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[ChinC]

I just got my first chinchilla today. i put some mazuri pellets and timothy hay,when i came back home theres oily poo everywhere should i contact the pet store to see what they were feeding him?

[dianah]

what sort of oily poo? is it soft or is it liquid? if it's liquid, you need to take him to the vet as soon as possible! (i am not exaggerating, i promise) take his nuggets off him and leave just hay.

it would be a good idea to check what food he's been on previously. every change in a chinchilla diet must be done very gradually (usually a month or so) - this is because the bacteria in their gastrointestinal tract takes a long time to adjust to new feed. any upset to the gi system can cause serious problems and can even be fatal.

if the poo is just soft, ie the poo is well formed, you have separate poos but they're a bit squishy or start sticking together, keep him on hay until you find out what his previous food was, then start feeding that and it should hopefully get back to normal. if it's soft to the point where there are no separate poos and it's a thick liquid, you absolutely need to go to the vet today. i suspect the chin is quite young as it's been bought so very little. they can dehydrate and die quite quickly. there are other problems this can cause but i think dehydration is probably the most immediate problem. sorry, i don't mean to scare you!

[ChinC]

I believe it was the new food since they probably was giving him a cheap brand when I gave him mazuri that upset his stomach I see the poo is getting better it's taking form,I'm just giving him hay and water for now

[dianah]

that's good. it's not really because of cheap brand/expensive brand. the problem is caused by the sudden change, normally you'd gradually reduce the amount of old pellets and gradually add more and more new ones. what does his poo look like? is he eating? i'm also wondering, if you've only got him today... how long have you had him before the poo issue started? it's just that it takes about 12-15 hours for a chin to digest food although i guess if it's diarrhoea it may come out faster? soft poo can also be caused by stress (change of environment in your case) so it could be a combination of the two.

[ChinC]

I got him on Sunday it was the change of food and the stress of being some where new the poo has hardened compared to how it was before,I got him some kaytee Timothy hay and he is eating more than what he used to.i been having him on hay and water since I seen that yesterday because the poo looked like he had diaherria.

[Debbie.nl.ca]

I just shipped in 3 new kits and one had soft droppings for about 4 days. Even the change in environment can cause it. Change in sounds and smells, as well as feed.
If it's covered in mucus you may want a wet mount done to check for parasites, but my first guess would be the changes, Give burnt toast and hay for a day then gradually add back the pellets.