Poo Eating
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EverythingAnimal
AnonONIagent
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Poo Eating
by AnonONIagent Mon 10 Oct 2016, 11:43 am
Last night I came up to my room after playing some video games and spotted Sarah eating poop. I'm not sure whether the poop was her's or not. I know that coprophagy is normal in hamsters, but I haven't heard anything about mice doing it. One thought I had is that maybe she's trying to keep the cage tidy, although that's kinda an odd reason too seeing as how the cage was super clean as I had just cleaned it.
Any thoughts?
Any thoughts?
Last edited by AnonONIagent on Mon 10 Oct 2016, 2:34 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Re: Poo Eating
by EverythingAnimal Mon 10 Oct 2016, 12:06 pm
I don't know the reason but wanted to add that I have seen this a lot when a go to pet stores, so it couldn't be a really unusual thing.
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Re: Poo Eating
by MesaMouse Mon 10 Oct 2016, 12:21 pm
I have nothing to add as I never saw any of my girls doing this but am glad to learn that it is relatively normal in hamsters as I'm going to be adding one to the family soon.
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Re: Poo Eating
by Peachy Mon 10 Oct 2016, 12:34 pm
Mine do this sometimes. I have no idea why, but I think as long as their diet is good it's not something to worry about.
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Re: Poo Eating
by scaredymouse Mon 10 Oct 2016, 12:51 pm
chinchillas do it too. I think it's just a rodent thing. They all sort of do it occasionally
If you want to read more about it:
[url=http://www.drsfostersmith.com/pic/article.cfm?articleid=796
]http://www.drsfostersmith.com/pic/article.cfm?articleid=796[/url]
If you want to read more about it:
[url=http://www.drsfostersmith.com/pic/article.cfm?articleid=796
]http://www.drsfostersmith.com/pic/article.cfm?articleid=796[/url]
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Re: Poo Eating
by CallaLily Mon 10 Oct 2016, 4:12 pm
It is a completely normal thing for a mouse to do.
And mice are mentioned in this article focused on rats:http://www.rmca.org/Articles/coprophagy.htm
From here: http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/exotic_and_laboratory_animals/rodents/mice_and_rats_as_pets.htmlCoprophagy is a normal behavior in rats and mice. It is an inherent behavior, because it is seen in germ-free rodents purposely bred for research. Unlike rabbits, which eat cecal feces from their anus, mice and rats eat fecal pellets on the floor of their caging. The amount of feces eaten varies between rodents, their age and physiologic status (eg, coprophagy increases in pregnancy), and the diet fed. On a nutritionally complete diet, rats will eat ~10% of their feces. When rats are housed together, they ingest each other's feces. The unique odor of a colony is due in part to ingestion of feces, and the group scent enables distinction between members and nonmembers. Mice engage in coprophagy ~6 times/day. Growing mice show vigorous coprophagous activity, eating 13 pellets/day. However, it gradually decreases to 1½ pellets at 2 yr of age.
And mice are mentioned in this article focused on rats:http://www.rmca.org/Articles/coprophagy.htm
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Re: Poo Eating
by MesaMouse Tue 11 Oct 2016, 11:05 am
scaredymouse wrote:chinchillas do it too. I think it's just a rodent thing. They all sort of do it occasionally
If you want to read more about it:
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/pic/article.cfm?articleid=796
This was fascinating! I never thought about animals other than ruminants "redigesting" their food but it makes perfect sense.
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