What comes out of your pet’s end and dealing with it is the least favorite thing about owning a pet. The chinchilla’s excretion is not as harmful as that of the dogs and cats. It doesn’t have a distinct smell, and it is small.
Although they are tiny creatures, they deposit a lot of droppings due to their fiber-rich diet.
Keeping an eye on your pet’s stool is essential since that will tell you if your pet is healthy or not.
HEALTHY CHINCHILLA POOP
The more you clean up after your pet, the more you will understand the kind of stool that is healthy and that which is not. Chinchillas produce rounded, small, compact tubules of odorless black or brown feces.
Regular daily cleaning of the poop will ensure that there is no foul smell coming from your chinchilla or its place of stay. It can be said that one of its benefits is that they do not stink.
SIZE
The size of the chinchilla will determine the pellet’s size. Due to their small size, they have tiny feces that is shorter in diameter than most pets poop. Keeping a good record of the size of your pet’s poop will health you make a comparison when it gets to have an irregular stool.
SOFTNESS
They are accustomed to conserving water since they come from dry environments. For this reason, their feces should be dry and solid always. Being moist after expulsion is normal since that helps when sliding off the tubes, but it will harden and dry quickly afterward. This is more or less like rabbit poop or goat poop that behaves the same.
SHAPE
The shape of its feces is the same as the shape of the pallets it eats. It is important to note that the feces will be like tiny cylinders with rounded ends and regular in shape.
Irregularly shaped stool and some with holes or missing pieces from it mean something wrong with your chinchilla and that you should visit a veterinary doctor.
QUANTITY
A good indication of a healthy digestive system that is functioning well and a healthy appetite is the number of droppings it produces. The chinchillas can poop up to two hundred and fifty times in a day; therefore, they leave their droppings wherever they go. Fewer feces indicate your chinchilla is not feeding well or has digestive issues.
The quantity of chinchilla feces is shocking but normal and easy to deal with since that is dry and hard and not sticky at all. Cleaning up after them should be enjoyable since their stool is not as smelly as cats’.
COMMON CHINCHILLA POOP ISSUES
DIARRHEA
The stool is unchanging in size, consistency, and shape. Depending on the kind of food you feed your chinchilla, the color might have a few changes.
The stool should generally look the same in texture and appearance if no adjustments are made to its diet. When there is a noticeable change, like diarrhea, it will only mean that there is a health problem, therefore, needing to see a veterinary doctor.
SOFT, WET, AND STICKY POOP
Diarrhea is never a good sign when it comes to the chinchilla, for it could turn into a life-threatening situation that will require fast medical attention.
Anything that is not normal stool description such as wet, soft, sticky, mucous, runny, slimy, or mushy means that there is something wrong, for example; stress, excessive water intake, a diet rich in fiber, lack of good gut bacteria, illness, or a parasite.
- Stress
Chronic stress is not good for them and can lead to having diarrhea or mushy soft stool.
- Food
Chinchillas should eat hay-based pallets, and when starting to diarrhea, a chinchilla’s diet should be checked first. Some healthy foods like fruits, nuts, vegetables, and seeds contain a lot of fiber, and their digestive system is not able to handle it.
Their feces tend to be soft and mushy, and therefore a change in diet would be vital to have a healthy digestive system. Hay or hay pallets should be introduced to the diet because they will help in cleaning out its system and rebalance.
- Bacterial Imbalances
They are not prone to getting bacteria, and their body has a habit of getting rid of the bacteria when they come into contact through diarrhea. Antibiotics administered to them could also bring about bacteria imbalance and lead to diarrhea. Probiotics may be prescribed after the antibiotics to help rebalance good bacteria in the intestines.
- Parasites
A veterinarian can only diagnose this through a stool sample test. It can contact parasites such as Giardia through other animal feces and water. Learn more about chinchilla eye infections here if you want to be up to speed on common health issues.
CHINCHILLA NOT POOPING
Lack of stool could mean it is either constipated, a sign of a blockage, ileus (gastrointestinal stasis), or other underlying issues.
Ileus is a dangerous condition in that the digestive system just stops, which causes the bacteria in the digestive tract to release the trapped gas, which will cause distress and pain. When this happens, it should be rushed to the veterinarian immediately.
Medication, mineral oil, critical care food, or an enema could be administered, which will help with the digestive system.
CHINCHILLA POOPING A LOT
As long as your pet’s behavior doesn’t change, poop looks normal, and has normal food and water intake, then plenty of poop shouldn’t be a problem.
It is more of a concern when the chinchilla is not pooping. In case anything out of the ordinary is noted, or there is a problem, the veterinarian should be immediately informed
MAINTAINING GOOD STOOL HEALTH
There are tips one should follow to maintain good poop health. They include:
• Avoid giving your pet too many treats.
• Keep an eye on the consistency and shape of the feces.
• Watch out for any behavioral changes.
• If it stops eating pooping, a call to the veterinarian will be necessary.
• Plenty of feces to clean up is a good indicator that your pet is healthy.
Hi, my name’s Elena Coolidge, and this is my site. Chinchillas are so cute and such intelligent animals that make great pets. They’ve become the subject of fascination for many animal lovers who enjoy their antics. I blog about their care, where to buy them, breeders, and more. Shoot me an email if you have a question!
