Smelly Urine in my Redfoot

[thenaturalist56]

I have A baby red foot which I got about 2 months ago. It is almost four inches now, and seems to be doing alright.

Before describing my worries, i will first give you an idea about how i care for my tortoise.

I bring him inside at night but allow him to roam around in a safe, interesting enclosure outside durring the day. I am following guidelines for tortoise care carefully and am providing a varried diet including the following: romaine lettuce, mazuri tortoise diet, occasional leaves of spring mix, plants I find outside that are safe for tortoises, zucchini and other vegetables, the occasional bite if fruit such as melon and pear, and a meal worm for protein every 7 to 10 days.

I have noticed that my tortoise is smelly, especially after the mealworm. His poo smells awful, kind of musty and rotten smelling. His urine often smells like rotting fish. The smelly poo after the mealworms makes sense to me but not the smelly urine. I don't know if either is normal. Should I give him something else for proton instead of the occasional mealworm? I am worried about him pyramiding so I don't want to give too much protein.

Also, my little guy is not that active. What worries me most is that if I don't move him to the food he won't eat. The same with water. He will not leave his hiding spot for a drink of water unless I put him right in front of the water. If I don't do this, the food goes to waste and the water untouched, he simply won't touch it. Why does he do this and how can I remedy this issue? He lives to be hand fed, but I can't always do this.

Thank you for answering my questions.

 

[ascott]

Where in the world are you located, what are the temps during the day, what is his day area like, do you soak him daily?

 

[thenaturalist56]

I am located in new york, where the day temps are in the low 80's. I take him in at night and he doesnt go out until midday, where it hs the warmest. There is a heating pad in hus indoor box, so it is nice and wRm on one end and cooler on the other
I put him into a shallow dish of water every day, where he sits on his own accord, drinking and soaking for about ten minutes until he resides to go back into hiding. I do not force him to stay but allow him to decide when he's had enough water and soaking. I figured he knows, but does he?

His day area is a fenced in area of completely untreated lawn grass. It is plenty of room for him, about the size of one of those plastic pools for little kids. He has a crate to hide in which is partially in deep shade and partially in filtered sunlight and another box in complete sun for him to hide in if he gets cold. He always chooses the shade whether it is in the box or not. He tends to burrow into the grass all day long. I put food out for him and watch while he eats because he will leave the food hardly touched if I don't redirect him. He will eat a decent amount four out of seven days a week, but unless it is fruit or a flower he is not too interested. I only give fruit sparingly because of diarrhea.

The food he was raised on from a hatchling was absolute garbage. It was some commercial diet from petsmart which I bought to him to help him transition to new food, but with the option of something else he would not touch the pellet food.

 

[Madkins007]

Thank you for the info. Are you doing anything to provide humidity?

The red-footed tortoise wants warm (not hot, low 80's usually, with options for warmer or cooler) humid places with plenty of shade and cover. They also naturally spend much of their day hiding.

Diet is the usual reason for smelly poo or urine, and fatty or oily 'meats' can trigger this as can certain foods. Too much sugar and/or too little fiber makes runnier poo. You may want to review the diet and some suggested options somewhere like the Tortoise Library linked below.

 

[thenaturalist56]

Thank you!

 

[chris_m90731]

Did you expect it to smell like a rose garden?? lol