My degus hate vegies...=(

Question
Hi, I have two degus and they refuse to eat vegetables unless they are completely dry and smell like their favorite food. I finally got them to eat dry carrots which I dried and put into the food container but whenever I try and give them fresh vegetables they just won't eat them. I've tried confiscating their water and giving them lettuce and carrots to get the liquid from but they just waited till the next day and didn't even touch the vegetables...I'm desperate...they just won't eat it! Do you know how I can teach them to eat vegetables?

Answer
They don't need to eat their veggies.  If they were not raised with them, they may not be used to them...and if they are not used to them it can actually give them serious diarrhea.  Dried vegetables are fine.  My crew prefer certain fresh veggies, like sweet potatoes, carrots, lettuce and celery (tops only).  Know if you are giving them a good balance of chin food, guinea pig food and timothy or alfalfa they will be fine.  
If you feel strongly about them eating veggies, use them as treats, hand feeding them only.  But if they just won't, don't fret.  They may be able to sense chemicals or something about them that we can't.
Carol