My Tort Has Diarrhea-Please Help!

[Gillian M]

My tort has had diarrhea for the past two days. The strange is that its diet has not changed: It's been eating Roman lettuce and only Roman lettuce since I bought it. It ate tomatoes for a while but when I was adviced not to feed it tomatoes, I stopped. Therefore, it went back to Roman lettuce, but in the past my tort used to "suffer" constipation, and never had diarrhea.

What am I to do to stop this diarrhea? Anyone's quick help/advice would be highly appreciated.

Thank you.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Since romaine is at least 90% water, I would imagine that this would be common.
Could you ad more fiberous food to the menu?
Mine get this whenever I make a big change to the menu, but it always goes away in a few days.
Make sure he/she is able to re hydrate with a nice bath.
I have Redfoot torts and can offer no help on the diets of other species.
I'm sure an expert on your species and it's food will be along soon.

 

[lismar79]

Romain has almost not nutritional value. Your torts going to need a diet change to get better. What kind of tort?

 

[Gillian M]

Romain has almost not nutritional value. Your torts going to need a diet change to get better. What kind of tort?

I do know that Roman lettuce is not the right diet, but my Greek tor thas refused to eat anything else except tomatoes. I've tried changing its diet but...no way would it eat.

Thanks very much your prompt reply and help.

 

[Gillian M]

The "funnny" thing is that my tort has eaten Roman lettuce ever since I bought it, and has usually had constipation. Only two days ago diaarrhea began and so far it has not stopped. I've been giving my tort warm "baths" as you mentioned.

Thanks a lot your help, which I really do appreciate.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Hopefully with the baths, he'll soak and drink. He needs water back in.

 

[newCH]

How about Mazuri for fiber ?

 

[mini_max]

I am wondering if this could be a parasite/worm issue, because it can cause runny poop. When you got your tort, did you have a fecal sample done? If not, it seems likely to me that he/she may have had some amount of parasite load to begin with which over time, and possibly with his dietary stubbornness, has grown to a level that is now producing symptoms.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

It seems that tortoises other than our Redfoot types aren't as fond of Mazuri.
I do ad a little Diatomacious Earth to my feedings once a week as a worm preventative.
Although I would pause before recommending it to others, It was in fact told to me by an exotic vet and it has worked for me.
A professional would have to determine if that is in fact your issue.

 

[CourtneyG]

The diet needs to change. You can either slowly mix in different greens with his food while slowly decreasing the romain, or you could go cold turkey and remove the romain completly. Grassland and mazuri need to be introduced in the diet as well. I doubt it is parasites, just sounds like a poor quality diet that has no fiber.

 

[Gillian M]

Hopefully with the baths, he'll soak and drink. He needs water back in.

Fair enough, I'll keep giving my tort baths to make up some of the water it lost. Once again, thank you very much your help.

 

[Gillian M]

The diet needs to change. You can either slowly mix in different greens with his food while slowly decreasing the romain, or you could go cold turkey and remove the romain completly. Grassland and mazuri need to be introduced in the diet as well. I doubt it is parasites, just sounds like a poor quality diet that has no fiber.

Thanks your alert as well as your help.

Believe me I've tried endlessly to reduce Roman lettuce, but..no way would my tort eat. I'll give it another try with a totally different diet, but what if the naughty little thing refuses to eat? That breaks my heart! I too doubt it's parasites and hope it isn't, even though I'm not an expert in the subject. Once again thanks very much your help-appreciate it.

 

[Randi]

I noticed that the only thing it consumes is Romaine Lettuce.. Romaine Lettuce has little to no nutrition. Your tortoises' diet NEEDS variety. If this was my animal, I'd completely remove Romaine Lettuce. If your tortoise doesn't eat the new food, you must wait. A hungry tortoise will eat. I think you should go back to the thread you made about tomatoes and read. There were many great choices and alternatives listed that your tortoise would love and benefit from. Improving your diet should definitely improve the stomach issues. Best of luck to you and yours.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

It's been asked many times before. Eventually he'll eat. I went through that myself.

