Poo a bit Greenish moss kind of color and a bit soft

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Sailor_Orbit

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Hi Guys,
Just wondering what does it mean if the poo is still a bit soft and some of her poo is a bit green-ish moss like. Not all of them are like that. I have been mostly feeding her the timothy hay and change out daily, at least in her eating area. And have only been given the pellets as treats, not fed freely. I have one picture, but not sure if that would say anything. There's no discharge. Is there anything that can be done before going to the vet?
 

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I've only had my chins for a year and fortunately haven't had any health problems. I replied because when I clicked on the picture I noticed the wood. What type of wood is that? Certain woods are bad for chins especially if it has any chemicals on it. That could be making her sick. From what I've read here you should just feed her hay and see if it clears up in a few days. I'm sure someone with more experience will be able to give you better advice. There are some very knowledgable people here.
 
Every time I free feed her pellets, she gets long stringy poo, diarrhea I suppose. Hay she gets unlimited
 
Oxbow, no odor. I gave her a bit for her to eat freely a moment ago. Just under a tablespoon
 
I would have a fecal done to make sure she doesn't have an protozoan infections and if she doesn't, change feeds. Not every feed will work for every chinchilla and I know a LOT of people that have switched off of Oxbow or are switching off of Oxbow because of weight loss in their chins, decreased appetite or inconsistent poops. You can get Mazuri from Susan at AZchins.com and it will be cheaper than the Oxbow.

The chinchilla should be free fed and the fecal pellets should be formed, but not soft. The exact shape of the fecal pellets is different for different chinchillas. Some have longer, thinner fecal pellets and some have smaller, rounder fecal pellets. As long as they are formed, not covered in mucus, and not soft and mushy the fecal pellets should be fine. The green color to the feces indicates that she is not breaking down and absorbing the nutrients, probably due to high amounts of hay which gives very little nutrients as opposed to the pellets which contain their daily supply of nutrients. Usually only a few fecal pellets are an "off" color and are quickly consumed by the chinchillas.
 
ticklechin said:
Why would you recommend something you yourself said you had issues with loose poo?
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I had some loose stools, it's not as if the entire herd started blowing massive amounts of runny diarrhea in their cages. Maybe 7 out of 25 chinchillas had soft poo that was getting smooshed on their shelves. It was enough for me to change feeds to something my mentors were using at the time and was cheaper and easier for me to get. The problem with Mazuri that I had was able to be traced back to the mill. There was a bad mill in my area that was putting out bad feed. Mazuri itself is not a bad feed and IMO, is one of the best options out there for pet owners.
 
I've been told that the food I have comes from a really great mill. :) My chins don't have the problems with soft droppings that other people say their chins had on the Mazuri. They're actually doing really well on it, there's a whole lot of chins here! The mill in CA was awful for not just the Mazuri but other brands of food.

There's other options out there besides the Oxbow or Mazuri. Every chin is going to be a little different and the chins all experience different conditions in different homes. The water and the hay and everything is going to vary from place to place. I've seen some pretty bad issues with the Oxbow in the last year or so with chins losing weight, especially muscle weight. Moving to a new food sometimes is necessary for certain chins. I have a timothy hay based pellet and I put up the Rabbit Chow Show because a couple of people have said that their chins have done fantastic the new formulation of that. There are definitely choices out there in pellets.

As for the green droppings. It may not be the pellets, it could be some intestinal irritation or a reaction to a treat or supplement. It does definitely mean that something isn't quite right. Giardia and other parasites can cause it to be green, but so can small pockets of irritation or inflammation in the intestinal tract and also stress can cause problems like this in the short term. Going to the vet to have droppings tested would be an excellent first step for sure. After ruling out something that needs medication attention should be given to remedy it as a digestive problem - probiotics, lots of fresh hay and improved cleanliness of the cage and waterbottles can help a great deal.
 
I would take your chin to the vet ASAP.

I had a chin die and she had the same issues yours is having. I was told that she had some sort of parasite in her (nothing I had done. only had her for 10 days).

I took her pellets out and fed her LOTS of timothy hay. The next day, her poo started going back to normal, but later that night, she started to act funny. She ended up having 3 seizures on the way to the vet and passed away early in the morning.

Not trying to scare you, rather letting you know what happened to me.

Also, where did you get your chin from and how long have you had her? I bought mine from PetSmart (should have known better). The manager told me that they were having issues with their chins dying. He said that the breeder(s) they buy from had something wrong with their chins.

Message me if you have any questions.
 
mknoblich1 said:
I've only had my chins for a year and fortunately haven't had any health problems. I replied because when I clicked on the picture I noticed the wood. What type of wood is that? Certain woods are bad for chins especially if it has any chemicals on it. That could be making her sick. From what I've read here you should just feed her hay and see if it clears up in a few days. I'm sure someone with more experience will be able to give you better advice. There are some very knowledgable people here.
Click to expand...


Oh sorry I didn't see your message earlier. It's the wood from my other cage that was designed for chinchillas in mind. I didn't read the type of wood it's in there. So basically most of the wood is from that other cage, which she doesn't really chew on. But the thing she does chew on is the apple wood, bamboo wood, then this unknown natural wood that says it's 100% chew safe for chinchillas and other small animals. Then I have the sleep house from Petco made out of wood. Then the Aspen bedding.

Okay I might consider getting her checked out, so far her poop has improved from what I can see. When she leaves more samples, I will check out the softness and color. If it's still soft after a day or two, I will make an appointment. We have ocean state vet hospital, and the exotic animal doctor isn't always there. I will talk to my parents about it as well. Hopefully they have weekend hours, otherwise my sister might have to take her since she gets home earlier.

I looked up that parasite thing and so far she isn't emitting any of the symptoms listed but I will do more research.

Petsmart says they have other brands where it's more seedy or more hay based. They have several different types but they don't have Mazuri. Pet Supplies Plus has their own brand made by KP or Kaytee, not sure which he said. I haven't asked Petco yet.
 
ChristieRogers said:
I would take your chin to the vet ASAP.

Also, where did you get your chin from and how long have you had her? I bought mine from PetSmart (should have known better). The manager told me that they were having issues with their chins dying. He said that the breeder(s) they buy from had something wrong with their chins.

Message me if you have any questions.
Click to expand...

Oh! I also bought mine from Petsmart, I just really love her personality so I couldn't resist getting her. I didn't want to regret a Chinchilla that was calm with me for the first 15 minutes of seeing her. The nearest breeder was an hour away, in MA. It was a relatively short drive for the chinchilla and I traveled at night so she was kept cool in the travel. Yea I will observe her and give a call to ocean state.
 
aww crapola it seem the exotic pet doctor will only be available on Monday 20 or this Friday, but either way I have to wait a couple of days. And she doesn't do emergency shifts. *sigh* I hope she's okay, but I will give a call to petsmart as well.
 
Okay I checked her up today, her poo is hard but still moss green color. Would that be considered normal or would I still need to take her to the vet?
 
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