HELP!!! SICKNESS!!?!?

[rebeccalynn1208]

I went to go check on my tortoises. I walked in the room and immediately noticed a rancid absolutely disgusting odor. I went to check on the torts and saw this.

The last picture is a bunch of white stuff in the pot. And the tortoise has the white stuff on it. What's going on I'm freaking out!!

 

[ascott]

What source/type of protein do you offer this tort in their food?

 

[rebeccalynn1208]

What source/type of protein do you offer this tort in their food?

I've offered shrimp, I've done mealworms. Yesterday I tried egg for the first time.

 

[ascott]

I've offered shrimp, I've done mealworms. Yesterday I tried egg for the first time.

All come out and leave a rancid/gagging odor when they poo-----If the tort is business as usual then I would not be worried about it...likely the torts leg has some on it because they walk over their mess without a concern.....

 

[rebeccalynn1208]

I've offered shrimp, I've done mealworms. Yesterday I tried egg for the first time.

All come out and leave a rancid/gagging odor when they poo-----If the tort is business as usual then I would not be worried about it...likely the torts leg has some on it because they walk over their mess without a concern.....

Alright thank you so much. I'll keep an eye out just in case.

 

[Redstrike]

I'm with Angela, that's probably some of the egg whites that were passed. I wouldn't be panicking at this point.

Tortoises digest things via hind-gut fermentation, which means things sit in there for a while and tend to get pretty smelly. However, if you're repeatedly seeing large amounts of undigested food passing (i.e. salad terd), extreme BM stench, and changes in his/her behavior, you can take a fecal sample into a qualified vet to get it screened for flagellate parasites. I'm not saying to do this currently, I think the tort is probably fine.

 

[portsmouthtortoises]

When I fed mine egg whites,one of them didn't agree with it and they passed it like this. She was and still is fine.

 

[rebeccalynn1208]

When I fed mine egg whites,one of them didn't agree with it and they passed it like this. She was and still is fine.

Have you offered her egg whites again since then? Or just gave her different protein?

 

[portsmouthtortoises]

I haven't, no. I give them different protein now.

 

[rebeccalynn1208]

I haven't, no. I give them different protein now.

2 out of 4 of my torts reacted badly to the tiny amount I gave them....yea that's not happening again.

 

[portsmouthtortoises]

That's not good. Fortunately there are plenty of other ways to give them protein.

 

[[email protected]]

When trying to increase their protein intake, meat based protein rather than eggs is far superior as in the wild they will snack on recently deceased mammal. Some people go as far as to feed them pinkies but I didn't like that even when I had snakes. A great & healthy source of just about everything they need and should settle her stomach is actually high end dog food, they go nuts for certain brands, I discovered this when I ran out of food for them & was stuck in the house during a blizzard.
Some people swear by the Zilla "Land Turtle & Tortoise" food but there's a lot of grain/wheat in it so definitely need a protein supplement. The aforementioned food has a Red Footed Tortoise's picture on the wrapping so hard to miss & that's why I bought it in the 1st place when just starting out.
It's best to find one kind of food to feed them on the regular but give them something different a few days per week also mixing other stuff in small amounts with their regular food frequently.
To settle stomach the grain based food might b your best bet, she's small & that's an awful lot of puke so u could b feeding her too much, that was my first guess when seeing the pics.
Be careful how much protein u feed them because although it is a natural part of their diet, it's a very small & somewhat occasional part. TOO MUCH PROTEIN can & will cause pyramiding of her shell where the bumps become extremely pronounced then actually begin to become soft to the touch, soon after you will have a dead pet if it was let to go that far.
My boy & girl, well more like man & woman now; both get a wide variety of foods with the Zilla food as a base, Zilla also has freeze dried fruits & veggies that r cheap & r best to mx with the dry food but easy to over feed so careful.
Right now I've been treating them to a brand of dog treat/food additive called "Pure Bites", there r several kinds but the go bananas for the freeze dried beef liver, the freeze dried chicken they like but it turns to dust too easy.
For settling their stomachs, NOTHING I KNOW OF WORKS BETTER than freeze dried foods, this stuff made for dogs or cats seems to work better than the Zilla or other stuff made specifically for them.
Adding hay can help too and having the humidity too high or two low will mess them up as well.
Every once in a while I even give then half a jerky treat made for my dog. The thing is that most decent dog food today is not only edible to humans but also far healthier than the versions of the same things that we eat so I highly recommend adding some to their diet. They like either Chewy or freeze dried the best but I gave them some Halo brand dog food the other day & they to to it like a pair of crackheads going after a football sized crack rock, lol.
Since I began widely varying their diets, they've completely stopped having stomach problems.
Obviously lettuce, carrots, etc. r also good BUT ABSOLUTELY NO ICEBERG LETTUCE, they will eat it but it's very bad for them.
This is my first post on here so I hope my little diatribe helps u out.

 

[rebeccalynn1208]

Wow thank you! I do believe I'm not overfeeding though, I'm 90% positive that was accumulative of all 4 of my tortoises. I'm also very nervous about giving my tortoises dog food because the first thing I ever learned was no pellets or chows ever....

 

[Yvonne G]

I can't speak one way or the other about the dog food/snacks/treats or the Zilla products, but I feel I have to address one of the points you've made, Irich - and that is the "...TOO MUCH PROTEIN can & will cause pyramiding of her shell where the bumps become extremely pronounced then actually begin to become soft to the touch..." point. This is basically old school. We now know that pyramiding is caused by not enough moisture/humidity during the tortoise's first year or two.

 

[ascott]

So many views, so many opinions....so many variables....

Rebecca, I would say that when I do offer eggs to the Redfoot torts here ... I noticed a rancid smell as well...these were store eggs, which I hate to purchase...but thought I would try it out...as I had never had a tort in my personal care that showed interest in bugs and such....

So after trying the store purchased eggs....and not enjoying the "end result" (pun, sorry)...I went to my regular hook up for organics...the torts went crazy of them and there was no ick...There are so many hormones, antibiotics and only God knows what else in the eggs (via the chicken of course) that I believe the torts here had a reaction to the "additives"...as all other items I offer the torts are organic....

Perhaps try an organic egg and see if the reaction is the same...I mean an egg yolk is truly a great source of good protein....