Musty/Stinky Smell from young Redfoot

[xenomorph778]

Hey folks!

So about a week ago I noticed that my 5 month old Redfoot. Pretzel, had a little bit of a smell as I was getting them from their enclosure for a soak. Best I can describe it was musty, but also a fair bit of stink to it. Sniffing around the enclosure, everything seemed smelling good, a lot of the substrate is still pretty new and overall good condition. Anyhow, the smell persisted after the soak and into the following day when I grabbed Pretzel for the daily soak. As a result, I decided to give Pretzel a thorough inspection for any sort of injuries or gunk hidden around their limbs, neck, tail, etc. All looked perfectly fine and I did not see any sort of debris or waste in the crevices, however, to be safe I grabbed a soft bristled toothbrush and gave Pretzel a good scrubbing in those crevices. Naturally, Pretzel was not a fan but a few days down the line Pretzel no longer has a strange smell! Just a slight hint of muskiness, which I would expect from a tortoise that loves humidity as much as a Redfoot haha!

Another thing I did in combination with the gentle scrubbing was to cut out protein from Pretzel's diet temporarily to see if that made a change, as I had seen some discussion about the diet relating to any smells that might come up. Pretzel primarily has been getting Protein via a floral mix occasionally, as well as a small amount of mealworms every few meals. Over the next couple weeks I am going to slowly reintroduce proper amounts of protein to the diet and see if this smell returns as a result. If anyone has noticed proteins affecting smell and have found a good, reliable protein to keep their Redfoot healthy and happy please let me know!

Gentle scrubbing is also going to become a more routine action in Pretzel's care, so I must ask everyone here: do you give your tortoise's softer areas a scrub occasionally? And if so, how often have you found good success with? I am leaning towards once a week right now, but if anyone has found better results doing it more or less frequently let me know!

Other than the smell, Pretzel has been doing fantastic from what I can observe! When awake, very curious and agile, displaying everything I have read is important to see in a young Redfoot. Of course, Pretzel likes to sleep a lot, but from my research before bringing the little one home it appears that is totally natural for such a young tortoise.

Anyhow, that's all I have for today! Hopefully my experience here might be able to help someone else and create a good discussion for others to refrence.

Thanks for reading

 

[wellington]

@ZEROPILOT

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Sleeping a lot is very common. And it would normally be Sleeping in a hiding spot. Or a place they feel safe.
Foul smelling poop is a symptom I myself associated with a possible worm infestation. The few times I've had big issues with parasites, smelly poop was also noticed. And even though a few worms isn't an issue, a heavy infestation can cause a real stink.
Large amounts of meat protein can also do it. Meat in, stink out.
I'm thinking (and hoping) that maybe you're just not very experienced with RF poop. I mean poop is never pleasant.
In a large enough enclosure a tort can poop without walking back through it over and over and getting it in all of its crevices.Mine have several hundreds of square feet outside don't have this issue. And that is I'm assuming all that it is, since you report that your tort is acting fine.
Curious.
What else are you feeding?

 

[xenomorph778]

Sleeping a lot is very common. And it would normally be Sleeping in a hiding spot. Or a place they feel safe.
Foul smelling poop is a symptom I myself associated with a possible worm infestation. The few times I've had big issues with parasites, smelly poop was also noticed. And even though a few worms isn't an issue, a heavy infestation can cause a real stink.
Large amounts of meat protein can also do it. Meat in, stink out.
I'm thinking (and hoping) that maybe you're just not very experienced with RF poop. I mean poop is never pleasant.
In a large enough enclosure a tort can poop without walking back through it over and over and getting it in all of its crevices.Mine have several hundreds of square feet outside don't have this issue. And that is I'm assuming all that it is, since you report that your tort is acting fine.
Curious.
What else are you feeding?

95% of Pretzel's sleeping is in the warm humid hide, which is an upside-down opaque plastic bin with a door cut out. Like I said, the sleeping didn't seem off to me in any way, but I do appreciate getting some confirmation on that fact!

As for Redfoot poop, you're absolutely correct with me having little experience, as Pretzel is my first Redfoot, as well as my first tortoise. The poop itself actually hasn't been stinking too much from what I can smell, but I'd assume any amount of feces that lingers on the body, even if microscopic, could cause a bit of an odor in due time. I wouldn't be surprised if it's simply Pretzel stepping in their own poop, because even though I can almost always witness them pooping during/after their daily soaks, there has been times where it doesn't happen, as well as times were they poop more than once back to back.

