Weirdo Chinchilly

[Srlampron]

Ok, me again. Rookie season and all, you know. Lilly is doing something that is probably totally normal but, being a new chin mommy, I've never seen the behavior before.

She bends down to her "undercarriage", grabs a poop out of her rectum and eats it. I'm over the whole yuck factor, now wondering why she does that. Also, I have found a few poops with her fur sticking out of them. Normal?

This little girl is giving me a run for my money. She is perplexing. I've only ever had cats, and one guinea pig. This is a whole new rodeo for me.

Thanks!
Stacy:shocked:

 

[Stackie]

It's normal. They are cecotropes. What she is eating is actually nutrients that she did not digest the first time around.

 

[Srlampron]

I knew eating poo was normal but pulling it directly from her bum was unexpected. And the fur in her poo was strange. Should I be doing anything for hair balls?

 

[becky12883]

Zoidberg gets poops stuck in his fur all the time too. I'm not sure how, but there are always one or 2 on his back/hip area.

 

[Srlampron]

Zoidberg may have the best name ever! Have you ever seen him pull it from his rectum??

 

[Tillygizmo]

Yeah that's perfectly normal. Weird....but I suppose not so weird if u consider they are getting nutrients from it. if poop is stuck in his fur very often, it might be a little soft and maybe hehas something gastro going on. Once in awhile is normal.

 

[becky12883]

Yep they all put it straight from the bum! I can't take the credit for the awesome name, he came with that name and his lady friend Leela. Sadly we lost Leela in December though.
As far as the fur in the poop, is it actually IN it or just ON it? I'm not sure what it would mean if it were in the poop? The fur I've seen on poop is from Zoid or his cagemate Rufus grooming the poops out of his fur.

 

[Srlampron]

The fur is embedded in her poops. It appears the fur and the poop came out together.

 

[nick and emily]

Eating poo is normal. Fur in poo, I have never seen. Check your chin out for any patches or fur missing or lighter fur in a certain area. Maybe shes chewing her fur somwhere and eating it. Thats the only thing I can think of as to why fur would be inside of her poo!