Is My Chinchilla Drinking?

This question (above), well an offshoot of it, is what prompted the post yesterday about telling people that they're always welcome to ask questions.

I got a text from someone telling me that they noticed some odd behavior with their chin... they thought he was going to a corner to pee, but then wouldn't pee, and if they offered him water, he wouldn't drink.  Their question was, would this warrant a vet visit?

My first questions to them were, is he eating, and is he pooing?  The answer to both was yes.  That's always a good sign, because usually if they're not drinking, they won't be eating either. 

Since he was pooing, the next question was, do the poos look normal?  They say yes, they do.  Also a good sign, as if a chinchilla is not drinking, the poos shrink.  Without water intake, there is less water coming back out of the bodies in the poo, so you end up with smaller, usually rounder, harder, poos.  To me, they're obviously different, and probably to most people as well.  If you think the poos look normal, they probably are, as changes are fairly obvious. 

They said he was also acting normal and playful, which is also good sign.  If he was stressed or sick, often you see chins that act lethargic or just sit on one place.

All in all, I didn't think anything was wrong, and this person appreciated getting an educated opinion.  This is your tidbit of chin-knowledge for the day :)