Small poop

[ChocolatPocky]

At night I separate my two chinchillas in their two level CN cage. I've noticed Mr. B leaves some pretty small poop in the morning, and am trying to figure out what is causing that. I removed his small pet select grass chews so that he only has timothy, orchard hay, oxbow essentials pellets, apple sticks and sometimes rosehip chips for a few days. But there were still small poops the next morning. These seem to only appear sometime late at night, because during playtime/evening he has normal poop.

Anyone have any idea what may be causing them? I suspect one of those grass chews may have upset his stomach, will it take a few days to pass? I could put him on a limited diet (maybe just timothy and pellets?) and see if this cleanse helps him? He has been eating fine and has not lost any weight. I don't think he swallowed any large/foreign objects, that I know of at least.

 

[Amethyst]

Their poop can vary in size a bit. For example if they just woke up and/or haven't had a drink for awhile the poops can be noticeably smaller. Especially if it's also really dry in the house that can make him a bit more dehydrated then on other days. The fact that the poops go back to normal I wouldn't worry too much, but if they stay small it could also be a sign of gas, if you look at the normal poops do they look like they have holes in them? (another sign of gas). I would just stop with treats and just give the hay and pellets and see if that helps.

Looking up the small pets select chews, they have a few, which ones were you giving? Some of them could possibly cause a bit of gas.

 

[ChocolatPocky]

Their poop can vary in size a bit. For example if they just woke up and/or haven't had a drink for awhile the poops can be noticeably smaller. Especially if it's also really dry in the house that can make him a bit more dehydrated then on other days. The fact that the poops go back to normal I wouldn't worry too much, but if they stay small it could also be a sign of gas, if you look at the normal poops do they look like they have holes in them? (another sign of gas). I would just stop with treats and just give the hay and pellets and see if that helps.

Looking up the small pets select chews, they have a few, which ones were you giving? Some of them could possibly cause a bit of gas.

Ah ok, yeah he has normal poops all other times except sometime late at night/early morning. The poops do not have holes in them, they look normal.

Small pet select chews that I have given the chinchillas so far are the buckwheat, rye, meadow grass, maize, and cattail. I can cut out the cattail since it might be the culprit? And I see SPS have added a new clover chew too, is that okay for chins?

 

[Amethyst]

Buckwheat and rye can cause gas if you give them a lot, not as likely to be the issue. The maize and cattail are not safe for chins though, they can definitely cause gas and stomach issues. You have to keep in mind that a lot of the stuff one Small Pets Select is with rabbits in mind not chinchillas, and they can have somethings that chins can't. I would also not go with clover, it's a legume like alfalfa and can be too high in calcium, depending on the kind of clover it can also be high in sugars.

 

[ChocolatPocky]

Buckwheat and rye can cause gas if you give them a lot, not as likely to be the issue. The maize and cattail are not safe for chins though, they can definitely cause gas and stomach issues. You have to keep in mind that a lot of the stuff one Small Pets Select is with rabbits in mind not chinchillas, and they can have somethings that chins can't. I would also not go with clover, it's a legume like alfalfa and can be too high in calcium, depending on the kind of clover it can also be high in sugars.

Ok I'll stop feeding them those and pass on the clover, thanks for the advice!