Okay, so I thought I'd throw this question out there. For those of you who don't remember me (I've been lax in coming here lately) I have two female chinchillas. They are sisters and I have had them since they were 8 weeks old. They turned 2 in January. In June I noticed that one of them had lighter colored, softer poops. I wasn't sure which one but I could tell it was only one of them based on how it was distributed throughout the cage. I took both girls to the vet and both checked out healthy. By the vet check everything was normal.
Since then, on and off Trixie has soft poop. It's only one of them. Pixie's poops are normal. It'll show up for a while (maybe a day or two) and then clear up on it's own. It's hard to tell exactly how long as I usually only clean the cage once a week. What could be causing this? I don't think it's anything contagious since by now surely Pixie would have gotten it. I do not want to quarantine Trixie as I know that could make it impossible to put them back together later. Trixie has always been higher strung. Less willing to be held. Doesn't come up to me as easily. Etc. She's also always been a little smaller than her sister. Not much smaller as it's still very difficult to tell them apart. Does anyone have any ideas? Should I take them back to the vet? The vet said not to be overly concerned about soft poop unless there were other symptoms. Both are active and eat well. They absolutely devour hay. It's hard to keep enough on hand. Could I just not be giving them enough hay? Will chins develop soft poops if they have only pellets? (Not that I give them only pellets.) They are on Oxbow Timothy hay and Oxbow Chinchilla Essentials. I buy the Oxbow rather than the cheaper and more available Mazuri because I heard it can cause soft poos.
Since then, on and off Trixie has soft poop. It's only one of them. Pixie's poops are normal. It'll show up for a while (maybe a day or two) and then clear up on it's own. It's hard to tell exactly how long as I usually only clean the cage once a week. What could be causing this? I don't think it's anything contagious since by now surely Pixie would have gotten it. I do not want to quarantine Trixie as I know that could make it impossible to put them back together later. Trixie has always been higher strung. Less willing to be held. Doesn't come up to me as easily. Etc. She's also always been a little smaller than her sister. Not much smaller as it's still very difficult to tell them apart. Does anyone have any ideas? Should I take them back to the vet? The vet said not to be overly concerned about soft poop unless there were other symptoms. Both are active and eat well. They absolutely devour hay. It's hard to keep enough on hand. Could I just not be giving them enough hay? Will chins develop soft poops if they have only pellets? (Not that I give them only pellets.) They are on Oxbow Timothy hay and Oxbow Chinchilla Essentials. I buy the Oxbow rather than the cheaper and more available Mazuri because I heard it can cause soft poos.
