New Chin problems

[ozlady]

Hello,  We are first time Chinchilla parents. We got "Lucky" from a pet store that told us
he is about 6 months old. They knew very little about chinchilla's, they did not tell us that
it would not be good to change his food suddenly. He has had diarrhea for a couple of days
now; seems to be getting a little better. He is active, eating & drinking & playing! We gave
him some probiotic to try to bring him back into balance. I have been reading everything
I can and we have given him the best of everything. How long can it take for him to get
back into balance with his diet, and how can we stop the diarrhea? Any advise would be
very much appreciated! Thanks for your help.. Sincerely, Ozlady

[LeaJo22]

Congrats on the Chin!
To help stop the diarrhea I would suggest less pellets and more hay and also make sure you're not feeding him any treats until it gets better. Hope it helps!

[dianah]

i think you are on the right path. probiotics are good, what have you done about the pellets? if you can find out what he was on in the shop, get some of that and feed him this while gradually adding more and more of the new stuff and reducing the old - ideally over a month period. plenty of hay. if you cannot find out what food he was on in the shop, get rid of the pellets altogether and feed just hay until his poo gets better, then gradually introduce pellets. no treats as lea has already said.

also, diarrhoea, what consistency are we talking? is it liquid (this really is not good!)? or is it just really soft poos sticking together, to the chin and to the shelves? you could give him some burnt - but really burnt! - bread. only a tiny piece. 

[Squirrel_Butt]

Do you have an exotic vet in your area? try and get him in if you do.