HELP! Piece of Styrofoam blew into tortoise enclosure

Shutterbug

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Hey guys! It's been a long time since I've posted. Olive is doing great and growing steady.
We had an accident today (less then 4 hours ago) and I am extremely worried.

It's +28 degrees here today, and beautiful so I put Olive outside to enjoy the outdoors and graze a little before winter. I'm in Canada, so once it hits, she is inside till summer.

It's quite windy today, and I guess a piece of Styrofoam take out box got blown into her enclosure from the highway and she ate part of it.

I am extremely worried. Should I rush her in immediately to the vets? I know sometimes vets can make things worse with tortoises, but if that's best that's what I will do! Any foods I can give her to help her pass the chunks? More soaks/longer soaks? What should I watch for? Increase temperatures?

She is soaked daily for 45 minutes. It's extremely dry and hot this year here.
Her diet consists of chopped grass, field greens mix, rosé greens mix, variety of veggies, weeds as I can get them, and a rotation between soaked alfalfa hay cubes and Timothy hay chopped. 2x a week I give a generous slice of cucumber to help with hydration since it is so dry.

She is just under 1lb and 2 years old as of August 10th
 

zovick

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Hey guys! It's been a long time since I've posted. Olive is doing great and growing steady.
We had an accident today (less then 4 hours ago) and I am extremely worried.

It's +28 degrees here today, and beautiful so I put Olive outside to enjoy the outdoors and graze a little before winter. I'm in Canada, so once it hits, she is inside till summer.

It's quite windy today, and I guess a piece of Styrofoam take out box got blown into her enclosure from the highway and she ate part of it.

I am extremely worried. Should I rush her in immediately to the vets? I know sometimes vets can make things worse with tortoises, but if that's best that's what I will do! Any foods I can give her to help her pass the chunks? More soaks/longer soaks? What should I watch for? Increase temperatures?

She is soaked daily for 45 minutes. It's extremely dry and hot this year here.
Her diet consists of chopped grass, field greens mix, rosé greens mix, variety of veggies, weeds as I can get them, and a rotation between soaked alfalfa hay cubes and Timothy hay chopped. 2x a week I give a generous slice of cucumber to help with hydration since it is so dry.

She is just under 1lb and 2 years old as of August 10th
If the tortoise was able to bite off and swallow the pieces of styrofoam, they are probably small enough to pass through the GI tract without causing trouble (assuming it didn't eat the whole takeout box). How much of the box did the tortoise eat?

You could feed it cucumbers, watermelon, and romaine lettuce, all of which are about 75%-90% water to help it pass through. Aloe leaves might help also. Keep up the daily soaks, too.

If the tortoise begins acting lethargic and stops eating, then a vet visit might be in order.
 

Shutterbug

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If the tortoise was able to bite off and swallow the pieces of styrofoam, they are probably small enough to pass through the GI tract without causing trouble (assuming it didn't eat the whole takeout box). How much of the box did the tortoise eat?

You could feed it cucumbers, watermelon, and romaine lettuce, all of which are about 75%-90% water to help it pass through. Aloe leaves might help also. Keep up the daily soaks, too.

If the tortoise begins acting lethargic and stops eating, then a vet visit might be in order.


Do you recommend feeding those items daily for now...till the Styrofoam passes at least?
 

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zovick

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Do you recommend feeding those items daily for now...till the Styrofoam passes at least?
Gee, if all those missing pieces are inside the tortoise it ate a pretty good amount of the container! Yes, I would feed those things daily until you see the styrofoam pass.

As I said earlier, though, if the tortoise begins acting lethargic and not eating and defecating normally, it may have a GI blockage which will require veterinary intervention.

Good luck!
 

Shutterbug

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I found a few chucks (one about 1 inch x 1 inch), but not enough to account for all the missing parts of that container, so I think she ate a good amount of it :(

I will absolutely keep a very close eye on her and her eating habits/activity.

How big of a piece of cucumber would you recommend or should I give her as much of the cucumber/romaine/watermelon as she wants?
 

zovick

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I found a few chucks (one about 1 inch x 1 inch), but not enough to account for all the missing parts of that container, so I think she ate a good amount of it :(

I will absolutely keep a very close eye on her and her eating habits/activity.

