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[Chins]

One of my chillas has soft stool,it's not diarrhea, just soft. It doesn't smell, it's the right color and size but it's softer than normal. It happened just this morning, his stool was normal last night. He's eating, drinking, running around like normal.
His cage mate has normal stool and they get the same food and treats.

What can be done?

[dianah]

stop all treats. what kind of treats do they normally get? also, just because one chin's system tolerates certain amount and type of treats ok, doesn't mean a different chin will do too, you kind of have to tailor it

what's the poo like? does it have sharp ends? does it stick together?

[Chins]

They get half of a unfrosted mini wheat as treats. They were getting 'rose hips' nuts but they haven't had any in a couple days. They also get cubed timothy hay and loose timothy hay freely.

The stool is not sharp, it's round pellet shape, dark brown but soft when pick up or touched. His stool was normal last night, just soft this morning. We usually take them both our for some play time at night after dinner for an hour or so then they go back in their cage. I'm not sure what could have happened through that time.
During play time we give them willow wood chew toys to play and munch on, we do not put any of the willow in the cage. It's only for play time. We've done this for over a week now.

His cage mate has regular stool though.

We will probably have to watch his stool. Any suggestions on what to look for or maybe what to try?

[dianah]

i wouldn't worry too much. doesn't sound bad. keep an eye on the poo but hopefully this will go back to normal. they do have very sensitive tummies and sometimes their poo changes for no apparent reason.

once you start seeing sharp ends, monitor it closer. if you see poo sticking together go to yellow alert. if it's liquid then you need to go to the vets straight away.

[Chins]

Alright Thank you! 

I'll keep updating. They're sleeping and not so active right now.

So adorable when they sleep

[jmdebb]

They get half of a unfrosted mini wheat as treats. They were getting 'rose hips' nuts but they haven't had any in a couple days. They also get cubed timothy hay and loose timothy hay freely.

The stool is not sharp, it's round pellet shape, dark brown but soft when pick up or touched. His stool was normal last night, just soft this morning. We usually take them both our for some play time at night after dinner for an hour or so then they go back in their cage. I'm not sure what could have happened through that time.
During play time we give them willow wood chew toys to play and munch on, we do not put any of the willow in the cage. It's only for play time. We've done this for over a week now.

His cage mate has regular stool though.

We will probably have to watch his stool. Any suggestions on what to look for or maybe what to try?

no chin under the age of 6 mos should get treats.. maybe you mentioned how old they are in another thread but i didn't see it, so if they are under 6 mos that might be why.  i remembe once when i gave angel a treat under 6 mos and she got soft poop..not that all chins under that age will get soft poop, but its not good for them anyways,

the treats you are using are safe treats, i think, what are rose hips NUTS.. i mean i know rose hips, but i'm confused with the nuts part.. you don't give them nuts do you?  alot of people will vary on this treat, but they say they are not safe for chins.

watch to make sure the soft poop goes away, if it doesn't go away, i would call a vet.

[Chins]

They're both 5 months.
The only treats they get are the unfrosted mini wheat and they were getting rose hips.
I thought rose hips were a type of nut lol. We only gave them rose hip once every few days but we haven't given them any in a week.

Other than that they get regular pellet food and timothy hay-loose and cubed.

I am keeping an eye on their stool to make sure it doesn't get any softer. So far I haven't seen any diarrhea.
I'm wondering if his stool is normally softer in the morning but because we're both usually at work in the morning we never noticed.

Thank you again for your advise. We really appreciate all the feedback. We've first time chilla owners and we've done a lot of research but everything seems so new still.

[jmdebb]

is it sticking to his fur, or ledges..etc.. if it is, that isn't good... even if not pure diareah, soft poop isn't safe.

one thing you can try is activated charcoal that you can get at  your local pharmacy. i get the type in capules, and just rub a treat , okay i'm going against what i said, but i do not know how else to get them to eat it..

and some people say that you can use burnt toast, yes burnt... just make sure its not wheat or rye..etc.. use reg white.

i never had luck doing that, but alot of people say they do.

[Chins]

We took them out to play tonight. I checked his bottom that it was fine. The poop seemed back to normal tonight. I'm guessing his stool is normally soft in the morning but we haven't noticed because we're usually at work.

I'll have to continue to monitor his stool.
Thank you everyone for your concern and helpful suggestions. It's really appreciated, especially for first time owners.

Does anyone know how hard is too hard to grab at the base of their tail? They don't seem to vocalize any pain or be uncomfortable but I don't want to be grabbing too hard.

[dianah]

i wouldn't grab mine by their tail. i know this information is given in some books but i would definitely not do it. scoop them gently by placing one hand on their tummy and the other hand on their back and pick them up that way. just don't squeeze too hard - remember the floating ribs!

[jmdebb]

i wouldn't pull it, but as long as its at the base [by their butt] it is safe.

that is how breeders do it [well i can't say all of them, but some of the ones i saw], and how they do it at shows.. i've done it when i had to, but i prefer not too.. they get used to it and it won't bother them if that's how it's always done. 

[Chins]

Yea we've been trying to scoop them up more. Sometimes it's difficult to scoop them since they just jump away. We've been having more luck recently though. It seems they're both getting use to us. We will usually scoop them and put their tail between our middle and 4th finger as a security measure.

They're both more willing to come to us now. When we open the cage door they just climb out. Although sometimes they push our hands away lol.

Their poop seems back to normal.

How can you tell if your chinchi has bonded to you??
Also I noticed one of our chinchi's get this white stuff on the corner of his eye after a dust bath. Usually after a day it's gone and his eyes are still bright and shiny. He had conjunctivitis a couple weeks ago and it's gone now but I worry about his eye. Any thoughts of suggestions?

[dianah]

i think it probably varies from chin to chin but i'd say you're getting there once they start nibbling on your fingers. some chins will really enjoy being stroked and will just sit there with their eyes shut while you stroke their tummy or under their chin. one of mine really loves being tickled on his face and around his ears and he actually is very keen on being stroked down his back like a cat! none of my other lot would even consider letting me do that!
some chins will groom your face which is very sweet. as long as they know how hard they can bite

could the stuff in his eye be sand from his sand bath? mine get that sometimes, they just brush it off later. i've tried brushing it off myself but they weren't keen and they seem to deal with it pretty well by themselves.

[Chins]

lol my chinchi's seem to be too hyper to rub their tummy. They're too busy trying to escape.

They seem to be more comfortable now cuz i can go over and open the cage door and they're running to come out. Tonight we took them out to play in the pen for like 2 hours. Then before i got into the shower I opened the cage door to sit with them. They were really trying to get out again lol. My white chinchi, Saurumon scratched up my hand. He was like trying to push my hand away and he bit me, not hard. I guess he was annoyed my hand was in the away.
I can't tell if that's a good or bad thing.... any thoughts or suggestions?

I checked Ridley's eye (black mosiac) today and it seemed fine. The stuff in his eye was gone. I guess it is from the dust bath since he's black and the dust is white so it stands out more I guess.

They're very entertaining that's for sure.

[Debbie.nl.ca]

You don't really grab them by the tail just hold them. It's the proper and safest way.