I am really worried about my 7 yr old Sulcata Tortoise. He can’t Poop, won’t eat and is lethargic. It has been 5 days now that this has gone on. Took him to the Vet and xrays were taken and he sent them out to a specialty person in reading Reptile xrays. He was concerned about a white mass on his plastron that seems to be pushing up on his intestines and lungs. He is suppose to call us when he gets the report. I have been soaking him three times a day and he has gotten urine and white matter and grass and a little brown matter but no real poop and he still hasn’t eaten anything. If the mass is a tumor would surgery be a reasonable option for him to recovery and also cost not prohibited for our budget? Any advice welcomed.
Poopy is constipated
- Thread starter Cathyjo
- Start date
Greetings.
Make sure your water is warm enough, and maybe deeper than normal so he has to swim about and move.
Lots of opuntia cactus, aloe plant and some cucumer should help.
Hope the white mass isnt the issue. If so, entirely different reason for being constipated.
Upload some pix of enclosure, where/how you are soaking and feeding. Is it getting exercise?
Good luck!
Make sure your water is warm enough, and maybe deeper than normal so he has to swim about and move.
Lots of opuntia cactus, aloe plant and some cucumer should help.
Hope the white mass isnt the issue. If so, entirely different reason for being constipated.
Upload some pix of enclosure, where/how you are soaking and feeding. Is it getting exercise?
Good luck!
Thank you for replying. Yes, water is warm but container not large enough for him to walk around but can move a bit on all sides. He won’t eat so can’t give him your ideas. His pen is large enough(8ft x10ft) so he can walk around but he is just staying in one place under his heat source. I am going to take him outside today to see if he will walk around a bit. Yes, I am concerned about the mass.
I've never heard of tumors inside tortoises. More than likely what the "white mass" is is a bladder stone. This happens frequently in tortoises due to diet but mostly dehydration. It doesn't resolve itself, and requires surgery to remove the stone. In the meantime, you can feed the tortoise wet foods to help lubricate his insides.
I would clean your bathtub real good and rinse it well (to remove any old soap residue). Then put the tortoise in there in warm water. Scrambling around, trying to escape the tub will get things moving inside the tortoise. Just leave him in there for a long time - maybe a half hour or 45 minutes. Let him scramble. Hopefully this will bring the result you're looking for.
I would clean your bathtub real good and rinse it well (to remove any old soap residue). Then put the tortoise in there in warm water. Scrambling around, trying to escape the tub will get things moving inside the tortoise. Just leave him in there for a long time - maybe a half hour or 45 minutes. Let him scramble. Hopefully this will bring the result you're looking for.
I neglected to say: the water should come up to the middle of the tortoise's sides, where the top shell meets the bottom shell.
Success this morning! Poopy pooped! I have been soaking him a lot and even in my bathtub as Yvonne suggested and Marco too. Also yesterday was a very nice warm sunny day and dandelions growing and Poopy loves them so took him out to get some exercise and dandelions and put some Mineral Oil on the dandelions as suggested by others too. I think that helped too since he hasn’t been eating since his constipation started. Thank you to all who responded with advice!
Ok as. I said Poopy did poop once in the last week but has not again since then. I took him outside yesterday and he ate a lot of dandelions and I was able to put some mineral oil on some of the dandelions that he ate too. He walked around a lot and was out for 1 1/2 hrs eating and soaking up the sun. This morning I soaked him for 1 1/2 hrs and he urinated and got out a lot of the white urates but no poop. I am taking him to the Vet today for deworming since his fecal test came back as high pin worms and the Vet thinks this could be his problem. However I have read on this site that de worming can be dangerous so am confused what to do? What do you think?
The vet will de-worm the tortoise properly, don't worry about it.
Urates can mean not enough hydration. Does he drink from the water dish? My sully hasn't figured out drinking from a dish . After a soak I put the kitchen faucet on a light warm spray. Opo loves it and the water runs down his neck and he drinks water that way. I haven't sese urates for quite a while..
Took Poopy in to the Vet this morning to get worm meds but the Vet could not get him to open his mouth to get it in him so he gave me the meds to take home and I will try putting it on some dandelions today when I take him outside. That seems to be the only thing he wants to eat and only when he is outside.
Keep us posted.
Well I did have success in getting Poopy to take the worm medicine by putting it on a few dandelions! He loves them and he ate a lot more of them too while he was out there. I kept him out for an hour since the weather was nice and sunny and tomorrow will begin about a week of cold and rainy weather. I have to go get another dose of the medicine in two weeks to give him. Vet said just come and get it and give it to him on dandelions again since that seems to work!
Great to hear !
Poopy update: Gave worm medicine on Friday. Today is Monday and nothing has happened. He Pooped last Monday and nothing since then. He ate quite a few dandelions outside Friday when he got the worm Med but weather has not been good enough to take him out again and he isn’t interested in eating anything indoors. I have been soaking him Twice a day for at least an or more each time. I don’t know what else to do.
