# my horsefield/russian tortoise smells :(



## bahamasdrums (Dec 28, 2012)

hi everyone, we have just bought a new friend to our female tortoise Sophia for Xmas, unfortunately they fight. however, there is much more bigger problem-Sophia's new friend, Gerrard, 5 years old male, who looks healthy, active, never scared of people, eats normally, drinks normally-has a smell. actually, i would say he stinks a bit. we feel that smell when we enter the room where is his varium. im really responsibly cleaning the varium, changing the food, bathing both of tortoises every day and etc.
there also are two things i have noticed:
his first stool/poo was from wood he used to live in (now he lives in sand)
the smell of him doesn't change after washing him
i have noticed that tortoises have a certain smell when they are afraid of something. for example, Gerrard smells more after Sophia's attack.
i don't know what to do, because nobody had that kind of problem,right?
any ideas?
thank you in advance.
julia


----------



## Jacqui (Dec 28, 2012)

I hope it's a sand mixture you have them on, not sraight sand. Also it sounds like you have them together? That is usually not recommended until you have the new one for awhile and know he is healthy, not just healthy looking.  As your finding out, tortoises often do not like roommates, especially if they don't have a lot of room to escape each other. His smell may be from his previous diet and/or worms are another common reason. I would get a stool sample checked out.


----------



## bahamasdrums (Dec 28, 2012)

Jacqui said:


> I hope it's a sand mixture you have them on, not sraight sand. Also it sounds like you have them together? That is usually not recommended until you have the new one for awhile and know he is healthy, not just healthy looking.  As your finding out, tortoises often do not like roommates, especially if they don't have a lot of room to escape each other. His smell may be from his previous diet and/or worms are another common reason. I would get a stool sample checked out.



we've separated them as soon as we seen they are fighting. unfortunately, i didn't know Russians like to be alone. We wanted to help Sophia, not to scare.
The sand they live in is the play sand for kids from Homebase shop, which usually is specially cleaned. i've mixed it with some small stones brought from same shop and some bigger dry wood sticks to hide under. both of them have a shelter and a pool. Sophia lives like that for a year already and she is completely healthy. i've read almost all forum before making her varium. as for Gerrard and his diet, he is eating a lot and all the time. no matter how much food is left to him, he will eat it all.


----------



## Laura (Dec 28, 2012)

seperate them... no friends needed and a fecal test would be a good idea. 
they dont need baths... shouldn't smell,, but a runny poop will smell worse..


----------



## wellington (Dec 28, 2012)

I would get rid of the stones if they are small enough to fit in their mouths. When you notice there is a problem with the sand and stones, it's too late and they are plugged up.


----------



## Yvonne G (Dec 28, 2012)

Welcome to the Forum, Julia!

Is the smell a urine smell or a feces smell? Tortoises express urine when they've been scared or upset. Your new tortoise might need to sit in a bowl of water for about 20 minutes to help him clear out the urine he's been holding onto.

The reason we say no sand is because when the food gets mixed up with the sand and too much is eaten, it might cause the tortoise to become impacted.


----------



## bahamasdrums (Dec 28, 2012)

wellington said:


> I would get rid of the stones if they are small enough to fit in their mouths. When you notice there is a problem with the sand and stones, it's too late and they are plugged up.


thanks a lot for your help and replies. i will try to test a poop even if it looks normally as Sophia's. And stones are bigger than their mouths... i think Gerrard has already been like that when he was brought to our house. he has been with us only for a week. we separated tortoises after first fight. The guy who sold us Gerrard didn't want him back, so Gerrard stayed with us.


----------



## bahamasdrums (Dec 28, 2012)

emysemys said:


> Welcome to the Forum, Julia!
> 
> Is the smell a urine smell or a feces smell? Tortoises express urine when they've been scared or upset. Your new tortoise might need to sit in a bowl of water for about 20 minutes to help him clear out the urine he's been holding onto.
> 
> The reason we say no sand is because when the food gets mixed up with the sand and too much is eaten, it might cause the tortoise to become impacted.



should i change the sand/soil to tortoises substrate from pet shop, which is mainly from wood? Gerrard's poo/stool for the first days was mainly small wood sticks. 
And his smell... do you know how smells boiled pork or lamb? it has specific smell, it has only that sort of meat... so Gerrard smells the same... i thought it can be because of the wounds he had after fight, but now i am scared he is ill.


----------



## Laura (Dec 28, 2012)

it could be from his diet before you.. and No,, if his poop was wood,, then Dont put him back on it.. I bet he needs a better diet and mineral supplement.. Sand can cause impaction.. so Id change it to dirt.. and give him a clean place to eat off of. Slate, large rock, plate..


----------



## bahamasdrums (Dec 29, 2012)

Laura said:


> it could be from his diet before you.. and No,, if his poop was wood,, then Dont put him back on it.. I bet he needs a better diet and mineral supplement.. Sand can cause impaction.. so Id change it to dirt.. and give him a clean place to eat off of. Slate, large rock, plate..


thank you we will change to the soil..and i will try to find a vet


----------

