Rescue not eating

I did a rescue this weekend of a female chin named chinchilly. The way the owner spoke it seemed she took very good care of her. I attached pics of her fur which is not looking so good. she was on some food made by All Living Things and kaytee hay. had the strangest treats and at least 6 craisins in her carrier and all petsmart wood. and drank out of a bowl.

She will not eat anything. no hay. now prsc pellets. does not appear to have urinated. i have both a coop cup with water and a water bottle.

her poop is very small and hard and she will hardly let me touch her.
never in my life has a chin lunged and kacked at me until i met her! she was SO mad in that carrier. everytime i even walk by the cage she goes running.

I am not sure what to do. I did a mix of Essentials for life & lifeline and left in her cage.

does anyone have any suggestions or ideas or thoughts about how to encourage her to eat? should i hold off on giving her the food she was eating and continue with the cold turkey switch and how long do i wait for her not to eat anything before I step in.

i have no intention of keeping her, i am strictly doing rehab & rehome. And honestly after speaking with the previous owner i thought this would be an easy transition but now i am thinking it may be a little more difficult if she doesnt come around.

here are some pictures

poor greasy n tufty baby! glad you rescued her! )

the small hard poops are worrisome, but that may be due to the food and strange treats she was on (read: crap). crap food also makes for crap fur. i would continue with the cold switch and lots of hay as long as she is still producing poops, as hopefully some good food in her system will turn things around. maybe offering a hay cube or two might help.


have you tried covering her cage partway with a big piece of fleece? that might help her relax enough to start eating, along with leaving her alone except to check on her food and water. i know covering three sides of Rhino's cage when he first came made things a little darker and he calmed down within a day or so. he didn't want to eat much when he first got here either, but he was eating a little.

another thing i did was put little piles of hay all over his cage, so that there was food wherever he might want to sit or lay. those little piles all got eaten )

maybe give her a dust bath in the cage to make her feel better? if you have a box kicking around that is small enough to fit in the cage, but big enough that a dust house or large bowl could fit inside, cut a door in the box, and that way she could have some privacy while keeping the dust from flying in the cage.

hope she comes around for you, she looks like a cutie pie, even when mad, lol.

How about some alfalfa hay? I would put both foods in her cage for now until she starts eating something.

Michelle Bobo is a lunger and a kacker so I know what you're going through. It's a bit terrifying to be lunged at even if they really can't eat your face off lol! I'm sure she is terrified as nothing is the same for her--water bottle from water bowl, different food, different place. You know it is not good if she does not eat all, have you tried even a healthy treat like a shreddie or cheerio?

I agree with a small pan like loaf pan of 8 x 8 in her cage to see if she will dust--maybe doing so might calm her.

Ive just changed my chinchilla food over, Lola was a rescue and i thought she wasnt eating what i was giving her. I walked into the room the other night and found her over the bowl eating, as soon as she saw me she threw what was in her hand and ran off. After a couple of days shes started to eat around me I was wondering if maybe she is being a little monter and doing this too.

I also agree she might feel better with a sand bath and maybe a shredded wheat. I hope she starts to cheer up soon

Do you have "Critical Care" or "Essentials for Life"? I would make a bit of those up and put it in front of her to at least get her eating and keep things moving. Do you think she is dehydrated? That may make her her not want to eat in addition to the stress.

I would do a cold switch and give plenty of hay...

Because her fur is so bad I did leave a dust house in there & she is definitely using it. I tried oxbow timmy & hay cubes. I'm afraid to cover her cage becayse the owner told me she pulled stuff in her cage all the time.

I haven't tried alfalfa. I will do that & put some other varieties around the cage. I'm also going to weigh her food, maybe she is eating a pellet or so. She did eat a shreddie & oats when I left the house but wuldnt touch it while I was there. Mayb in a day or so she will let me pick her up so i can let het run in the bathroom & try to do something with the fur......its really bad. I almost cried when I saw her. I told my chins they shuld thank their lucky stars! Lol.

good call on the alfalfa.........she did eat some of that. but she really isnt eating any other hay and i have several varieties in multiple areas. i also noticed that the beaphar i put in her bowl with the PRSC was gone and i put a small pinch of my herbal mix on the bottom of her food bowl so she would have to root thru it and she did. i also finally saw some urine so i know she is drinking. i marked the bottle but it looks like she is drinking from the coop cup. also her poop looks a little better which is good. i am putting different things around her cage to get her to eat & explore. she is so very skittish.....but does let me scritch her. and so far no more lunging and kacking!
in the next nite or so i am going to attempt to bring her out for playtime.
once i get her back on track and a little more social she will be up for adoption......free to an experienced only forever home. she has been moved around too much & deserves some stability.

good to hear she's coming around for you! hope you're able to find a great home for this lil sweetie with a stubborn streak, lol.