but it's better to be safe! Inbetween I just stick to completely sugar-free treats.
My Degus will quickly scurry around their cage away from one another in order to protect their share of their Sunshine Munch when I've given it to them. In fact there have been a few minor scraps between the four Sisters over this treat before which can only mean they really do love it as this doesn't happen with anything else I've given them!
Whilst I do buy this for my Degus I do let Frank, my hamster, have some from time to time too. Whilst it's very easy to find treats for him the Woodlands range use natural ingredients only making it healthier for him than the usual things I pick up. He doesn't get quite as excited about it as my Degus do but he's still happy to munch at it and half a hand full on top of his feed gets eaten in about ten minutes which is pretty impressive for Frank given he has to be slowest eater in the world. I think he'd give a Sloth a run for their money.
All in all Sunshine Munch is a great treat for small animals. It's a little more expensive than the usual treats although if you're feeding to Degus and Chinchillas you don't really have a choice but to pay over the odds for this sort of thing. Despite the price though it's healthy, natural and my Degus and Hamster all seem to be a fan so I'm happy to feed it to them.
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Vitakraft Fruit Crossys
by loulou22
Vitakraft Guinea Pig Fruit Crossys Raspberry and Blackberry
My partner and I are now the proud owners of a lovely little guinea pig named Barney. We bought him back in December and he is now enjoying being quite possibly the most spoilt guinea pig in the world and enjoys spending numerous hours sitting on the sofa with me ... while I work during the day and during this 'us' time I like to have treats available to offer him and 9 times out of 10 he will munch them up rather quickly, especially if they are in the form of vegetables. I have had guinea pigs in the past and I remembered how they always loved to have a nice crunchy treat as well as the daily veggie mixture so when I was shopping I decided to pick up a pack of these Fruit Crossys.
Fruit Crossys are made by Vitakraft and I am led to believe there are many different flavours available and a range of varieties for other small animals including hamsters and rabbits. The variety I will be reviewing today is the Raspberry and Blackberry flavour.
The treats come packaged in a mainly green packet which features a couple of guinea pigs on the front as well as a picture of the treat and the fruits they contain. The packet I bought is 50g and has a resealable opening to keep them fresh.
On the back of the packet you will find the ingredients listed in a few different languages. The ingredients seem to be mainly a mixture of wheat's, cereals, vegetable proteins and the raspberry and blackberry fruits. The ingredients list seems pretty normal as far as I can tell and the only strange ingredient in my opinion is Stinging Nettle Powder! The back of the packet also advises you to feed these treats as a complimentary treat with no more than 3 - 4 of these treats being offered daily depending on the size of your pet.
The picture on the front of the packaging implies that the treats have a kind of liquid centre which I thought Barney might enjoy as a change from his usual vegetables and dried food. However the reality is that the treat is like a hard crunchy shell with what looks to me like a very thin layer of a slightly sticky, but not quite in liquid form, reddish coloured fruit. I was curious so I split one open to see and this was actually quite hard as the treats seem to be made to give your little guinea pig a bit of a challenge and something to gnaw on. The treats are approximately 1cm x 1.5cm and are a brownish colour. They smell kind of like cereal and in all honesty they aren't anywhere near as nice looking as the packet makes them out to be... it's a good job Barney's decision of whether to eat them isn't affected by packaging!
Barney's Thoughts!
Barney has surprised me with these treats as I thought he would enjoy them in the same way he seems to enjoy his vegetables and normal mix food and yet they seem to be something he will take or leave and he really isn't that bothered by them, I can tell this as he often 'talks' to me with his cute guinea pig noises when I am preparing his food however when I offer him one of these he remains quiet and simply takes it and then drops it and sniffs around as if to say he isn't interested and then will return to it later on to have a little munch. As a result of this I don't really tend to offer him them anymore and instead I usually pop one in with his food or I hide them around the run I have made him for when I am cleaning his cage, sometimes he will eat them and other times not but I have noticed that the ones which I put in with his food mix do get eaten at some point as they are never there when I give him fresh food.
Price and Availability
I bought these treats at a pet shop here in Krakow for what works out to be just over £1 if I convert the money back to GBP. I have checked online and I can see that they can be purchased on Amazon in bulk for £13.05 which will get you 9 packets. If you don't want this many then you can also buy them on petplanet.co.uk for just 64p reduced from £1.29 and I'm sure you will also be able to find them in the isles of the supermarkets too.
Will I Buy These Again?
No, I don't think I will buy these treats again, not because they are a bad product because I don't think that they are, but simply because I don't think Barney enjoys them as much as he might like some other treats so I think we will write these off in the 'tried and tested' department and move onto the next packet of goodies.
As for a rating for this product I am going to give them 3 stars and an undecided recommendation because the ingredients seem fine and Barney does eat them, he's just not that enthusiastic about them!
Thanks for reading! :)
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Pets At Home Degu Pellets
by ladyofcampfires
Tilly, Yoko, German Barbara and Amanda with the Weird Eyes (Mandy for short) are my four wonderful Degus, they're also proof that I may love BBC3's now cancelled Ideal a little too much. Finding Degu food can be a little tricky, not only do they have very strict dietary needs (any sugar, natural or otherwise, will kill them) but they're ... also not the most common of pets so you're unlikely to find suitable feed for them in your local supermarket. Fortunately, Pets at Home take care of this by selling their Degu nugget food.
The food costs £4.69 for 2kg, another disadvantage of not being able to purchase Degu food just anywhere, you can expect to pay a higher price than hamster food for example. The food comes in a thick plastic silver bag containing the Pets at Home logo, name of product and a little information about it. Along with this you'll also find a picture of a Degu and a picture of the actual food. Dooyoo are displaying a picture of the Chinchilla variety for some reason. (Although I'm fairly confident they're the exact same just in different packaging anyway)!
The bag is easy enough to open although there's no way to resealing it so I tend to just stick to cellotape over the opening to prevent it spilling everywhere should I ever knock the bag open. There's no real scent to this food either, it's smells a little bit like wood shavings actually but there's no off putting pet food smells or anything like that which I'm pleased about.
The food contains everything your Degus need for a balanced and healthy diet all the required vitamins and minerals can be found in here along with fibre and profeed which is supposed to 'boost your Degus digestion and general health'.
Inside the bag you can find a little brown nuggets of food, about the size of a pea. These appear to be the perfect size for my Degus and they can easily hold a nugget whilst chewing on it, which is adorable by the way, with no problems whatsoever.
This food is an alternative to Degu Muesli and stops your pet from selectively eating the bits they like and leaving the bits they don't thus not getting a balanced diet. To be honest with any of my rodents I've owned I've never had a problem with selective eating and the only reason I really feed my Degus on this rather than muesli is because Degu muesli is even harder to get hold of! You can, however, feed your Degus on Chinchilla food also if this is easier to find. As they're both so closely related and have the same dietary requirements it's pretty much the same food anyway.
Fortunately my four girls seem happy enough with these providing I give them the occasional treat so they still have some taste variety. All four of them eat their fair share of this food and seem to like it enough, they're always running up to their bowls whenever it's feeding time.
Given my four are in good general health and have lovely shiny coats it would appear the food is providing them with the nutrition they need to which is obviously another strong point to this food.
All in all, if you're a Degu owner I'd recommend this. I don't have any issues with it and neither to my four girls by the looks of things. Compared to other brands of Degu food it's easy to get hold of and of a reasonable price so five stars from me.
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