"New owner" Chin poop seems very small

Chinchilla & Hedgehog Pet Forum

Help Support Chinchilla & Hedgehog Pet Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Slanginhard

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 5, 2011
Messages
93
Hey peeps! Yall have been so great at answering all my other questions, so was hoping yall could calm my worries about my chin's poop. I changed his food cold turkey, from rabbit food filled with treats to just straight pellet food. The First night he ate just fine, and his poop was actually a lil large compared to most chins poop I have seen. Fed him 3 table spoons last night and there is at least 2 spoons full left if not all 3 since I havent seen him eat any since last night. Just wondering if his poop is small since he is not eating as much? How long until I should as for vet help? Thanks in advance for all the help :D
 

Attachments

  • poop dime.jpg
    poop dime.jpg
    21.3 KB · Views: 55
poop should be the size of a tic tac, that's what i was told anyways.

Poop comes in all shapes and sizes. The poop in the picture does look a bit small to me, and the OP says it's smaller then his normal poop.

OP- is he eating hay? I would buy some pro-biotics (acidophilus) and sprinkle it over the pellets and perhaps the hay to help keep his gut bacteria balanced while he transitions. Has the quantity of the poop decreased? That's also something to watch out for.

Do you still have his old pellets? It'd be a pain, but I would pick out the 'treats', and use the pellets to do a proper transition. Some chins can handle a cold turkey switch just fine, others have problems with it.
 
You also have to bear in mind that this chin is new in your home. He's gone through some pretty major stress and that impacts digestion and droppings size. He needs some time to adjust to all the changes. I always load new chins up on lots and lots of loose hay to get them eating and keep their little digestive systems going. He may be rebelling a bit against eating the new food since the other stuff was full of treats and that's probably why he isn't eating as much...and he's stressed.
 
Seems like he poops a lot more, just in smaller size. This is only my 3rd day with him so not 100 percent sure thats accurate. I been giving him plenty of hay. I will sit down and take all the treats out the old bag and good to the pet store to look for pro-biotics (acidophilus) Hopefully tonight he will have a better apatite. Thanks for the feedback :D
 
Be sure to check any fleece houses or hidy boxes for poop. We have a couple "closet poopers" here and if I didnt know where to look, I would think those chins only pooped four brown tic tacs a day.
 
What type of bedding do you use? If you don't have fleece liners, buy some fleece and lay it over the bottom of his cage. It'll be very easy to keep track of his droppings that way. You can easily shake out the fleece every day to monitor the size and quantity. Susan's right all the changes are probably causing a lot of stress. If he gets worse I would definitely go to a vet asap. Also, you said you're giving him lots of hay, which is great, but is he eating it?
 
Is he drinking water?

yes, the rate he drinks water, empty the bottle about every 5 days to a week. He almost ate a full 2 tablespoons of food last night or this morning and is now pooping back to regular size :D Sorry about all these newbie worries, but I am starting to feel a lot more comfortable in my Chins behavior and upbringing. It seems a lot easier raising a perfect healthy chin then I was making it out to be.
 
Sorry about all these newbie worries, but I am starting to feel a lot more comfortable in my Chins behavior and upbringing. It seems a lot easier raising a perfect healthy chin then I was making it out to be.
I believe you mean it's a lot harder than you were making it out to be. Now, perhaps you will understand why experienced chin owners were saying your franken cage is unsafe. We really do know what we are talking about.
 
I believe you mean it's a lot harder than you were making it out to be. Now, perhaps you will understand why experienced chin owners were saying your franken cage is unsafe. We really do know what we are talking about.

:hilarious: Franken cage!!!!! So true!
 
yes, the rate he drinks water, empty the bottle about every 5 days to a week.

You should not be leaving the same water in his bottle for 5 days to a week. Bottles need to be emptied, rinsed and filled with fresh water at least once every other day, preferably once a day. Leaving them longer allows for algae and other organisms to begin to grow in it, making the chinchilla sick.
 
You should not be leaving the same water in his bottle for 5 days to a week. Bottles need to be emptied, rinsed and filled with fresh water at least once every other day, preferably once a day. Leaving them longer allows for algae and other organisms to begin to grow in it, making the chinchilla sick.

He's only had the chin since the 9th so about 3 days now. I think he was estimating what the chin would drink based on the amount he has already drunk? But yes, he should definitely offer fresh water.
 
They do look small to me. Sometimes it is just adjustment in which case they should only be small very temporarily and should return to normal size. Make sure poops don't completely stop. As long as he/she is going I think acidopholus should do the trick : ) I swear by it
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Back
Top