My tortoise won't poop

[Yingg]

Hi everyone, for the past month (and a half, maybe), my russian tortoise has only pooped twice. i feed her salad mixes and some hibiscus, kale, radicchio, frisée, and occasionally cucumber. her basking temp is 100-105 (just measured) her night is 55-low 60s, her ambient daytime is mid 60s. i soak her every other day for an hour.

can anyone give me some advice?

BTW I noticed that she has pooped a lot less ever since i moved her into a larger new enclosure nearly half a year ago. i'm almost 100% sure she's NOT eating her own poop. she passes urates fine. she eats fine and still moves around the usual amount for winter!

please help!!

 

[dada625]

She eat as usual as before you move her into the new enclosure? I don't have russian tortoise but the night temps 55-60 is not too low?

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

I’d consider boosting ambient temperature during the day so it’s more in the 70-75 rangealso might be worth keeping night temp in the 65 range and not let it drop into the 50’s

 

[TammyJ]

I also think you should up the temps a bit.
Basking I don't think should be over 100.
What's the humidity?

 

[NamedNut]

Hi everyone, for the past month (and a half, maybe), my russian tortoise has only pooped twice. i feed her salad mixes and some hibiscus, kale, radicchio, frisée, and occasionally cucumber. her basking temp is 100-105 (just measured) her night is 55-low 60s, her ambient daytime is mid 60s. i soak her every other day for an hour.

can anyone give me some advice?

BTW I noticed that she has pooped a lot less ever since i moved her into a larger new enclosure nearly half a year ago. i'm almost 100% sure she's NOT eating her own poop. she passes urates fine. she eats fine and still moves around the usual amount for winter!

please help!!

How long are you soaking for and in what temperature?

How old is your tort or how long have you had it?

Do you weigh and track its weight?

When you feed, how much are you feeding?

My tort seems to expel himself frequently in his soaks, which I think is a normal thing. He has also has had extended periods without pooping, maybe a couple weeks. I’ll be following along as I’m also curious!

 

[wellington]

Basking is too high, needs to be no higher than 100, 95 is better.
Day temp should actually range from 75-80 along with the basking temp
Night temps should be 60 to 70.but around 65 is best.
Soak her for half hour to an hour daily until she poops normally then can cut back to your normal soaks.
Get temps right and you should start seeing her be more normal.

 

[NamedNut]

Basking is too high, needs to be no higher than 100, 95 is better.
Day temp should actually range from 75-80 along with the basking temp
Night temps should be 60 to 70.but around 65 is best.
Soak her for half hour to an hour daily until she poops normally then can cut back to your normal soaks.
Get temps right and you should start seeing her be more normal.

Should the 95-100 basking be on the surface of the substrate/rock or the top of the shell height?

Think I just inadvertently realized my basking is also high. This is the beautiful part of TFO, follow along with others posts and you will never stop learning!

 

[wellington]

Should the 95-100 basking be on the surface of the substrate/rock or the top of the shell height?

Think I just inadvertently realized my basking is also high. This is the beautiful part of TFO, follow along with others posts and you will never stop learning!

I like having the floor/slate the lowest end 90 and then the shell should reach higher, but not over 100
Even if the floor/slate has to be a little lower, but not lower than 85, to get the top of tortoise shell no higher than the 100.
Russians being smaller and usually flatter than most other rounded torts, it usually works to have the floor/slate 90-95.
The basking range is 90-100 but 95 is a good middle spot

 

[Yingg]

She eat as usual as before you move her into the new enclosure? I don't have russian tortoise but the night temps 55-60 is not too low?

55-60 is the house temp, but i have an extra CHE which raises it to around 70 at its warmest spot! (she chills under it most of the time)

 

[Yingg]

I’d consider boosting ambient temperature during the day so it’s more in the 70-75 rangealso might be worth keeping night temp in the 65 range and not let it drop into the 50’s

i have a basking lamp and she mostly hangs out under it. may i ask why the ambient temp should be raised if she has the choice of going under the basking light? as for the night temp, there's the CHE which raises to about 70. she likes to chill under it lol. when i say ambient, i mean the temp of the house. but she almost always stays under the basking lamps/heat emitter

 

[Yingg]

I also think you should up the temps a bit.
Basking I don't think should be over 100.
What's the humidity?

oh okay!! i will go lower right now. i have one half which is 35-40 humidity. she stays there during the day. at night, she goes to the area which is 50-60 humidity.

 

[Yingg]

How long are you soaking for and in what temperature?

How old is your tort or how long have you had it?

