Dog poop!

[RoseRose]

I took my little leopard baby, Precious, out for her morning stroll today, and at one point noticed her hiding under a clump of weeds. From the way she was moving I was pretty sure she was eating something, so I moved the grass aside to see and lo and behold, she was chowing down on a piece of dessicated dog poop. Needless to say I got it away from her immediately, but will those few bites have hurt her? And why would she be drawn to it in the first place?

We always have some dog poop in our yard (3 dogs + lazy me) but I never worried about her eating it; before today she's always walked around any bits she came across. My box turtle has always ignored it too. After she had her snack she started going after the poop she saw, so I guess I have to get better about poop duty since apparently now she has a taste for it.

She's eating really well with the (more appropriate) food I've been giving her. She actually eats 3-4 times a day, so I'm thinking I need to give her more at each meal. But should I worry about the poop?

 

[jackrat]

A bite or two probably won't do any harm.

 

[Tom]

Are your dogs on any heartworm medication? Ivermectin, even the leftovers in dog poo, can be fatal to torts. It would be best to make the tortoise its own area where the dogs are not allowed.

Its not uncommon for tortoises to eat poo. The breeder of the Gpp, in a recent conversation about the diet of baby leopards in the wild, told me they eat "poop". Apparently he personally knows a field researcher who watched babies for a while in Africa. Their main diet is mammal poop. Usually herbivore, but not always. This makes perfect sense and answers the many questions. Not too long ago we had a big discussion about this. Some people thought mushrooms, roots or even bugs. Nope! Mammal poop!

 

[RoseRose]

No, they're not on any medication right now (well, one of the dogs just started a round of prednisone, but this was old poop).

I'll just have to be extra careful for now - our back yard is too small to section off an area for the tortoise and turtle (and our front yard isn't fenced, so I can't let her roam there because who knows what the neighbor dogs have been into; people around here just let their dogs run free, unfortunately). She'll have her own outdoor enclosure when we move in the spring; I guess until then I just won't let her run around in the grass, but will keep her on the patio.

A pity I can't keep goats or something - then I'd have a free source of suitable tortoise baby food! ; )

 

[Tom]

For a baby all you need is a kiddie pool or a few cinderblocks to make something around that size. Easy to do a lid too, to keep the dogs and other predators out. Check this out. It would be very easy to do this on a small scale, say 4x4' and then your baby can have the benefits of being on the ground and grazing on the grass and weeds, but still be safe from the dogs and their poo.

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/Thread...ut-Safe-Outdoor-Baby-Enclosures#axzz1at2oJiD3

 

[RoseRose]

That is really helpful, Tom; thanks! Think I'll go to Lowe's tomorrow and pick up more cinder blocks. I do have a few already for my planned improvements to Sherlock's turtle run, which I really need to get back to...

 

[Tom]

Here's another one:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/Thread-Cheap-Easy-Simple-Sunning-Enclosure#axzz1aulrNrkI