 

[Gillian M]

I noticed that the only thing it consumes is Romaine Lettuce.. Romaine Lettuce has little to no nutrition. Your tortoises' diet NEEDS variety. If this was my animal, I'd completely remove Romaine Lettuce. If your tortoise doesn't eat the new food, you must wait. A hungry tortoise will eat. I think you should go back to the thread you made about tomatoes and read. There were many great choices and alternatives listed that your tortoise would love and benefit from. Improving your diet should definitely improve the stomach issues. Best of luck to you and yours.

Thanks your alert. I was able to stop offering tomatoes because there was Roman lettuce to replace it which my tort loves. I'm going to give it yet another try and remove Roman lettuce completely, as you kindly suggested in your alert. But....suppose my tort refuses to eat?

Once again thanks your alert as well as your help, both of which I very much appreciate.

 

[Randi]

There are better choices for filling that belly up without using any Romaine. If it is used, I have a feeling your tort will pick it out and eat only that. So, let's remove it completely and give a new diet a try. I would not worry if your tortoise goes a few days, even a week without eating. I'm sure it can go longer. I'd soak the tort everyday so if it doesn't eat, it's still hydrated. Patience will win this battle. You must not give in. Just continue offering the new diet. It will take. Persistence is key. I think once it tastes all of these wonderful things, it will gladly switch over to a new, varied diet. Your tort will thank you - you will also find it fun to try new safe food items. I am growing a lot of weeds and grasses indoors. I chop them up into grocery store greens. I have a Herbal Salad Mix for tortoises (Carolina Pet Supply) that I throw in the food. I have Optunia powder as well Rose of Sharon powder that I use every second day on food. In the enclosure, mine has a side growing weeds and grasses as well as some flowers to munch on. Once the snow is gone, it will be paradise outside for mine. Safe flowers growing everywhere. I'll be relying on food that's growing outside for three months. It's fun to plant things and feed.

 

[lismar79]

I went through the romain only with my russian. What I did was: minced up other good for her foods really fine & added Mazuri that was moist to make a paste. I then spread the paste onto the romaine leaves. I call it a Tort taco. I hand fed her this to make sure she ate it. After a while I started using bigger pieces of other things & slowly decreased the size of the romaine. Torts are stubborn & do not like change at all, this will take you a lot of time but its worth it to save his life right

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

Good advice already given by many members, but if I could add that if you offer your tortoise a bit of romaine and then when it opens its mouth pop in a morsel of something more suitable or some mazuri, this will help with the transition to a different diet. I've tried this and it works, though sometimes the food has to be placed deep in the mouth or the tortoise may spit it out.
Good luck

 

[Gillian M]

I went through the romain only with my russian. What I did was: minced up other good for her foods really fine & added Mazuri that was moist to make a paste. I then spread the paste onto the romaine leaves. I call it a Tort taco. I hand fed her this to make sure she ate it. After a while I started using bigger pieces of other things & slowly decreased the size of the romaine. Torts are stubborn & do not like change at all, this will take you a lot of time but its worth it to save his life right

Thanks a lot your help. As I said I have made my mind up: I'm going to give it yet another try without Roman lettuce. Mind you, even here there's an obstacle: here in Jordan there is little if no care for animals particularly torts. Thus, I don't know any pet store where I can buy my tort the right food.

Oh, you bet torts are stubborn, and definitely don't like change.But on the other hand I am an extremely patient person, so we'll see who'll win the battle.

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

Thanks a lot your help. As I said I have made my mind up: I'm going to give it yet another try without Roman lettuce. Mind you, even here there's an obstacle: here in Jordan there is little if no care for animals particularly torts. Thus, I don't know any pet store where I can buy my tort the right food.

Oh, you bet torts are stubborn, and definitely don't like change.But on the other hand I am an extremely patient person, so we'll see who'll win the battle.

Know what you mean, Morocco is the same. No care for animals at all. Horrifying sometimes. Luckily I often go to Spain for my supplies, but not so easy for you I guess.