Impacted Sulcata

[luvsulcatas]

Hi:
My husband and I have had Fred, our Sulcata tortoise, for a year now. Now that the weather is warm again (we are in New England) we've been keeping him in his large outdoor pen. He loves dandelions and can't stop eating them! Anyway, I noticed he hadn't pooped in about a week. Plenty of urates, however no solids. Then for the last two days, some marginal amount of poop but doesn't look normal. I am worried he is impacted.

What do people do when a Sulcata is impacted. I picked him up today and boy, was he feeling heavier than usual. I am worried for him.

 

[Tom]

Everything you just described sounds normal to me. I'd give him some warm water soaks every day for a while. Use warm, not hot. Make it as deep as the area where the plastron meets the carapace and leave him in there 20-30 minutes... then enjoy your "turtle soup"!

How old/big is he? Mine used to do this sort of thing a lot too (gorging themselves at every opportunity), but I've been feeding them a lot more in recent months and they're starting to act more like normal tortoises. Maybe you should bump up the indoor feedings a bit.

Welcome to the forum.

 

[Maggie Cummings]

Sometimes fruit or tomatoes will make them poop. I might suggest that he's not getting enough hay or graze. Is he out on grass? I sprinkle hay lightly over Bob's food when I think he's not eating enough of it. And lettuce has a lot of water in it and that makes Bob poop more and it's soft and squishy maybe that might help. I'd suggest an enema but I don't know how big Fred is and frankly I can't see that happening to a big tortoise. So more water in the form of lettuce and tomatoes and I am sure there are more experienced people who will give you better advice. Bob has always given me loads of poop to pick up

That's really good advice Tom, I am embarrassed that I didn't think of that. Tortoises LOVE to poop in water. Or a ride in the car that usually does it too...

 

[Tom]

I haven't tried it, but isn't aloe supposed to be a good laxative? What about pumpkin?

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Luvsulcatas:

Welcome to the forum!!

 

[Stephanie Logan]

Any "results" yet?

 

[luvsulcatas]

Hi Luvsulcatas:

Welcome to the forum!!

Thanks!

---

Everything you just described sounds normal to me. I'd give him some warm water soaks every day for a while. Use warm, not hot. Make it as deep as the area where the plastron meets the carapace and leave him in there 20-30 minutes... then enjoy your "turtle soup"!

How old/big is he? Mine used to do this sort of thing a lot too (gorging themselves at every opportunity), but I've been feeding them a lot more in recent months and they're starting to act more like normal tortoises. Maybe you should bump up the indoor feedings a bit.

Welcome to the forum.

Thank you! I tried soaking him for 30 minutes in warm water in his feeding dish and sure enough -- eureka! I will do it again tomorrow. Fred is about 13 inches long and weighs about 10 pounds. I'm guessing he's 5 or 6 years old. He was a rescue so I'm not sure.

---

Sometimes fruit or tomatoes will make them poop. I might suggest that he's not getting enough hay or graze. Is he out on grass? I sprinkle hay lightly over Bob's food when I think he's not eating enough of it. And lettuce has a lot of water in it and that makes Bob poop more and it's soft and squishy maybe that might help. I'd suggest an enema but I don't know how big Fred is and frankly I can't see that happening to a big tortoise. So more water in the form of lettuce and tomatoes and I am sure there are more experienced people who will give you better advice. Bob has always given me loads of poop to pick up

That's really good advice Tom, I am embarrassed that I didn't think of that. Tortoises LOVE to poop in water. Or a ride in the car that usually does it too...

Thanks. That's so funny. My husband and I had dinner really late last night because I took Fred on a long country drive. I found a back road with lots of bumps. LOL

---

I haven't tried it, but isn't aloe supposed to be a good laxative? What about pumpkin?

How would you get the aloe into him?

---

Any "results" yet?

Yes, today after soaking him, he produced some results!

 

[Tom]

You feed them the aloe or pumpkin! Your question gave me some funny mental pictures!

 

[Stephanie Logan]

Not as funny as the vision of the "turtle soup" reference you made above. Yuck!

It must have been substantial, coming from a 13-inch constipated Sulcata.

 

[luvsulcatas]

Very funny! I soaked lettuce in aloe today. He didn't each very much of it. I guess he doesn't like the taste. The good thing is he passed some more fecal this morning.

 

[Tom]

Remember it takes at least several days for what they eat today to pass through. I've seen things in their poo weeks after the last time they ate it.

Also, a tortoise SHOULD feel very heavy for their size. Its generally one of the signs of good health.

 

[Laura]

Tortoises also will eat their poop.. so that may be why you dont see any..
Pumpkin is a good thing to try.. canned ok, but not the spicey pie filling.

 

[luvsulcatas]

He is pooping every day now. But it is only a tenth of its normal size. Usually it's shaped like a long black pod and it's very light. I'm wondering if I should cut down on his usual amount of food and give his body a chance to catch up.

 

[Maggie Cummings]

It should be dark not light. Possibly you aren't feeding him correctly. Dandelions are good, grass is great. Is there grass in his pen" Weeds are good. But I am concerned about the stuff YOU feed him. What is it?

 

[luvsulcatas]

"Usually it's shaped like a long black pod and it's light."

I meant light as in weight. What were you thinking?