# Poop: how often?



## Stephanie Logan (Nov 13, 2009)

OK, I'm sorry to start another poop thread, but it has been close to a week since I last saw a Taco turd at my house.

She has been eating pretty well, even gained some weight (Yay!!) at her last weigh-in. She has been outside several times this last week in the warm weather, so it is possible she pooped in her enclosure. I have checked it carefully these last few days and see no unequivocal proof that she has "gone".

I guess it is possible she ate her own poop, though I have never seen her do that. She usually poops in warm spots and proudly walks away from it: "Just look at what I left you!"

She's not super fond of soakings, but today I put her in for about 15 minutes, which used to work very reliably as a mild laxative. Still no poop!

Her daily diet is endive and dark green lettuce, pumpkin or butternut squash, a piece of prickly pear fruit, one Mazuri pellet, and either grape or watermelon puree (just enough to coat the rest), all chopped and mixed together and then sprinkled with a little TNT and calcium.

How often do your tortoises poop? How long should I give her to excrete before taking her to the vet? She seems normal and happy other than the missing digestive "end product".


----------



## tortoisenerd (Nov 13, 2009)

I think it is very likely you missed it, she ate it, or she is having a few days break from poop (natural if she pooped a bunch a few days ago). If nothing else is going on symptom-wise, I'd give it a few more days. If you are very worried, put her in a plain small enclosure where you can easily see her poop or the remnants of the poop (smear on paper) until you see her go. With her having indoor and outdoor enclosures, it was likely missed. Many times I have said to myself "I haven't see a Trevor poop in X days". Usually 3-5. When I clean out the enclosure (every few months) I usually find a few. Some hide under stuff or are in burrows.


----------



## dmmj (Nov 13, 2009)

I go three times a day and i usually, wait you meant tortoises sorry my bad. You could always soak her, that usually get's mine to poop.


----------



## Kymiie (Nov 14, 2009)

Yes with crush he always has a poop when I soak him, but maily he will have a poo every 1-2 days altough i do not always see it as i know crush does eat it :/

xxxx


----------



## Stephanie Logan (Nov 14, 2009)

dmmj said:


> I go three times a day and i usually, wait you meant tortoises sorry my bad. You could always soak her, that usually get's mine to poop.



Wow, what a high-functioning digestive system you have! Your doctor must be very proud.

Well, still no poop today yet, but I just soaked her again this morning, and will soak her before I drive up to the Reptile Expo, and will soak her again tonight if necessary. She did pass urates in her morning bath, so that is hopeful. And she did poop several times (on the sunporch carpet) when she went the last time 5-7 days ago, so Kate is probably right, and she just didn't need to unload again for awhile.

It's been many years since I was so obssessed with excretory functions, that's for sure! I just can't help thinking about Marshman's Walter, and that makes me worry more than I probably should.


----------



## Madortoise (Nov 16, 2009)

I wonder if giving aloe vera plant helps to loosen up her(his) stool in case taco is constipated?


----------



## Maggie Cummings (Nov 16, 2009)

Stephanie...I know you are trying to be a good tortoise Mommy...but that's not a very good diet for either a desert tortoise or a Sulcata...Their kidneys and liver don't function the way ours does and they don't process sugar so the fruit is not good even as a coating, squash everyday isn't good and the cactus pear should be a treat. Taco should have a big pile of grasses and weeds and Spring Mix all messed around. TNT sprinkled over it 3 times a week. That's it...if you want to use Mazuri several soft pellets with some Spring Mix would be a nice meal. With all the health/care problems that Taco has had I think that one big pile of greens is much better than the selected way you are trying to feed. I mean no disrespect, I know you are trying , but I think you need to feed a more simple diet and stop soaking so much. The way you are feeding is not normal, and I think that's maybe part of the pooping problem. Now you are soaking 3 times a day? Gosh...that's just too much. Once a day is enough and I think you should just stop worrying about poop. Try feeding a pile of greens and some Mazuri, stop soaking so much and you need to relax some...come up here and pick up some Bob poop, that will keep you occupied for the day...
please don't think I am criticizing you, I am not...I am just trying to help and give some advice...
OMG! Your daughter is in Edinburgh, TX??? As a truck driver I spent some time there about 10 years ago...I ran there once a week from El Paso where I picked up vacuum cleaners and took them to McAllen...Spent the night in Edinburgh. The trk stop was horrible and the only way I could get any sleep was to hang my bra out the window so the lot lizards would leave me alone...My company was afraid to have me spend the night there. one lousy truck stop and man that was a place!