How big of a piece of cucumber would you recommend or should I give her as much of the cucumber/romaine/watermelon as she wants?
I would feed as much as the tortoise wants of all those items I mentioned.
 

Shutterbug

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I would feed as much as the tortoise wants of all those items I mentioned.
Will do! She just finished an hour long soak, and peed/pooped and is working on a cucumber right now. She LOVES them. Tomorrow I'll pick up some romaine and watermelon for her.

Should I eliminate the hay and dryer food items from her diet till it passes? I want to make sure she has the absolute best chance of passing this. About how many days do you feel it should take till I start seeing the foam?
 

zovick

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Will do! She just finished an hour long soak, and peed/pooped and is working on a cucumber right now. She LOVES them. Tomorrow I'll pick up some romaine and watermelon for her.

Should I eliminate the hay and dryer food items from her diet till it passes? I want to make sure she has the absolute best chance of passing this. About how many days do you feel it should take till I start seeing the foam?
I would keep offering the regular food items also. From past experiences, I think it could take as long as 7-10 days for the styrofoam to pass through the intestinal tract. Hopefully the soaks and the watery foods will speed up the process.
 

Tom

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Hey guys! It's been a long time since I've posted. Olive is doing great and growing steady.
We had an accident today (less then 4 hours ago) and I am extremely worried.

It's +28 degrees here today, and beautiful so I put Olive outside to enjoy the outdoors and graze a little before winter. I'm in Canada, so once it hits, she is inside till summer.

It's quite windy today, and I guess a piece of Styrofoam take out box got blown into her enclosure from the highway and she ate part of it.

I am extremely worried. Should I rush her in immediately to the vets? I know sometimes vets can make things worse with tortoises, but if that's best that's what I will do! Any foods I can give her to help her pass the chunks? More soaks/longer soaks? What should I watch for? Increase temperatures?

She is soaked daily for 45 minutes. It's extremely dry and hot this year here.
Her diet consists of chopped grass, field greens mix, rosé greens mix, variety of veggies, weeds as I can get them, and a rotation between soaked alfalfa hay cubes and Timothy hay chopped. 2x a week I give a generous slice of cucumber to help with hydration since it is so dry.

She is just under 1lb and 2 years old as of August 10th
What species are we talking about?

Great advice from Zovick. I agree. I would add opuntia pads to the menu as well, as those have a high level of lubricity, and will help things move along in the GI tract.

In most cases items like this pass through with no problem. Watch the appetite and check every bowel movement until you find the pieces passing through.
 

Shutterbug

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What species are we talking about?

Great advice from Zovick. I agree. I would add opuntia pads to the menu as well, as those have a high level of lubricity, and will help things move along in the GI tract.

In most cases items like this pass through with no problem. Watch the appetite and check every bowel movement until you find the pieces passing through.
Shes a sulcata.

I'm not able to get opuntia. I'm near a small farming community, and even the bigger centers don't carry specialty items like that.
 

Markw84

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In addition to all the great advice so far...

just under 1 lb for a 2 year old sulcata is quite small. I have a hunch you are not keeping your tortoise warm enough or warm enough at night. Keeping your tortoise above 80° at all times will greatly enhance metabolism. You want that now as we want the gut moving things along to pass that styrofoam though. Gut transit times for a sulcata are in the 7-10 day range as @zovick mentioned above. So warm soaks (90°-95°F) and body temps always above 80° are in order.
 

Shutterbug

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In addition to all the great advice so far...

just under 1 lb for a 2 year old sulcata is quite small. I have a hunch you are not keeping your tortoise warm enough or warm enough at night. Keeping your tortoise above 80° at all times will greatly enhance metabolism. You want that now as we want the gut moving things along to pass that styrofoam though. Gut transit times for a sulcata are in the 7-10 day range as @zovick mentioned above. So warm soaks (90°-95°F) and body temps always above 80° are in order.

I understand she's quite small for a sulcata at 2 years old. Her enclosure VERY rarely gets under 28°c. I think that's approximately 83? Degrees F.

