baby tortoise eating poop

[Crohnsaholic]

Hey guys it's Brandon again!

Tom Bombadil has been doing quite well! He has been eating all of his food. I feed him a pretty varied diet I would say that is :

Monday: vegetables (collard greens one week, and turnip greens the next)

Tuesday: either strawberries, kiwi, or pineapple

Wendesday: veggies

Thursday:fruits

Friday: veggies

Saturday: fruits

Sunday: mushrooms

Tom is almost 2.75 inches long. Is this a result of lack of variety? i do not calcium dust yet nor give protein. Should I start doing both or is this a result of something else?

Thank you for your time and responses

 

[moswen]

hey brandon, i'm sorry i don't know tom's background, do you know how old he is (age doesn't really mean a whole lot, i'm just trying to figure out, is he a hatchling?) what type of tort is he, red foot? are you thinking he's too small? i would definately calcium dust at least every other day at a minimum. torts need a lot of it, no matter the species. protien is also very necessary for RFs and box turtles, so if tom is one of those i would really suggest adding that to his diet.

do you mean collard and turnip greens when you say "veggies"? i'm concerned about what type of veggies you're feeding tom and for the lack of greens if you don't mean greens when you say "veggies", but again, that's depending what type of tort he is!

the best way to grow a tort is slow and steady, so, if you have everything right, mvb, good temps, calcium dusting, and right diet, and if he is still a hatchling, you should not worry about anything.

 

[Crohnsaholic]

hey brandon, i'm sorry i don't know tom's background, do you know how old he is (age doesn't really mean a whole lot, i'm just trying to figure out, is he a hatchling?) what type of tort is he, red foot? are you thinking he's too small? i would definately calcium dust at least every other day at a minimum. torts need a lot of it, no matter the species. protien is also very necessary for RFs and box turtles, so if tom is one of those i would really suggest adding that to his diet.

do you mean collard and turnip greens when you say "veggies"? i'm concerned about what type of veggies you're feeding tom and for the lack of greens if you don't mean greens when you say "veggies", but again, that's depending what type of tort he is!

the best way to grow a tort is slow and steady, so, if you have everything right, mvb, good temps, calcium dusting, and right diet, and if he is still a hatchling, you should not worry about anything.

yep Tom is only a hatchling. By the vegetables I mean greens yes, sorry for the confusion.

I wasn't sure about the calcium dusting and protein because I've read that you should wait to do those until they are a little older. If I should start giving those though then I will get started right away.

And yeah I have the right humidity, plenty of uvb, and the right heat spot and temps. He also gets a bath atleast 3-4times a week

 

[tortoises101]

The poop eating is completely normal. They do it in captivity and in the wild. Not sure why though.

 

[Yvonne G]

Baby tortoises will eat an adult tortoise's poop to populate his gut with the good flora and fauna.

Tortoises eat poop in general because there are still nutrients in the feces. Sort of like recycling.

 

[terryo]

I used to try so hard to take the poop out before he ate it, but hardly ever succeeded. I didn't give protein or calcium powder until he was 6 months old. Pio's 3 1/2 now. This is when he was a baby.

 

[Madkins007]

While that is a popular diet plan, it is also one that most Red-foot experts feel is too high in fruit, and low in fiber, calcium, and vitamin D. The fruits offer a lot of carbs and calories, but not a lot of the key nutrients. It is hard to offer the proper calcium/phosphorous ratio with so many meals not including much calcium in them, and most of the fruits being used are low in fiber as well. Mushrooms are often touted as being high in crucial vitamin D, but that only applies to those that have been exposed to good UV light during the growth phase and few store-bought mushrooms seem to have been.

There are many other options. The basic plan most pros recommend is to offer a variety of greens for most of the week, with some fruit and even less meat less often. A method I am liking more and more is to imagine you have two bowls- one the size of the tortoise's head, the other the size of its shell.

Fill the head bowl with 'high energy' foods- fruits most of the time, and meats every so often (as long as it is not a big chunk, it can be weekly or monthly or whatever.) This can be just one item, or a mix- whatever you have available.

Fill the shell bowl loosely with 'low energy' foods- greens, lettuces, vegetables with seeds (which are actually fruits, and are more like the wild fruits Red-foots eat than apples or bananas are), mushrooms, etc. I prefer to offer 2 or more different items in this bowl- perhaps some lettuce mix, some Turnip greens, and some chopped bell pepper this week; collards, Iceberg lettuce, and squash this week. If I have live bugs or worms available, I offer them as well (I don't count them like most meats.)

Because so much grocery store food is low in key nutrients, I feel it is important to add some back- in a controlled manner. For any nutrient, there is a healthy range that is usually pretty broad, and then things get bad if you go too high or too low. It can be tough to perfectly analyse the diet and figure exactly what you need, so we try to find a nice, safe, middle ground. In another thread, I posted a list of nutrient guidelines and vitamin dosages (you can find a bigger version of it at http://www.tortoiselibrary.com/nutguide.html ) that shows how broad the safe range is for many things.

Here is my answer for safe but healthy supplementation: get some hay blocks or pellets (I like the Timothy hay blocks sold for rabbits) and grind them up into a coarse powder. (A wood rasp gives great results, as does a food processor. I just grind two blocks against each other most of the time.) When I have about quarter cup or so of coarse powder, I add a big pinch of calcium powder (with or without D), and a small pinch of multi-vitamin (I use a crushed human tablet). Shake well and sprinkle lightly on the meal most days.

Now- tortoises CANNOT process calcium properly without vitamin D, and vice versa. If they get about an hour's worth of sunlight (strong enough to give you a good tan, and not passing through glass or plastic) a week, spread over several sessions, then they probably do not need additional help here. If they don't have this, they really should have a good UVB lamp (which will almost automatically also put out UVA). I know some people say you don't need it, but most research shows that it is important not only for vitamin D, but also for the pineal gland, brain development, proper vision and eye development, etc.

Even if you offer UVB lighting, I would still offer some supplemental vitamin D. I really like this stuff- http://www.puritan.com/d-vitamins-534/liquid-vitamin-d-3-5000-iu-030405?NewPage=1 . Not only is it a good deal, but since it is a liquid, I can use a small pump sprayer to squirt a light mist over the food. Another option is dripping some on mushrooms and let it soak in. Being liquid also lets you control the dosages nicely with a baby's medicine dropper, etc. Using the dosage chart I referenced earlier, I would offer the low dosage of D if you have a UVB bulb, and the higher dosage if you don't.

 

[Crohnsaholic]

Thank you all for your feedback! I'll start calcium and vitamin supplemting this week. I'll also modify his diet to give him less fruits, and i'll begin to give him an earthworm like once a month if that.
He does get plenty of uvb and uva though.