# Russian tort I think ate small piece of plastic bag



## RussianTortxo (Jun 24, 2014)

I was giving Arnold a warm water soak and took him out for only a second so I could grab a towel next to me to dry him and I have two white plastic trash bags under his table top enclosure incase any of his coir or cypress mulch got out and when I placed him on my floor so I could dry him off he went for a bite at the trash bag and I tried for the life of me to open his mouth incase he really tried eating it. It happened so fast I don't know if he just let go of the bag or if a little got in his mouth when I picked him up away from it. Everything has been going so well with him that I haven't been on here in months and this is the first time anything bad has happened while caring for him. I feel like the worst tortoise owner for this happening and am keeping him hydrated, gave him another water soak to try to see if he will pass that bite he got ahold of. 

I've been crying and freaking out already, so please I hope no one will tell me how awful I was to not think anything of a trash bag. I've always been so careful with everything making sure I do everything right. He has pooped since this and I have been sitting next to his enclosure for he past half hour since it happened to keep an eye on anything else passing through. He's very alert and walking around his enclosure like he usually does and is sunbathing right now under his powersun bulb but I am worried he will die from it. Arnold is all I really have good going for me right now so if something were to happen to him I don't know what I would do. Please if anyone else knows what I can do to try to help the piece of bag pass through would be greatly appreciated.


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## emmamai (Jun 24, 2014)

Hay, I've just read your post and felt your pain! I'm not one to be able to give you advise as I'm new to the tort world but wanted to send a msg to ease your panic. I'm sure your tort will be fine, it is so worrying, worrying about them. But positive thoughts and I'm sure one of the many expert members on here will help soon 

Sending positive thoughts n will keep an eye on the thread


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## RussianTortxo (Jun 24, 2014)

Thank you so much. It means a lot. It's the first time anything like this has happened because I've always been so careful to keep an eye on him whenever I'm holding him, etc. He seems to be doing okay, he even wanted to eat more from his food bowl of the left over scraps. I'm just going to continue keeping an eye on him and making sure he is okay and hopefully either he will pass it out or that he didn't even get any in his mouth at all.


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## lismar79 (Jun 24, 2014)

Hopefully an expert will chime in here but when this happened to me I was told to soak a lot & feed cactus or cucumber to help push things along.


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## dmmj (Jun 24, 2014)

A piece of plastic while not a good food choice, it should pass with no problems. The general rule is basically anything they eat should pass. Soak more often for now, and keep an eye out for any behavioral changes.


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## RussianTortxo (Jun 24, 2014)

lismar79 said:


> Hopefully an expert will chime in here but when this happened to me I was told to soak a lot & feed cactus or cucumber to help push things along.


 

Did your tortoise do okay after this happened to you?


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## lismar79 (Jun 24, 2014)

Yep, kept her hydrated & it passed. Took days for it to work out which is also norm. As long as she's eating & pooing, should be ok.


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## Yellow Turtle01 (Jun 24, 2014)

give him lots of lettuce (fiber!) and he should be okay. If he doesn;t poop in the nest day or two, see a herpetologist because plastic CAN be damaging.


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## RussianTortxo (Jun 24, 2014)

Okay thank you guys so much!


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## WillTort2 (Jun 25, 2014)

If it's only a small piece of plastic you may never see it pass. It will be covered with other digested material.

If it's only one bite I don't think you have a problem.

Good luck.


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## RussianTortxo (Jun 25, 2014)

Yeah it was only one bite of a white trash bag that I have underneath his wooden enclosure that I have set up on the floor and I set him on the floor after his bath to grab the towel next to me to dry him off and he went to bite the trash bag so I'm sure he got a bite of it. I have been checking his poo and haven't seen it yet but he definitely is still acting normal as usual and sure does have an appetite still. I'm about to give him a soak to see if we can get some poo out!


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## emmamai (Jun 26, 2014)

Hay, how the little guy doin?


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## RussianTortxo (Jun 26, 2014)

He's great! Thank you for checking in on him! He's still having his appetite, little guy sure loves his spring mix and grassland tort food. Also been giving him soaks everyday rather than a few times a week, to keep him hydrated. He's been going to the bathroom as usual but I'm not sure about him passing the piece of plastic bag. I thought he did earlier because the bag was white but it was just urates I'm pretty sure. I'm still watching him like a hawk everyday and plan on it for the next week or however long it takes until I'm confident that he is alright for sure.

Thank you for checking, means a lot.


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