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[christa]

I have had my male chinchilla for almost 2 years now.

He eats Oxbow hays and pellets and drinks purified water.
I give him bits of dried papaya and pineapple,  but have cut back on these.
He eats, drinks, pees and poops, and runs on his wheel,
and all his vet visits have found him normal.

He has wood to chew on,  and gets a regular dustbath.

My problem is:  He has always, always had small, dry fecal droppings.

I've had 2 other Chins,  and their droppings were large, firm, and moist (unless they were constipated).

His are very small,  like mouse droppings.  ALL the time,  no matter how much hay, water, fruit he gets.

This has been for the 2 years I have had him.

I have given him critical care with a syringe,  extra water in syringe,  organic pineapple juice,  pure pumpkin-  to no avail.

What could be the cause of this in an otherwise healthy Chinchilla?

Thanks for any input. 

[GrayRodent]

That is very mysterious. Sounds like you might have a freak of nature there. Maybe you should do a CT or high resolution radiograph and check for partial obstructions or constrictions in the bowels but that's a wild guess. I don't know. I've never heard of such a thing.

[christa]

That is very mysterious. Sounds like you might have a freak of nature there. Maybe you should do a CT or high resolution radiograph and check for partial obstructions or constrictions in the bowels but that's a wild guess. I don't know. I've never heard of such a thing.

Thank you very much for replying.

  I have been thinking of having the vet do scans or xrays to see if this is some kind of obstruction or birth defect.  Either that or intestinal strictures.  It's very puzzling and disturbing. 

There were a few times when his droppings seemed fairly normal,  but these were rare exceptions,  and never the norm by any means.

I wonder if some allergy might be causing something like IBD also?  Thanks once more.