I have a Sulcata he seems to be backed up I can see the poo but it's just not coming out. I have tried soaking him but that's not helping. I am having trouble finding a vet that treats reptiles let alone one on the weekend. Is there anything else I can do for him? I have noticed over the past 10 days he hasn't eaten like he normally does. His diet is mostly romaine, green and red lettuce and we change it up between kale and mustard greens and mix them all together. He also has regular supply of Rep-Cal Tortoise Food and this is the first time this have ever happened. Any advise for me?
Constipation
- Thread starter que
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- Oct 30, 2010
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bump. welcome
Welcome to TFO! I'm sure one of our Sulcata owners will be along shortly to give you advice.
How long are you soaking your tortoise? Are you soaking him in warm water? Have you tried to gently apply a bit of mineral oil to the area?
M
Maggie Cummings
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For starters you need to feed him a better diet. "mostly Romaine" is not good. With the diet you're feeding him he should have diarrhea not constipation. Can you gently pull out what you can see? How old is this tortoise? You should get some Spring Mix and add whatever good produce your store has now, like mustard greens, turnip greens, red and green leaf, endive, escarole, collards or kale. That's for starters. Everyday he needs to be soaked in warm water, while he's like this a 30 minute soak would do. Get some mineral oil and using a Q-tip grease all around the cloaca and see if that helps. Taking a car ride usually works too.
What temp are you keeping him? He might be too cold, his basking area should be around 100 degrees. What kind of basking/heat lamp are you using? His cool area should be around 80 degrees as long as he is like this. How are you keeping him? Tort table? Aquarium? Pen outside? It helps us to offer advise when we know how you are keeping him. That's all I can think of for now. If he were mine I would pull out what I could see...
What temp are you keeping him? He might be too cold, his basking area should be around 100 degrees. What kind of basking/heat lamp are you using? His cool area should be around 80 degrees as long as he is like this. How are you keeping him? Tort table? Aquarium? Pen outside? It helps us to offer advise when we know how you are keeping him. That's all I can think of for now. If he were mine I would pull out what I could see...
Hi Que:
Welcome to the Tortoise Forum!!
What would you like us to call you?
May we know appx. where in the world you are?
Put some fairly warm water in a clean bath tub (your human bath tub). Not too deep that it comes over the middle of his sides. Set him in there and just leave him alone. If you have a light stand, you can position a light over the tub so he can stay warm. The exercise (walking around in the tub, trying to climb out, etc) and warm water will help to loosen up the feces.
You can also put a few drops of mineral oil in a dropper and squirt it down his throat.
How big is your tortoise?
Welcome to the Tortoise Forum!!
What would you like us to call you?
May we know appx. where in the world you are?
Put some fairly warm water in a clean bath tub (your human bath tub). Not too deep that it comes over the middle of his sides. Set him in there and just leave him alone. If you have a light stand, you can position a light over the tub so he can stay warm. The exercise (walking around in the tub, trying to climb out, etc) and warm water will help to loosen up the feces.
You can also put a few drops of mineral oil in a dropper and squirt it down his throat.
How big is your tortoise?
First off @ maggie3fan before you start bashing me for the diet my tort is on you shoud actually read my post. I said he mostly eats romine AND red/green lettuce I mix it together. I also said I change up between mustard greens and kale as mix ins.
I knew it had to be something off as this has never happened before and his diet and environment have been the same since day one.
Thank everyone else for your concern and ideas. I was able to find a vet to take him to and we are all good now. It looked to be a small piece of plastic. I am thinking it blew in my yard during the day because we check the yard everyday before we put him out for anything that doesn't belong. One of my neighbors just had their roof replaced and I think it was a piece of the plastic from the shingle wrapping. I wasn't a happy camper about it but atleast he is OK now as my son was very upset.
Boss is 3 1/2 and we have had him since hatchling. He is like another member of the family so we were very concerned. All is good. We are home from the vet and he is nice any cozy on his table.
Again thanks for the concern
Que
I knew it had to be something off as this has never happened before and his diet and environment have been the same since day one.
Thank everyone else for your concern and ideas. I was able to find a vet to take him to and we are all good now. It looked to be a small piece of plastic. I am thinking it blew in my yard during the day because we check the yard everyday before we put him out for anything that doesn't belong. One of my neighbors just had their roof replaced and I think it was a piece of the plastic from the shingle wrapping. I wasn't a happy camper about it but atleast he is OK now as my son was very upset.
Boss is 3 1/2 and we have had him since hatchling. He is like another member of the family so we were very concerned. All is good. We are home from the vet and he is nice any cozy on his table.
Again thanks for the concern
Que
Hi que (you never did say what we should call you):
Please don't think that anyone was bashing you. You asked for help, and we offered help. I re-read Maggie's post to you, and there wasn't any bashing at all. I'm sorry that what she said struck a nerve, but she certainly was not bashing you. We don't allow that here.
I'm glad it all turned out ok. Those darned critters will just eat anything!
Please don't think that anyone was bashing you. You asked for help, and we offered help. I re-read Maggie's post to you, and there wasn't any bashing at all. I'm sorry that what she said struck a nerve, but she certainly was not bashing you. We don't allow that here.
I'm glad it all turned out ok. Those darned critters will just eat anything!