----------



## dmmj (Nov 16, 2009)

lot lizards? explain please.


----------



## Stephanie Logan (Nov 17, 2009)

maggie3fan said:


> Stephanie...I know you are trying to be a good tortoise Mommy...but that's not a very good diet for either a desert tortoise or a Sulcata...Their kidneys and liver don't function the way ours does and they don't process sugar so the fruit is not good even as a coating, squash everyday isn't good and the cactus pear should be a treat. Taco should have a big pile of grasses and weeds and Spring Mix all messed around. TNT sprinkled over it 3 times a week. That's it...if you want to use Mazuri several soft pellets with some Spring Mix would be a nice meal. With all the health/care problems that Taco has had I think that one big pile of greens is much better than the selected way you are trying to feed. I mean no disrespect, I know you are trying , but I think you need to feed a more simple diet and stop soaking so much. The way you are feeding is not normal, and I think that's maybe part of the pooping problem. Now you are soaking 3 times a day? Gosh...that's just too much. Once a day is enough and I think you should just stop worrying about poop. Try feeding a pile of greens and some Mazuri, stop soaking so much and you need to relax some...come up here and pick up some Bob poop, that will keep you occupied for the day...
> please don't think I am criticizing you, I am not...I am just trying to help and give some advice...
> OMG! Your daughter is in Edinburgh, TX??? As a truck driver I spent some time there about 10 years ago...I ran there once a week from El Paso where I picked up vacuum cleaners and took them to McAllen...Spent the night in Edinburgh. The trk stop was horrible and the only way I could get any sleep was to hang my bra out the window so the lot lizards would leave me alone...My company was afraid to have me spend the night there. one lousy truck stop and man that was a place!



Hah! You and Marci would get along well. She does not like Edinburgh either. She only went there because she got a full-ride four-year scholarship for volleyball. She is not enjoying the sport much due to her coach, but she is playing a lot and well, and majoring in biology...we'll see if she makes it through her senior year (2011) without quitting and finishing her degree up here.

I agree with you that I am overdoing the feeding thing. The trouble is that she was given only Romaine lettuce her first 4 years, so now she doesn't recognize anything else as food (per Yvonne and Danny). Her only other "food" that she will eat is the weed Euphorbia Maculata, which I gave her all summer but is not growing in a Colorado winter climate. The prickly pear fruit was recommended by Vinke and Vetter in South American Tortoises, and they labeled Chaco's as "specialized eaters" and said that without prickly pear, the tortoises did not thrive or reproduce. Right now I am just trying to get her to eat enough to survive. She has never been a big eater (since we were basically starving and malnourishing her before we "got religion"), so the idea is to get her used to eating larger amounts of food and then gradually cut back on the fruit puree. I am hoping to do this in the spring when her weeds start growing again and I can put her in our neighbors' garden to graze on those.

I completely agree with you that it is not a natural diet for any tortoise, even my Taco princess Bean!


----------



## Shelly (Nov 17, 2009)

dmmj said:


> lot lizards? explain please.



Prostitutes.


----------



## Maggie Cummings (Nov 17, 2009)

I'm sorry Stephanie, I thought she had gotten over that and had an appetite...I'll slink back into my corner now...


----------



## Stephanie Logan (Nov 17, 2009)

maggie3fan said:


> I'm sorry Stephanie, I thought she had gotten over that and had an appetite...I'll slink back into my corner now...



Not at all! If I follow your advice more often, maybe Taco will grow up to be like Bob! (Except without the toilet plunger appendage)


----------



## Yvonne G (Nov 17, 2009)

Hi Stephanie:

You have such a good sense of humor! I know I'm putting the pressure on you for future posts in saying this, but almost every one of your posts gives me a chuckle.

And its good to see that you are keeping a cool head about the care of your Little Taco. It must be exasperating to have to keep explaining it all the time. I love your signature line!

Yvonne


----------



## Stephanie Logan (Nov 18, 2009)

Thanks Yvonne. A compliment from the Food Goddess and keeper of a 100-Chelonian menagerie means quite a lot to me.


----------

