Constipated help?

[tyguy35]

Hey, so one of my female Redfoots has been having issues pooping. She will sit and push and push but barely anything comes out. She's struggling and she's starting to push so hard she gets a bulge in her neck. I'm afraid she's going to push her insides out.

 

[tyguy35]

She seems to have got a small piece out. It is hard not soft.

 

[Yvonne G]

Just leave the tortoise in a large (large footprint) tub of water, that comes up to the middle of the tortoise's sides. Leave her in there even after she starts scrambling around to get out. The scrambling and the water encourage pooping.

 

[tyguy35]

Ok thank you she's working on it.

 

[Yvonne G]

You don't want her to have to strain too much. Straining is one of the reasons for a prolapse.

 

[tyguy35]

When she pushes to hard I think she begins to prolapse but doesn't she gets almost like a white sheath around the poop but stops before it comes out to far. At first it looks like eggs but then I realized what she was doing

 

[CrystalsFamily]

I got some extremely helpful tips on this thread, for my little sick guy (a Russian):
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/foods-to-clean-out-the-digestive-tract.91482/

Probably the best tip was long warm soaks in the actual bathtub (shallow water), after warming up the whole bathroom with steam. I think it was the warm + lots of movement that was way better than regular soaks (which I had been doing 2-3x/day). Other tips included giving mineral oil and certain types of foods. This all followed a long period of no eating or pooping. I had finally gotten a clue that he was blocked when he pooped out something hard and dry looking.

Good luck!

 

[crimson_lotus]

My tortoise was the same way...mostly because she was passing a rock she ate. I soaked her every day and gave her watery foods until she could pass it