2 year old Sulcata pooping in her house

[Miles&Marvin]

I build my growing gal an insulated house this winter and she absolutely loves. Only problem is she seems to want to poop in it every night as opposed to the yard. Any advice how to get her to poop outside. She’s outside from 10:30-3:30. We live in Los Angeles. Thanks

 

[Chefdenoel10]

I build my growing gal an insulated house this winter and she absolutely loves. Only problem is she seems to want to poop in it every night as opposed to the yard. Any advice how to get her to poop outside. She’s outside from 10:30-3:30. We live in Los Angeles. Thanks

Hey guys,
Glad you’re here! Welcome!!
There is a lot of great advice others will give you about this situation, however,
MY advice is this….
If a tortoise IS pooping… life is goooood!
My experience is when you find NO poop anywhere..?…. It’s not a good thing.

If my tortoise pooped on my brand new rug… I would …. Ok well … after I did something I won’t mention…. I would kiss her head and tell her thanks for the care package. Clean it professionally, then have a beer!
I have been on the bad end of a poop less tortoise and it was never good.

Here’s to hoping she KEEPS pooping and don’t worry too much about WHERE she does it.

All my best,
Chef

Please wait for more responses as they will be much better than mine.
Keep up the good spirits!!

 

[Tom]

I build my growing gal an insulated house this winter and she absolutely loves. Only problem is she seems to want to poop in it every night as opposed to the yard. Any advice how to get her to poop outside. She’s outside from 10:30-3:30. We live in Los Angeles. Thanks

What size is your tortoise?

They tend to poop when they are feeling warmed up. They feel warmed up in their house. That is just how it works. You can soak the tortoise in warm water for 40 minutes every day or every other day and the tortoise will usually empty out in the soak water, and therefore not empty out in the night house. This is what I did with my adult leopards girls. They were the messiest tortoises I have ever had, as far as the night box goes. If I skipped soaking them more than a couple of days, they would turn their night box into poop soup. It took a few years, but that was the only time I've ever had the floor of a night box rot out.

The other tip is to leave a layer of dry dirt in the night box and then its really easy to scrape up the mess with a flat head shovel as needed, and simply replace the dirt.

 

[Renee_H]

What size is your tortoise?

They tend to poop when they are feeling warmed up. They feel warmed up in their house. That is just how it works. You can soak the tortoise in warm water for 40 minutes every day or every other day and the tortoise will usually empty out in the soak water, and therefore not empty out in the night house. This is what I did with my adult leopards girls. They were the messiest tortoises I have ever had, as far as the night box goes. If I skipped soaking them more than a couple of days, they would turn their night box into poop soup. It took a few years, but that was the only time I've ever had the floor of a night box rot out.

The other tip is to leave a layer of dry dirt in the night box and then its really easy to scrape up the mess with a flat head shovel as needed, and simply replace the dirt.

Ohhhh I just experienced my first house full of poop soup this morning! I tend to soak her earlier in the day and only with water from the garden hose that I let warm up a bit before soaking her. Maybe I should move soaks to after dinner and haul out warm water. lol. She’s only pooped once in a soak. I didn’t so much mind cleaning the house this morning in this beautiful weather but in the chillier months I may not be as enthusiastic

 

[dada625]

My redfoot usually poop in soak water, maybe soak your tortoise in warm water, let him make a habit of pooping in soak water.

 

[Tom]

Ohhhh I just experienced my first house full of poop soup this morning! I tend to soak her earlier in the day and only with water from the garden hose that I let warm up a bit before soaking her. Maybe I should move soaks to after dinner and haul out warm water. lol. She’s only pooped once in a soak. I didn’t so much mind cleaning the house this morning in this beautiful weather but in the chillier months I may not be as enthusiastic

Oh yes... You know how every tortoise species has pros and cons? Leopards are awesome. They have so many "pros". One of their main cons is this "soiling" of their night houses with the "poop soup". I had three SA leopard females sharing a 4x8 night box. It was disgusting. In all my years, that was the first and still only time I have had the bottom of one of my night boxes rot out. It was no big deal, and I just replaced the rotted area with a big patch over it. Then, after a few more years, I had to remove the rotten patch and replace that area of the floor again. Meanwhile all other night boxes for all other species are perfectly fine. Frequent long soaks would empty them out and reduce the need for cleaning the gross floor of the night box for them.