As for space, Pretzel is currently residing in a 2'10x1'4 tub while I work on the new enclosure which is 4'x2'. I plan to make a larger space (4'x8' ideally) but I am working on the specifics on how to create a large enough space that I can control humidity well or if I want to make the entire room humid and warm instead, regardless, either option will require some prep work, so the 4'x2' enclosure is stepping stone.

As for diet. Pretzel get's a variety of greens including collard greens, escarole, kale, and some others that I have confirmed are good for Redfoots, though Pretzel especially loves Kale so that tends to be the primary green they are eating. For fruit, a bit of mango, papaya, strawberries, etc. accompanying the greens. In terms of meat protein, mealworms were the only thing I have tried so far as it's the easiest for me to get, but if there are better choices I will gladly go out of my way to get them.

I appreciate the reply and info though! I have been having an absolute joy raising this tortoise and I can see how this could grow into a more serious devotion for me in the future.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

95% of Pretzel's sleeping is in the warm humid hide, which is an upside-down opaque plastic bin with a door cut out. Like I said, the sleeping didn't seem off to me in any way, but I do appreciate getting some confirmation on that fact!

As for Redfoot poop, you're absolutely correct with me having little experience, as Pretzel is my first Redfoot, as well as my first tortoise. The poop itself actually hasn't been stinking too much from what I can smell, but I'd assume any amount of feces that lingers on the body, even if microscopic, could cause a bit of an odor in due time. I wouldn't be surprised if it's simply Pretzel stepping in their own poop, because even though I can almost always witness them pooping during/after their daily soaks, there has been times where it doesn't happen, as well as times were they poop more than once back to back.

As for space, Pretzel is currently residing in a 2'10x1'4 tub while I work on the new enclosure which is 4'x2'. I plan to make a larger space (4'x8' ideally) but I am working on the specifics on how to create a large enough space that I can control humidity well or if I want to make the entire room humid and warm instead, regardless, either option will require some prep work, so the 4'x2' enclosure is stepping stone.

As for diet. Pretzel get's a variety of greens including collard greens, escarole, kale, and some others that I have confirmed are good for Redfoots, though Pretzel especially loves Kale so that tends to be the primary green they are eating. For fruit, a bit of mango, papaya, strawberries, etc. accompanying the greens. In terms of meat protein, mealworms were the only thing I have tried so far as it's the easiest for me to get, but if there are better choices I will gladly go out of my way to get them.

I appreciate the reply and info though! I have been having an absolute joy raising this tortoise and I can see how this could grow into a more serious devotion for me in the future.

Almost any unprocessed fresh food that you eat, your Redfoot can also eat. Meat. Vegetable matter, fruits, etc.
There are many hundreds if not several thousands of food options for a Redfoot.
You can get creative and you might also find lots of other great, free food options outside of the home. They love cactus. Flowers, the leaves of many plants and mushrooms.
When in doubt about a food item, just ask. But use a large variety. Because a good, varied diet is part of having a healthy RF

 

[TammyJ]

He's gonna need a bigger boat!!!

 

[xenomorph778]

Almost any unprocessed fresh food that you eat, your Redfoot can also eat. Meat. Vegetable matter, fruits, etc.
There are many hundreds if not several thousands of food options for a Redfoot.
You can get creative and you might also find lots of other great, free food options outside of the home. They love cactus. Flowers, the leaves of many plants and mushrooms.
When in doubt about a food item, just ask. But use a large variety. Because a good, varied diet is part of having a healthy RF

I appreciate the information! I have definitely been wanting to try a bunch of new foods so it's good to know I have a wide range of options to try!

Also, I would love to feed Pretzel more from the yard, however I believe weed killers and such are used on the property so I will likely avoid that.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

I appreciate the information! I have definitely been wanting to try a bunch of new foods so it's good to know I have a wide range of options to try!

Also, I would love to feed Pretzel more from the yard, however I believe weed killers and such are used on the property so I will likely avoid that.

Yes avoid that.
Weed killers are bad news.
But if you find purslane, thistle or dandelion etc. outdoors in an un sprayed area, you can find a lot of free food that way.