chinchilla eating poop?

[ratsnchins2011]

So i brought home a new chin yesterday and she seems to be settling in fine. I've left her alone to get used to her new home. She's drinking fine and I've seen her eat some hay and her tradition pellets. But today I noticed she bends down to her bottom frequently and comes up with a piece of poop in her hand. A few times she took a bite and then threw the rest down, other times she just throws it down. Is this normal or should i be concerned?

 

[EMSChins]

This is normal.

 

[Siany]

Its normal I think i read somewhere that they dont digest all the nutrition in their food so when they poop it gets eaten again to get the goodness

 

[EMSChins]

It helps to keep the bacteria in their gut balanced.

 

[ratsnchins2011]

Thanks guys. It seems like kind of a wierd habit but at least only 1 of my chins seems to do it lol

 

[seachin]

Perfectly normal. Chins are coprophages (poop eaters), and it is a combination of extracting more nutrients but more importantly maintaining bacterial colonies in the intestines. It seems gross at first, but you'll get used to it

 

[Marie5656]

Yep..guinea pigs do it too. When I first saw my guinea pig eat his poo I was sure he was some kind of poo eating freak. It is amazing what you learn on sites like this one.

 

[Jenn]

gross and disturbing, but totally normal! lol