Do you weigh and track its weight?

When you feed, how much are you feeding?

My tort seems to expel himself frequently in his soaks, which I think is a normal thing. He has also has had extended periods without pooping, maybe a couple weeks. I’ll be following along as I’m also curious!

she's about 16 years old. i do weigh her occasionally but not enough to say i track it, sorry. the temp when soaking is 75-90 (rarely 90, and if it hits 90, it's only for a few mins when i add new warm water in). mostly it stays around mid 80s. i soak about 1 hour 15 min every two days or three days.

 

[Yingg]

Basking is too high, needs to be no higher than 100, 95 is better.
Day temp should actually range from 75-80 along with the basking temp
Night temps should be 60 to 70.but around 65 is best.
Soak her for half hour to an hour daily until she poops normally then can cut back to your normal soaks.
Get temps right and you should start seeing her be more normal.

i can lower the basking right now. for the night though, she stays under the CHE which is about 70 degrees. (the house temp is usually low 60s though.) may i ask why i need to raise the ambient temp even though she stays under the CHE 99% of the time (i have it rigged to turn on when it drops below 65... so it's always on lol.) and for the daytime, she stays under or near the basking lamp almost always.

i am asking because it's difficult for me (near impossible) to raise the ambient temp (house temp) since my parents don't want to spend more money on the electricity bill. i think the only way they would let me raise the temp is if i paid for it myself... which is a bit too much for me, haha...

 

[Yingg]

Should the 95-100 basking be on the surface of the substrate/rock or the top of the shell height?

Think I just inadvertently realized my basking is also high. This is the beautiful part of TFO, follow along with others posts and you will never stop learning!

i learn every day here, haha! (how do you measure the temp on shell vs substrate? i've always just left a few thermometers (the alcohol ones) on the ground and they read 95-100.

 

[Yingg]

I like having the floor/slate the lowest end 90 and then the shell should reach higher, but not over 100
Even if the floor/slate has to be a little lower, but not lower than 85, to get the top of tortoise shell no higher than the 100.
Russians being smaller and usually flatter than most other rounded torts, it usually works to have the floor/slate 90-95.
The basking range is 90-100 but 95 is a good middle spot

does this mean i should lower the basking an overall 5 degrees?

 

[Yingg]

i'm going to ask this here as well, since i there are many people.

i assumed that things passed through their system much faster. (a few days at most) since once, i gave mineral oil for constipation and it came out the next day. similarly, i gave some pumpkin, and the next day her poop was a bit more orange.) but i hear many people say it takes long time to go through their system. could anyone explain please?

 

[wellington]

Whatever temps are off you need to fix.
Basking 90-100
Over all day a range of 75 cool to end, 80 warmer end to basking other end.
Night time 65-70. I like it at night closer to 70 because they are not brumating. It helps to keep them up better than if it's colder.

 

[wellington]

i can lower the basking right now. for the night though, she stays under the CHE which is about 70 degrees. (the house temp is usually low 60s though.) may i ask why i need to raise the ambient temp even though she stays under the CHE 99% of the time (i have it rigged to turn on when it drops below 65... so it's always on lol.) and for the daytime, she stays under or near the basking lamp almost always.

i am asking because it's difficult for me (near impossible) to raise the ambient temp (house temp) since my parents don't want to spend more money on the electricity bill. i think the only way they would let me raise the temp is if i paid for it myself... which is a bit too much for me, haha...

Staying under the basking all the time is because the other areas are too cold. It's not good to stay under basking all the time.
All temps need to be correct. She needs to be able to roam around, drink, eat, and exercise not just lay under the basking most of the time.
Yes, you need to fix the over all temps

 

[Yingg]

Staying under the basking all the time is because the other areas are too cold. It's not good to stay under basking all the time.
All temps need to be correct. She needs to be able to roam around, drink, eat, and exercise not just lay under the basking most of the time.
Yes, you need to fix the over all temps

alright, i will keep that in mind. let me measure all the temps tonight. the weather is getting warmer. i will update and hopefully they're satisfactory. i might cover the enclosure partially (more of the enclosure) with towels so the heat gets trapped.

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

55-60 is the house temp, but i have an extra CHE which raises it to around 70 at its warmest spot! (she chills under it most of the time)

I think the fact she’s under the che a lot might be an indication that she’s feeling too cool, during the day I’d have the basking directly underneath 95, warmer end 90, middle in 80-85 range, then the cooler end 70-75, 65 is a good night to go for, but as mentioned above, 70 is good overnight during winter as some get sluggish when not brumating