constipated tort

[Rascal Rock]

I have heard about tortoise becoming constipated because of the cuddle bone in their habitat. I gave my baby marg a bath today and she had some white stuff come out of her butt. Not sure what to look for as far as signs of constipation and I haven’t see her pop yet so… what should I do ?

 

[wellington]

The white stuff is urates, normal, as long as it is not gritty. If she is eating normal and not pooping, try soaking her longer, even an hour or two. Just make sure you keep her warm. They usually poop every other day, more then every day. My leopard does anyway. They also don't always poop in their soaks, each is different. See what others have to say.

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Also, tell us what her diet is, substrate, and temps.

 

[ascott]

The white stuff is urates, normal, as long as it is not gritty.

If your tort was constipated (impacted) you would not see poo with the urates passing And as Wellington says---soaks are key, also warm water soaks are even better

The calcium bone is not the culprit but rather a natural process of some torts....more soaks and hydration will lessen the amounts of urates stored in turn lessen the amount of urates passed...when you offer foods you can spray them heavily with water and this assures even high level of water intake than the food alone....

 

[Jacob]

Thats urates you seen, and if your guy is constipated a nice lukewarm bath helps with that, and more natural varied diet too.

 

[Rascal Rock]

temps are normal 90 + or - on the hot side 75-80 + or - on the cold side. i live in the SF bay area and out weather is pretty nice in redwood city thats why i had them outside during the day inside at night. ambient is good to. they live in 55 gallon rubber made container and i feed them romaine, red leaf, escarole, and dandy lion green. i rotate between feedings.

 

[JoesMum]

I'm with every one else, a daily soak will help to ensure your tort is not dehydrated and encourages pooping. My soaking tips are in the link in my signature block below this post.

The white urate should be creamy not gritty ... the better hydrated your tort is, the less urate there will be. There will always be some though.

Try to feed as varies a diet as possible. The salads you describe, apart from the dandelion, are quite low in fiber. You can feed things like hibiscus, sow thistle and rose leaves too.

Take a look at this Plant Booklet that's got pictures of healthy stuff to feed.

You can also look up plants that you can buy in the supermarket and garden centre and the ones that grow in your yard in The Tortoise Table Plant Database to find out what else you can feed to add variety.