just a couple questions.

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melissamosh

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firstly, my chinchilla will lean down where her poop comes out and eat it. why does she do this?

secondly, sometimes when she is sleeping she will move her nose and whiskers around a lot. why does she do this?

thanks for your help​
 
Chinchillas eat their poop to regulate the good bacteria in the digestive system.

If she is wiggly while she sleeps she is probably dreaming. Some chinchillas even "talk" in their sleep.
 
If she's doing it on a regular basis i would be concerned maybe she's not getting the correct nutrional needs. How often does she eat her poo? Also what are you feeding her? Do you give a lot of treats?
On your second question i agree with the others. Chinchillas dream....i've even seen mine moving their feet while sleeping. It's adorable
 
I wouldn't be worried. It may seem gross to us to eat poop, but is what most animals do.
 
Chins regularly eat their poo. The poo they eat are actually a different consistency from the normal poos they leave in their cage though. These "edible poos" are called cecotropes and are formed in the chinchilla's cecum (a little pouch in the intestines which contains friendly bacteria to break down fibrous foods and extract extra nutrients from it). These cecotropes are soft, smaller than regular poos, and tend to be clustered together. They are rich in nutrients and also contain some of the beneficial bacteria which lives in the intestinal tract. Healthy chinchillas will eat their cecotropes. I would be concerned if a chinchilla was not eating their cecotropes... the only time I've found cecotropes in the cage (uneaten) were in rescue chins who were stressed, unhealthy, and fed a poor diet. It is completely natural and important for the health of a chinchilla.

As for your second question, many chins twitch or make noises when they sleep. She is probably dreaming or they are just involuntary muscle twitches... it happens to me too sometimes when I sleep, lol. Sometimes it even wakes me up!
 
Haha.. I never believed Freddie would eat his poop until today, He just walked over to some terds and sucked up 2 or 3 like a vacuum cleaner. It was gross, but I knew it was normal all because of these helpful forums.. ;)
 
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