So I'm new to this..

[tori143]

I've had my chin for about a month now & i love him so much

But I think the pellets I've been giving him have made him sick
i've noticed a liquid or mucous, is it possibly diarrhea?
It's that Kaytee Brand, so is his hay.
Is there any recommendations as to what i should do?

Oh and, I had bought him a hut thing,
but he didn't seem to like it too much,
so I built one for him that was much darker hoping he'd use it.
He runs around in and out of it,
but he still sleeps in the corner.
How could i get him to use it?

 

[tunes]

Just plain Kaytee "shouldn't" have given him diarrhea. If it's loaded with treats, then yes.

Kaytee is not a great food. Even if the ingredients were okay, the shelf life is completely unknown, which means you could be feeding 2-year-old food, which would be pointless. Read through this section and there are a buttload of threads on what feeds are good and which aren't.

For now pull all his pellets, give nothing but hay for a few days, see if that helps clear up the diarrhea. Again, Kaytee hay isn't great. If you have access to that at a Petsmart or Petco, they also carry Oxbow. Grab a bag of Oxbow hay and use that. You can also offer a bite sized, nonsugared shredded wheat, very lightly damped, then rolled in activated charcoal powder. It helps to calm down the diarrhea. If after a couple days it doesn't stop (meaning 2 or 3) he needs to see a vet. Acidophilus or a probiotic also would be beneficial to him. Chocolate chinchillas sells Lifeline which is a great product and contains probiotic.

As far as the house - if he'll either get used to it or he won't. There's not much you can do to force it on him. You can try putting some hay in it and see if he'll go in there to eat.

 

[harbingerofdoom]

just a quick question... are his droppings often or always like that or did you just happen to see one like that?
if its just one, it may be a cecotrope which is a specific kind of dropping that chins will ingest.

 

[tori143]

well it wasn't like that before. I tried to stop feeding him it for a few days,
and just gave him oats and hay. But i gave him some more last night, and when i went to check on him today, it was there again.

 

[Olallie]

Hopefully you are feeding him old fashioned oats... quick cook oats are not suitable, and even if he is having loose stools you should not be giving any treats. I found that a round of activated charcoal, and acidophulus, found and most health vitamin stores, helps alot!