Chinnie not eating his pellets

[rocket29]

Hello,
I noticed a couple days ago my chinnie hasn't been eating as much pellets as he typically does. Usually I give him 1-2 tbs daily, and he hasn't been touching it much lately. He'll take a few nibbles from it but the bowl is never empty the next morning like it usually is. However, he's been eating his hay, chewing on his toys, and drinking fine! I've cut all treats from his diet for three days now. Here's his diet for the past week or so:
Oxbow Essentials pellets
Oxbow timothy hay
Peppermint leaves (from AZ chins, apparently this soothes their belly)
Vitamin C tablets (AZ chins, once a week)
Chin cookies (AZ chins, but l'm cutting these from his diet completely)
Probably cardboard too, so I've taken away his cardboard fort which upset him

He gets regular daily playtime and behaves normally except... I notice that when he wakes up to greet me he stretches against his cage wall. He's been doing this for the last three days and only stretches a single time (not repeatedly as if he's uncomfortable.) I'm getting concerned, is this worth a trip to the vet?

 

[Amethyst]

Is he pooping normally? normal size, shape, amount, etc? Have you been keeping and I on his weight? Also, do the pellets look and smell ok? I know I got a bad batch of Oxbow a few months back, my guys would hardly eat it.

 

[rocket29]

No, his poops have been smaller and less frequent. I haven’t been checking his weight for the past few months but I believe the last time I checked him he was around 500-600 grams. His pellets seem fine; it’s a half empty bag so he’s been eating the same pellets for a while now.

 

[rocket29]

Alright so here’s a brief update: I’m with him right now for his nighttime playtime and he finally finished the remaining pellets that he had (about half a tbs). Note that this took him 2 days to finish. His fresh poops are a bit larger now, oval shape. He’s also zooming across the room and popcorning like his typical energy level.

 

[Amethyst]

500-600 grams is a huge range so that doesn't really help, lol, basically a loss of over 20 grams or continued weight loss is what I was wondering about. Sometimes chins just prefer the hay you got them recently and fill up on that, so the weight stays the same even though the pellets aren't going now. Maybe he swallowed some cardboard and was having a hard time passing it, constipation can cause them to not want to eat since they are backed up. If the poops are back to normal that's good. If that is the case it's also possible he was self treating, eating more hay to increase fiber to help get things moving along.