Food to stool timeline.

[Anyfoot]

Hi all.
Can anyone tell me what the approximate time is from when a tort eats some food and when it passes through as stool. I imagine there is things to take into consideration like temperature of the tort. But just an estimate will do.
I was lead to believe it's about a week. Thanks.

 

[jaizei]

The food that is eaten also determines the timeframe but it can vary from 3ish days to several weeks.

 

[Lyn W]

Up until this spring Lola was only pooping about once every 7 -10 days but since then its every 2 - 4 days.

He was on dandelions and weeds up until the winter then crispy mix, kale, greens etc with ground Readigrass and now he has a mixture of all - mainly weeds though.

Nothing else has really changed though - uvb mainly artificial because of our rubbish summer, but grabbing rays when we can.

 

[Anyfoot]

The food that is eaten also determines the timeframe but it can vary from 3ish days to several weeks.

Several weeks. really. I gathered food type played an issue. I'm guessing fibre would be slower than lets say sugary fruit. Is it safe to say it can't be 24hrs.

 

[Yvonne G]

It's different with different species. With my Manouria tortoises it takes two weeks for cantaloupe seeds to work their way through the system.

 

[Anyfoot]

It's different with different species. With my Manouria tortoises it takes two weeks for cantaloupe seeds to work their way through the system.

I'm thinking redfoots. I've had one with runny stool from day one. So got strict with diet to more fibre. It started to get better. Yesterday I fed her some protein in the form of liver. Today she had runny stool again. On top of that my oldest daughter has looked after her for the last 10days whilst I was away. I just wanted to know if it could have been the liver from yesterday. Hi Yvonne BTW

 

[Yvonne G]

LOL! Hi back atcha!!

Even though it takes a while for food to pass through the digestive tract, it's not unusual for a food that doesn't agree with the tortoise to cause a runny stool. Way back when, I was coached about not feeding organ meat to my water turtles. I don't remember why now, old age memory, but I never feed organ meat. There are other things you can feed your RF. I've used quite a bit of the moistened Purina Pro Plan Weight Management dry cat food - about once every two weeks.

 

[jaizei]

Several weeks. really. I gathered food type played an issue. I'm guessing fibre would be slower than lets say sugary fruit. Is it safe to say it can't be 24hrs.

Not necessarily. There are various studies using different species. Google "tortoise gut transit" for a wider selection. The aforementioned 3 days was from something I read about redfoots eating guava fruit. Below is about leopard tortoises and unless I'm reading it wrong, seems to suggest that the tomato was first observed being passed in less than a day. (http://www.researchgate.net/publica...rs_and_water_turnover_of_the_leopard_tortoise)

Gut transit rates differed widely between individuals and were
shorter in those individuals that had a higher food intake. Minimum
transit time of lucerne through the gut was 3.0-5.5 days (mean±
SE=4.25±0.5), with 50% of the faeces consisting of lucerne (mean
transit time) after a mean time of 8.75 days.

Minimum transit times of the experimental diet of pure tomato ranged
from 0.75-1.86 days, with a mean±SE across individuals of 1.19±0.31 days.
Mean transit time (50% of the faeces consisting of tomatoes) was much
faster than in tortoises on a lucerne diet, being 1.5-3.75 days; mean±SE of
2.25±0.3.

 

[Anyfoot]

LOL! Hi back atcha!!

Even though it takes a while for food to pass through the digestive tract, it's not unusual for a food that doesn't agree with the tortoise to cause a runny stool. Way back when, I was coached about not feeding organ meat to my water turtles. I don't remember why now, old age memory, but I never feed organ meat. There are other things you can feed your RF. I've used quite a bit of the moistened Purina Pro Plan Weight Management dry cat food - about once every two weeks.

Well its funny you should mention dry catfood. All mine love it. But I stopped them eatin it because I thought this could be the cause. Is it OK for them to eat dry cat food.

 

[Yvonne G]

Yes, occasionally. (We're talking about redfooted tortoises here folks)

 

[Anyfoot]

Can and do redfoots eat grass? This is something I don't feed.

 

[Yvonne G]

They might if they're hungry, but not usually. They are browsers, not grazers. This means they eat broad-leaf plants and weeds.

 

[Anyfoot]

They might if they're hungry, but not usually. They are browsers, not grazers. This means they eat broad-leaf plants and weeds.

That's what I thought. So what's best to feed for high fibre. I feed dandilions daily.