Dry Poops

[schweppes]

My chinchilla Chloe has very dry poop and yesterday she didn't do much during play time. I let them go to and from their cage when they run around my room and she came out twice ran around for a bit, her usual game of trying to get into hiding places even though they're all blocked off. What can I do to make her better?

 

[Cat75]

Anything new to her diet? Is she drinking the same amount of water as normal?

 

[schweppes]

I'm going to monitor her drinking tonight and there's nothing new in her diet, but right now they have the junky treat filled food, I'm going to go to the store tomorrow and pick up a bag of Maruzi pellets and see if switching to that helps her. Should I switch cold turkey or gradually? Her cagemate is doing just fine.

 

[Parkerspetchins]

I would cold switch off the crappy feed and add some acidophilus to their diet. You can get capsules and sprinkle over the pellets (this never worked for me, my girls refused to eat it) or get the flavored tablets with the highest count you can find and try to hand them a quarter of it. Put extra hay in the cage for them as well. Keep a close eye on their output.

 

[Chinniechantel]

I am just going to add to Jean Marie that Lifeline from chocolatechinchillas.com works wonders for cold feed switches. Be ware that some people do have problems with Mazuri, their chins get runny poo, but others are just fine on it. I believe most stores carry Oxbow which is better, or you can order PANR (Purina Advanced Nutrition SHOW formula for rabbits) from a feed store or from people on here. My chins LOVE PANR, and have done great on it.

 

[schweppes]

My girls like the acidophilus more than the new food. I got them oxbow pellets. I'll make sure to monitor that they're eating and drinkng fine.

 

[schweppes]

They're doing much better now, thank you everyone.

 

[Sugarmama]

Awesome!

You can always add a second water bottle with chamomile or mint tea; many chins love it, and it encourages drinking. It's also good for their digestion. Make it fairly weak--one cup, one teabag steeped 2 minutes, and change it out daily.

You may also want to have baby gas drops (simethicone) on hand during a feed switch; when I had to switch cold turkey it was recommended that I give 3 dropperfuls per day.