How long without pooping until I should be concerned?

[koopashark]

I cleaned my boy's cage a few hours ago and since then, there have been no poops on his fleece bedding or any of the wood shelves. I've seen him drink, eat pellets, and eat hay but haven't found any poops. I haven't noticed him chewing on anything he shouldn't have been during playtime. This started today at some point because there were tons in his cage when I woke up this morning.

Am I just being a nervous chin mom or is this cause for concern?? I'm worried about him!

 

[Gubee]

There are times chins don't poop, at least it's true for mine. They poop the most when they are wide awake and most active.

Before you clean the cage, what size were those poops? If they looked normal, I wouldn't be worried. Also as long as your boy stays active, he should be fine.

 

[koopashark]

7 hours later (or more depending on how long he stopped before I cleaned the cage) there are a few poops! We had his carrier ready and were about to whisk him off to the vet. They look normal and he is being active. I will keep monitoring him and see how he's doing in the morning.

 

[Anna]

Chins poop constantly, so, if yours isn't I would get concerned real fast. If your chins aren't eating, drinking or pooping normally I would be taking them to the vet. Is he acting normally? do you have a vet/e-vet for him?

 

[addictedtochins]

Yes, I'm with Anna. Has he pooped a lot since your post? I hope so. They won't live very long if they are stopped up and don't get vet help and they are in misery because they are dying from the inside. Please update us

 

[Anna]

Stasis can happen when a chin is impacted, keeping poop from passing. The chin will die quickly and be in lots of pain if this is the case. This problem will not resolve on its own, it will need motility and pain meds. Please let us know whatsup

 

[koopashark]

I posted (or so I thought!) last night but it didn't go through for some reason.

I was on my way home from class and my fiance had the carrier ready to go to bring him to the emergency vet. It had been about 7 hours at this point so we were both very worried but about 10 minutes before I got home, he started up again! I monitored him last night before I went to bed and he seemed to be going regularly again. This morning I woke up and there are tons everywhere. I'm going to clean them all up so I can continue to monitor him.

Any clue what could have caused this? Can that happen from stress? He's our new guy and we had just moved his cage next to the other one a few days ago after quarantine ended. They both seem to be enjoying each other's company as far as I can tell but maybe the changes stressed him out?

Thank you for the answers!

 

[addictedtochins]

So glad he is fine! Is there plastic in his cage he may have eaten? Is someone feeding him treats? A bit of junk in his diet could have caused it so be sure everyone knows all he needs is a quality pellet, hay and water. Does he come out for playtime? He may have gotten into something. Chin proof the hallway or bathroom and do 100% supervised playtime.

 

[koopashark]

No plastic anywhere in his cage - he has wooden shelves and ceramic dishes, a glass water bottle and a flying saucer. The only treats he gets are crushed rose hips and oats. He does have a homemade toy made of sisal rope but that's supposed to be fine for them right? He eats Oxbow pellets and Oxbow timothy hay. Last week he did manage to get to the corner of some of my pages of my textbook but that was probably 6 days ago or so. Other than that he hasn't chewed on anything during any of his playtimes.

I was a little worried this morning because the poop was very, very dry but it seems to be the right consistency now. He also ate most of the hay I put out before bed last night and I've seen him drinking, eating pellets, and running on his wheel so his behavior seems normal.

Is there anything else I should be doing or looking out for? Feeling his belly? Etc.

 

[Cuddlebug]

It is possible that the change did stress the chinchilla for a short while. It sound like he is ok now. Just keep an eye on his out put and in put.

 

[koopashark]

Koopa had stopped pooping again this afternoon so we took him to an emergency vet this evening. She examined him and said outwardly he looked healthy (active, teeth and eyes okay) but was concerned about no pooping so she took an x-ray. She didn't see any blockages or gas so they gave him some fluids under his skin. Shortly after, he began pooping again. She said he was stable. The doctor we saw has dealt with chinchillas before but referred us to a true exotics/chinchilla vet to follow up with tomorrow. She has a feeling the vet might change his diet.

He is now bouncing around his cage and munching on his hay. Hopefully the exotics vet will give me some definite answers tomorrow because I hate not knowing what's wrong with my baby!!

 

[koopashark]

Today was day 4 that I've been aware of Koopa's bathroom habits. Before that he had carefresh bedding in his cage so it was hard to tell. With a fleece liner, it's very easy to see when he's going. We have an appointment with the vet for tomorrow since they weren't able to get us in until they. He hasn't been pooping at all during the day, pretty much starting at 8:30AM when I clean his cage to monitor him. However, like clockwork he starts back up at 8:30PM and all of his poops seem to be the right consistency and come out often. He's still acting normal and eating/drinking/peeing like normal. He's also been active and bouncy like his normal self. I tried giving him some acidophilus yesterday in his pellets to see if it would help regulate him. However, he still stopped going today during the day.

Can't wait to see the vet and figure out this mystery! It just doesn't seem right to me that he would stop for 12 hours every day when they're supposed to go constantly. Even though he does sleep all day, it still seems like he should be making at least 1 in a half a day span...