Since I'm the one selling the acidophilus I thought I'd weigh in here. I'm only going to say that I use this weekly with my own herd. Here is a letter from the Marty Hull who invented it specifically for chinchillas.
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Subject: Pro-Active Chinchilla GI Tract Management
Ingredients: Vitamin C (calcium ascorbate)
Probiotic (live culture freeze dried lactobacillus acidophilus bacteria)
Background: Chinchillas are pretty durable. They have excellent self-healing capability if given a chance. Over the years, we noticed that if one is able to keep the digestive tract functioning, then most chinchillas stay very healthy. GI function means the chin will continue to digest and absorb nutrients. This is a vital link in fighting disease and staying healthy. A number of occurrences can cause a chin to stop eating. High stress (very loud noises like barking dogs (probably rap music!!), changes in environment, onset of viral illness (reasonably common),or an injury can result in the chinchilla stopping eating. Hair balls, other items can cause obstructions which can stop digestion. That is a lot to watch for but the reality is much simpler.
At all times, all chinchillas have microorganisms present in their intestinal tracts that are potentially lethal if allowed to increase to high concentration. Practically speaking, if intestinal motility is maintained without interruption, then these pathogenic microorganisms are continually diluted as material moves through the GI tract. They never get to sufficient concentration to cause a problem. If there is an interruption, blockage, stoppage, then pathogens can proliferate very quickly, can perforate the intestinal lining and the chinchilla can be dead in 2 to 3 days.
I did a survey of available literature a few years ago. I found that Lactobacillus acidophilus bacteria are normally present in all chins, also in horses, most other herbivores. Lactobacillus is very beneficial. It produces a range of antibiotics that inhibit the growth of a great number of these pathogens. The lactobacillus is not a terribly durable organism. The lactobacillus colony can be damaged by ingestion of chemicals (like chlorine or pesticides in water), toxins, or by the introduction of other competing microorganisms. The Pro-C supplement helps keep the lactobacillus colony continuously healthy.
The other ingredient of the supplement is Vit C in a calcium salt form (Calcium Ascorbate) instead of an acid form (ascorbic acid). The acid form irritates the chins noses and they won't eat it. Vit C helps the immune system, improves tissue integrity and quite happily also works as a natural laxative (same as high dose does in humans). It can be used to safely clear hair balls and most other stoppages/blockages. The combination of Vit C and lactobacillus has worked better than we could have imagined.
Rules of thumb for chin health: Give each chin 1 tablet 3 times per week. This continuously reintroduces lactobacillus so the colony stays healthy. Then on a daily basis, observe the chins droppings. As long as they are normal looking, dark brown, moist, and frequent, things are going well. If the droppings start to get smaller, light tan and drier then there is the possibility of a slow down or blockage developing. If that happens, then immediately increase dose of tablets: give several tablets in one day. This will usually clear up the problem in a few hours. Then drop back to
3 per week.
If the chin comes in contact with a viral or other illness, diarrhea may be the result. The tablets work for that also since the Vit C has some anti-viral properties. The Vitamin C plus the antibiotics naturally produced by the lactobacillus are pretty effective against disease.
Treatment: Same approach: increase number of pills to as many as you can get into the chin per day, up to 5 or 6. Even though the Vit C works as a laxative in the absence of disease, it helps eliminate diarrhea when disease is present. Once the problem has passed, then drop back to 3 tablets per week.
Most of the time, you will not be faced with these issues but it is nice to have an interceptive option that you can do 'right now'. One great aspect is there is no downside to use of the supplement. There is no possibility of overdose whatsoever. I read and article in which some veterinarians in So. California were giving 2.5 grams per day to a chinchilla to try to improve jaw bone health. No toxicity at all! That would be equivalent to me taking about 350 to 400 x 1 gram (1000 mg) tablets per day. That would not leave room for much else!!
Supplementation of lactobacillus has other substantial benefits. Lactobacillus colonizes the GI tract and the birth canal so when kits pass down the birth canal, lactobacillus enters the kit's digestive tract and a lactobacillus colony gets started at the outset. This helps deter subsequent pathogen colonization. Death rate of newborn kits drops dramatically. Accepted rule of thumb for newborn death rate has been about 1 in 4. (25%). We lose about 1 in 10.
Last item: If the chin appears ill and will not take tablets, then grind up a couple tablets, mix with something like strawberry yogurt and feed with a popsicle stick. Again, you try to get in several tablets in a day. That's it.
I would suggest buying 100 tablets at a time. Keep them in the frig or freezer. That should be enough for about 6 to 7 months.
Marty Hull
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