The very rare times her enclosure temperatures have dropped have been because of "outside" factors. There was 3 or 4 nights/days where it dropped down last year because of power outages/storms. Would that have a permanent effect? If power didn't come on in a timely manner I would bring her in a container with a hot water bottle under the blankets with me.

She was very much a dry start hatchling and only fed romaine, and I've heard that can be an issue as well?
 

Markw84

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I understand she's quite small for a sulcata at 2 years old. Her enclosure VERY rarely gets under 28°c. I think that's approximately 83? Degrees F.

The very rare times her enclosure temperatures have dropped have been because of "outside" factors. There was 3 or 4 nights/days where it dropped down last year because of power outages/storms. Would that have a permanent effect? If power didn't come on in a timely manner I would bring her in a container with a hot water bottle under the blankets with me.

She was very much a dry start hatchling and only fed romaine, and I've heard that can be an issue as well?
We are just trying to troubleshoot for you with limited info. Dry/improper starts can certainly slow growth the first year. Normally once they do begin growing and recover from that start they will grow at a more "normal" rate if given proper conditions.

Many people are surprised to find the temperature they feel their enclosure is, is not the temperature the tortoise experiences. Especially living in a northerly cold climate. The thermometer in an enclosure can read one temperature, but the cold floor and corner of that enclosure where the tortoise sleeps in a very different temperature. It takes an extremely well insulated, closed system to maintain an even heat. For example in my own home in the winter the thermostat says my house is 69°F. If I take a heat gun and shoot the floor near the outside corner of my family room it reads 58°F!

Take a heat gun and take a reading on the plaston of your tortoise in the morning before the tortoise emerges from where it sleeps. Just a good check to do occasionally.
 

Shutterbug

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We are just trying to troubleshoot for you with limited info. Dry/improper starts can certainly slow growth the first year. Normally once they do begin growing and recover from that start they will grow at a more "normal" rate if given proper conditions.

Many people are surprised to find the temperature they feel their enclosure is, is not the temperature the tortoise experiences. Especially living in a northerly cold climate. The thermometer in an enclosure can read one temperature, but the cold floor and corner of that enclosure where the tortoise sleeps in a very different temperature. It takes an extremely well insulated, closed system to maintain an even heat. For example in my own home in the winter the thermostat says my house is 69°F. If I take a heat gun and shoot the floor near the outside corner of my family room it reads 58°F!

Take a heat gun and take a reading on the plaston of your tortoise in the morning before the tortoise emerges from where it sleeps. Just a good check to do occasionally.
I am on my way into town and will pick up a heat gun! I believe home depot has them, or should!
 

zovick

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I am on my way into town and will pick up a heat gun! I believe home depot has them, or should!
Just a heads up here. Contractors use "heat guns" to melt paint. At Home Depot, they may interpret those words as meaning what amounts to an industrial strength hair dryer.

What you want is best described as a "non-contact thermometer" or "temperature gun". Hopefully HD sells these also, but I don't know that they do. I got mine online direct from Raytek. The one I use is the Raynger Model ST2. I think they have a newer version, the ST20 Pro.

Here is a link to the Raytek company where you can buy this item:

 
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zovick

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Just a heads up here. Contractors use "heat guns" to melt paint. At Home Depot, they may interpret those words as meaning what amounts to an industrial strength hair dryer.

What you want is best described as a "non-contact thermometer" or "temperature gun". Hopefully HD sells these also, but I don't know that they do. I got mine online direct from Raytek. The one I use is the Raynger Model ST2. I think they have a newer version, the ST20 Pro.

Here is a link to the Raytek company where you can buy this item:

Just found a much less expensive one on Amazon. This one may be all you really need for your tortoise.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08BTFKHZT/?tag=exoticpetnetw-20
 

MPRC

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Good advice so far, wet foods with the normal foods. Lots of soaks, lots of heat.
I had a redfoot eat an entire plastic bag (the thin film type veggies come in) and it took 11 days to pass.
My iguana once ate a (small stringy) pair of underwear and passed that...with assistance.
 

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