Eating poo?

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Jezilynn

Jezilynn

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 3, 2009
Messages
48
Location
Bradenton, fl
I just got a new chinchilla and noticed that he pooed when I put him in the carrier, but when I got home there wasn't any. He must have eaten it because the carrier never tipped. The only other thing that I can think of is maybe he threw it out? Is this normal, or have any of you heard about this before?
 
Yup, pretty normal. Gross but normal. Wait until you see him actually pull it out of his behind and eat it :vomit:
 
Yuk, ok I just hadn't heard of it before. Its gross, but as long as its nothing to worry about I'll just consider it less to clean up, LOL!
 
They sometimes eat their poo for the nutrients. Kind of a gross thought, but perfectly normal. I'll see a little nibble or two from a poo now and then, but she doesn't nibble on them that much.
 
If this is your first boy then wait till he gets about 8 months old and you'll see other "gross" things! LOL!
 
Jenn - That was my first thought, which could be the problem since he was on kaytee food, Im doing a cold switch to Oxbow so I guess well see.

Ken - I already have a 5 yr old male, and the new one is 2 years, so hopefully after quarantine they'll be buddies. And yes, males do have some um, interesting, habits!:rofl:
 
Perfectly normal for a chin to eat it's poop. It's because of the way a chinchilla digests its food. The bacteria in their cecum break down the nutrients in the plant matter. But not many nutrients are absorbed in the cecum and the colon. Most of the nutrients are absorbed in the small intestine (which is before the cecum) so anyways, the poop comes out but still has tons of nutrients in it so the chins eat the poop to get the rest of the nutrients out of it, basically.
 
keninphilly said:
Yup, pretty normal. Gross but normal. Wait until you see him actually pull it out of his behind and eat it :vomit:
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Oh gawd..Trixie does that. I about died when I first started seeing her do that. When I first got her and was researching about them, I thought I had read that chins did NOT eat their poos. Guess our chins did not read the same thing I read. :thumbsup:
 
Boy chins are extra fun, aren't they? Not just for the poop eating but for the.....self pleasuring. :)
 
LOL My husband announced he was most unimpressed with my new pet when he saw her eat poop straight from her butt....and I thought he would die the first time he saw one of the males...eh hem....cleaning himself
 
LOL! I showed my bf a video of one cleaning himself, when he saw the chin hold his manness with his teeth.. oh man, priceless.
 
tunes said:
Boy chins are extra fun, aren't they? Not just for the poop eating but for the.....self pleasuring. :)
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I had a friend over, and, of course, that is when Niko decides to "clean himself". My friend said "Please don't tell me that he's doing what I think he's doing??"

Yea, it's always when you least expect it and usually when you have company.
 
The first time my boyfriend saw one of our boys do that, we were laying on the bed watching a movie. The chin was standing all stilty just before the act and my boyfriend went, "Oh, look what he's doing, that's so cute!" His face quickly turned to horror as he buried his face in the pillow and yelled. He would peep up to see if he was actually seeing what he thought, yell (AAAARGHH!!!!) and bury his face in the pillow again. It way so funny. And me, being an animal science student, was totally unfazed.

As for the poo-eating, yeah, it's totally normal. They get extra protein and vit. B from their feces, as it contains some bacteria from the cecum. I know it's pretty important for rabbits to eat their feces, so maybe chinnies as well? I know their digestive systems are kind of similar.
 
I just did hair ring checks a couple of days ago. Yesterday, my husband noticed Bamm Bamm doing an excessive amount of cleaning. He checked on him and yep, my little man had one. My husband helped me remove it.
 
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