Oh good...situation resolved....did the vet manually remove the blocked spot? Did he lube the spot then remove? I ask because it is good to share stuff with one another, you know?
I can appreciate the frustration, I have the worst neighbor in the world in regards to trash....I can fill an entire trash can (you know, the city cans with wheels) once every two weeks with the neighbors trash that they LET blow from their trash cans right across our property....they are disgusting in this fashion....they attempt to express that they don't understand english....well, when I have spoken to the husband about other issues he speaks english to me,.....so irritating I know.
Again, so happy you have had your situation resolved. I would really like though to know what your vet did
I can appreciate the frustration, I have the worst neighbor in the world in regards to trash....I can fill an entire trash can (you know, the city cans with wheels) once every two weeks with the neighbors trash that they LET blow from their trash cans right across our property....they are disgusting in this fashion....they attempt to express that they don't understand english....well, when I have spoken to the husband about other issues he speaks english to me,.....so irritating I know.
Again, so happy you have had your situation resolved. I would really like though to know what your vet did
Thanks everyone! I am sorry I was very stressed yesterday and probably shouldn't have reacted like I did but it did kinda strike a nerve. The piece of plastic caused the white part of his urine to partially harden (that's why he couldn't pass it)around the plastic so she had to break that up in order to remove it. She then did an enema to make sure that anything that may have been backing up came out. He is up and moving around just fine today and is basking in the sun And yes he will eat anything that's why we check the yard everytime we put him out...not be gross but he also eats my dogs poo is that normal? We keep it picked up anyway but make sure if they are out together we watch for when the dog goes and run out to pick it up. Our neighbors probably think we are the weirdest people
You can just call me Q. I tried to get that as my user name but it required three letters I live in north Texas now but I got Boss when I lived in Arizona has a hatchling. My little boy is 6 and loves his tortoise We also have a dog and three cats. All the cats were rescues we found on construction sites.
And yes he will eat anything that's why we check the yard everytime we put him out...not be gross but he also eats my dogs poo is that normal? We keep it picked up anyway but make sure if they are out together we watch for when the dog goes and run out to pick it up. Our neighbors probably think we are the weirdest people You can just call me Q. I tried to get that as my user name but it required three letters
I live in north Texas now but I got Boss when I lived in Arizona has a hatchling. My little boy is 6 and loves his tortoise We also have a dog and three cats. All the cats were rescues we found on construction sites.
Thank you for sharing....yes there are some tortoise (alot actually) that will eat poo...naughty little buggers ......and thanks for the laugh about the neighbors thinking you are crazy poop grabbers....lol....if people only knew the silly reasons we see people do some of the things we see as crazy it would all make sense...lol
Again happy to hear all good.....by the way, the white stuff likely was urates which are a normal thing to pass from a tortoise.....hydration will aid in reducing urates...but some species will still pass some from time to time....good job
......and thanks for the laugh about the neighbors thinking you are crazy poop grabbers....lol....if people only knew the silly reasons we see people do some of the things we see as crazy it would all make sense...lolAgain happy to hear all good.....by the way, the white stuff likely was urates which are a normal thing to pass from a tortoise.....hydration will aid in reducing urates...but some species will still pass some from time to time....good job
Hi Q:
Too bad about the username...but QUE is fine too. Are you a Star Trek fan?
Too bad about the username...but QUE is fine too. Are you a Star Trek fan?
Welcome Q, so happy all is well : )
Hello and welcome. Glad he is okay. A few years ago when my torts were around 12" I was making the rounds and cleaning to poo in my tortoises pens, I noticed something shiny in one of the great big tortoise turds. I used my scooper to break up the poo and I discovered an entire Doritos bag. It must have blown in on the wind one day, and one of them ate it. I never knew there was even a problem.
Just a cautionary note: Certain dog medications that are excreted in the feces can be fatal to a tortoise if eaten. Is your dog on any heartworm medicine? Sometimes we might seem a little nosey or pushy here, but really we all just care a lot about everyone's tortoises and wish to be helpful. Glad you found us.
Just a cautionary note: Certain dog medications that are excreted in the feces can be fatal to a tortoise if eaten. Is your dog on any heartworm medicine? Sometimes we might seem a little nosey or pushy here, but really we all just care a lot about everyone's tortoises and wish to be helpful. Glad you found us.
To avoid the contipation, avoid just feeding lettuce. They need to have more fiber in their diet that you don't get a lot of in lettuce. If you have access to some prickly pear cactus it works wonders! Cut the pieces up if its a small tortoise.
Arizonasulcata.webs.com
Arizonasulcata.webs.com
Don't worry Q, I do the same thing running around like a crazy lady scooping. I even try to take the ogs out front when I know it maybe poop time. Now when Willie is walking the yard one of us has to be very near with a shovel because the " new pooper detector" will find it. He even tries to grab it off he shovel like I'm spoon feeding him. I'm even crazy enough to talk to him, the neighbors behind us have no clue we have him and I'm sure they love listening o me talk to my Willie.... Lol... I'm a new owner and well you helped me learn something new, so thanks lot for sharing. ( my Willie is 6 yrs old and now a wiping 14 pounds, he has been part of our family for about 3 months now)
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