Is my tortoise constipated because of dehydration?

[Rocky219]

Hi my 4-5 year old female tortoise Rocky has been pooping less often and in much smaller amounts. I have been trying to get her to defecate a normal amount for the past 3 days. I have been giving her 40 minute soaks in 95f water temp. I usually soak her 3 or 4 times a week for 20 minutes. I always keep the humidity above 50% with spider plants and somewhat wet bedding. Today she didn't eat and yesterday she only ate the pellets but other than that her appetite has been fine. She has been hiding a lot more too. I take the temp with a temp gun and found out it was a little too hot so I raised the light. I made this post because I want to find out if dehydration is the reason for her constipation. A lot of the tortoise dehydration symptoms are the same as the constipation ones. This is the first time that she has been constipated. Tomorrow I'm going to give her some laxatives. Any responses are appreciated

 

[Yvonne G]

Try feeding some wet foods like cucumber, watermelon, aloe, cactus, etc

 

[Rocky219]

Try feeding some wet foods like cucumber, watermelon, aloe, cactus, etc

Thanks I will

 

[ZEROPILOT]

A Sulcata can eat cactus quite regularly and I believe it must help with dehydration.

 

[Sharfova]

если черепаха не ходит в туалет два-три дня, это не запор, купайте ее чаще 40 минут и в более теплой воде, когда черепаха не может ходить в туалет, ее сумки надуваются под передними лапами.
Можно дать взрослому 1 мл цефулака, который нужно достичь через зонд в желудок. это безопасный препарат, улучшающий перистальтику кишечника.
sorry for my eng)

 

[GSM]

Hi my 4-5 year old female tortoise Rocky has been pooping less often and in much smaller amounts. I have been trying to get her to defecate a normal amount for the past 3 days. I have been giving her 40 minute soaks in 95f water temp. I usually soak her 3 or 4 times a week for 20 minutes. I always keep the humidity above 50% with spider plants and somewhat wet bedding. Today she didn't eat and yesterday she only ate the pellets but other than that her appetite has been fine. She has been hiding a lot more too. I take the temp with a temp gun and found out it was a little too hot so I raised the light. I made this post because I want to find out if dehydration is the reason for her constipation. A lot of the tortoise dehydration symptoms are the same as the constipation ones. This is the first time that she has been constipated. Tomorrow I'm going to give her some laxatives. Any responses are appreciated

what species is your tortoise? the profile pic looks like a hermanns. If so, you must never feed them fruit.

 

[Maggie3fan]

I thought it looked like Gopherus agassizii...where are you getting the laxatives? Do not self medicate in this instance. Try the wet food, cucumber, watermelon, aloe, cactus like Yvonne told you. And don't jump to conclusions. Her poop could get buried, she could be eating it, if there's springtails in the substrate they are eating it. Put her in an inescapable tote and make the water relatively deep so she has to keep her head up and she's going to try to get out by swimming...so she's going to have all that activity with her legs and stuff and she just might poop... then feed the what foods are suggested...but hold off on the laxatives for now. I have an almost 20 year old tortoise who gets constipated regularly as a matter of fact,he got impacted once and I had to take him to the vet. I'm kind of familiar with this situation and I really don't think that it's a good idea for you to jump to laxatives from the beginning... try the food... try the exercise... try the warm water...people say that they soak their tortoises for 20 minutes but it's generally around 5 so in her instance set the timer for 20 minutes I don't worry about keeping the water warm in there like people do just don't let it get too cold alright that's my advice for the day.

 

[zovick]

Hi my 4-5 year old female tortoise Rocky has been pooping less often and in much smaller amounts. I have been trying to get her to defecate a normal amount for the past 3 days. I have been giving her 40 minute soaks in 95f water temp. I usually soak her 3 or 4 times a week for 20 minutes. I always keep the humidity above 50% with spider plants and somewhat wet bedding. Today she didn't eat and yesterday she only ate the pellets but other than that her appetite has been fine. She has been hiding a lot more too. I take the temp with a temp gun and found out it was a little too hot so I raised the light. I made this post because I want to find out if dehydration is the reason for her constipation. A lot of the tortoise dehydration symptoms are the same as the constipation ones. This is the first time that she has been constipated. Tomorrow I'm going to give her some laxatives. Any responses are appreciated

Dehydration can most definitely cause constipation. I would recommend increasing the soaks to daily rather than 3-4X weekly. Also feed high moisture foods such as cucumbers, romaine lettuce, zucchini squash, cactus, aloe, etc.

 

[Tom]

Hi my 4-5 year old female tortoise Rocky has been pooping less often and in much smaller amounts. I have been trying to get her to defecate a normal amount for the past 3 days. I have been giving her 40 minute soaks in 95f water temp. I usually soak her 3 or 4 times a week for 20 minutes. I always keep the humidity above 50% with spider plants and somewhat wet bedding. Today she didn't eat and yesterday she only ate the pellets but other than that her appetite has been fine. She has been hiding a lot more too. I take the temp with a temp gun and found out it was a little too hot so I raised the light. I made this post because I want to find out if dehydration is the reason for her constipation. A lot of the tortoise dehydration symptoms are the same as the constipation ones. This is the first time that she has been constipated. Tomorrow I'm going to give her some laxatives. Any responses are appreciated

What species and size tortoise are we talking about?

You said temps were too hot. What were they, and what are they now?

 

[Rstalder]

Hi my 4-5 year old female tortoise Rocky has been pooping less often and in much smaller amounts. I have been trying to get her to defecate a normal amount for the past 3 days. I have been giving her 40 minute soaks in 95f water temp. I usually soak her 3 or 4 times a week for 20 minutes. I always keep the humidity above 50% with spider plants and somewhat wet bedding. Today she didn't eat and yesterday she only ate the pellets but other than that her appetite has been fine. She has been hiding a lot more too. I take the temp with a temp gun and found out it was a little too hot so I raised the light. I made this post because I want to find out if dehydration is the reason for her constipation. A lot of the tortoise dehydration symptoms are the same as the constipation ones. This is the first time that she has been constipated. Tomorrow I'm going to give her some laxatives. Any responses are appreciated

Have you checked with vet for parasites? obstruction? With heat or uva lisghts especially important for himidity..
At least with mine a red foot, I have humidifier going all the time...

 

[Rstalder]

Have you checked with vet for parasites? obstruction? With heat or uva lisghts especially important for himidity..
At least with mine a red foot, I have humidifier going all the time...

humidifier was cheap..we use it too..got at wallgreens est 35 dollars

 

[Tom]

Have you checked with vet for parasites? obstruction? With heat or uva lisghts especially important for himidity..
At least with mine a red foot, I have humidifier going all the time...

Humidifiers should not be used with tortoises. Humidity should be maintained by using a large closed chamber and reducing ventilation.

 

[Rocky219]

Sorry for not responding. She isn't constipated anymore after I gave an hour long bath. The temps were 105f but I lowered them down to about 98f. I haven't checked for parasites yet because I've had her for a year but I will at her next visit. I don't use humidifiers. I tried it but it didn't seem to work. I spray the plants and make the bedding wet but not too wet. Also she is a Hermann Tortoise