Soak Water

[tglazie]

Indeed. I used to keep redfoots as well back in those days. Bells Hingebacks too. That was, unfortunately, the full spectrum of my experience with forest/forest edge tortoises with more omnivorous tendencies. I never had any problems of that nature, which again, I'm not saying it's impossible, just strange. I mean, I'm sure when it happened, alongside the trauma, it was a big WTH moment. I just find this strange, though, because I've had so many bad things happen where tortoises are involved. I mean, I've had several animals die from dehydration, back in the pre-tortoise forum days when the importance of water and hydration weren't well known among keepers. I've had an animal accidentally drown in his burrow. I've had two tortoises get mauled to death by dogs, and one mauled to the point of requiring intensive care. I had a skunk dig through the corner of an enclosure and kill three baby sulcatas I was babysitting overnight (I only allow babies outdoors for a few hours during the day as a result, though I discovered that was beneficial for other reasons). I stupidly housed two baby Greek tortoises together as a pair, thinking they were siblings so everything would be fine. I failed to recognize the symptoms of bullying, and the submissive animal suffered an infection and died. I lost several Bell's Hingebacks, Russians, and sulcatas that I was fostering, many of them already ill when I acquired them. I mean, I've messed up a lot in my three decades of tortoise keeping. But despite this, I still have my first tortoise, a southern Turkish ibera named Graecus, who is definitely in his sixties or seventies, from what I can figure. I've still got an enviable group of breeding marginateds. I'm not often surprised by how things go wrong, given that they've gone so utterly wrong for me in the past.

I understand the paranoia that comes with suffering the trauma of a loss all too well. I'm just confounded by this situation as a potential vector for disease. Very strange.

T.G.

 

[Jay Bagley]

I think what you had to go through and endure with your dog is absolutely horrible. We put our two dogs down last year 3 months apart from each other. One was a 15 year old Boston Terrier, the other a 14 year old Golden Retriever Chow mix. We had them humanely euthanized because their quality of life had deteriorated so much. It was one of the hardest things I've had to go through, both of them being put down so close together made it harder. This is just my own opinion, and no way shape or form am I trying to call you a liar or make the horrible situation you had to go through worse. I don't think you're veterinarian knew what killed your dog. I'm assuming he or she felt pressure to give you an explanation for cause of death. They also probably wanted to give you some closure. When they could not figure out the cause of death I feel as if they grasped at straws, and applied the that's my story and I'm sticking to it answer. Either way, I really do feel for you. I think the only reason people are questioning this is many on here have had dogs ingest tortoise feces with no ill effect. It's not my attempt to upset you, and definitely not debate with you. It's just my own take on it. I wish you and your animals nothing but the best from here on out.

 

[JanelP]

Sounds like bluegreen algae poisoning. maybe the tortoise poop was a coinsciedense. Or even if it was in the water, I wonder if it could survive in the tortoise poop.....
Either way, yes. So Sorry for your lose. Having dogs, I'm going to make sure no tortoise poop close to them. I'll find other good fertilizer. