chin's have pooping schedules?

[PEBBLES83]

I have a question:

my chins don't tend to poop during the day, like at ALL!

around 8-10 am when i clean their cage (i use fleece so i know they dont poop during the day), there is no pooping, on ledges, floor etc none! at all

til about 7-9 pm, when they bam, start pooping like crazy...

they spend most of the morning sleeping, occasional nibbling of pellets, gobbling up hay (my male loves hay more than pellets, but still no poop during the day)

they only seem to poop in the evening/late night/early morning... theres always a good 8-10 hour gap where there is nothing...

is that normal? *** this is a daily occurrence, its been like this from the day i got them, 5 months ago!

 

[nikkimariec]

mine do that too! I would like to know if that's normal.

 

[PEBBLES83]

mee too!! i was told they poop every few seconds... mine eats during the day, they dont just sleep all day, they play they hop they run, but no poop! very strange

 

[Jenn]

I think they poop more/most when they are active. If they are moving around a lot and are active, they will leave a poop trail. If they are inactive or sleeping, they will poop less.

 

[PEBBLES83]

lol

I think they poop more/most when they are active. If they are moving around a lot and are active, they will leave a poop trail. If they are inactive or sleeping, they will poop less.

hmmm that is an interesting view of why they poop less... i always assumed they eat a bite, a poop must come out, to make room for more food...

 

[nikkimariec]

what if sometimes no poop at all until later like 7pm?

 

[hownowbrowncow]

My boys are poop machines at night (every morning it's like 'whoa, high five boys!', but next to nothing during the day when they are sleeping and eating much less. It's normal If they kept pooping in their sleep they would wake up on top of a little pile lol

 

[nikkimariec]

thank you that makes me feel better

 

[Cuddlebug]

Less activity = less eating/drinking = less poop.

 

[Claire D]

Chinchillas do produce droppings during the day but they generally eat them - if you watch chins during the day they will suddenly sit up, reach down, and when they settle back down again they are chewing.
That's them eating their droppings (caecotrophy) and it is a normal part of their digestive process - hind gut fermenters recycle (re-ingest) specific dropping types (caecotropes) to obtain added nutrients from the digestion process.

Caecotropes are also known as "night droppings" so because a chin's night is actually our day, they eat the droppings and you don't find them scattered around the cage like you do when they are awake.

If they kept pooping in their sleep they would wake up on top of a little pile lol

Sometimes they do.

 

[PEBBLES83]

yep i've seen that poop eating business, they look like they enjoy eating it too.... yuck! lol