cucumber and aloe

[Madlyn]

My red footed tortoise seems constipated. I am reading about feeding him cucumber and aloe. Do I remove the skin from cucumber? Do I feed the aloe plant with skin attached or just squeeze out the aloe from the plant?

 

[mojo_1]

My red footed tortoise seems constipated. I am reading about feeding him cucumber and aloe. Do I remove the skin from cucumber? Do I feed the aloe plant with skin attached or just squeeze out the aloe from the plant?

I don't know if the cucumber will do much more than hydrating.

 

[SinLA]

@ZEROPILOT

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

My red footed tortoise seems constipated. I am reading about feeding him cucumber and aloe. Do I remove the skin from cucumber? Do I feed the aloe plant with skin attached or just squeeze out the aloe from the plant?

Cucumber doesn't have laxative effect, just helps with hydration. Long (30 minutes) warm soaks work better for hydration and fighting constipation. Don't worry about him trying to climb out - check, that water temperature is about 86F and let him do this "exercise".

You can give aloe as is but most likely your tortoise will refuse eating it. Opuntia cactus pads ("nopales" in Mexican grocery stores) are more tasty and have laxative effect too.

If anything else fails you may resort to mineral oil - add a little on piece of lettuce.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

You say it seems constipated.
How long has he/she not pooped? Or what does the poop look like?
Watery or juicy foods or fruit can help.
But if the constipation is caused by an impaction or wrong temperature, the root cause will need to be addressed. And we're just guessing.
BTW I've never had a RF eat aloe either. And it's a shame. Because it grows here like a weed

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

Temperatures are fine - 85-87F (from this thread: https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/red-footed-tortoise.212917/#post-2110239). Enclosure size is on the small side, so a lack of locomotion is probably the issue.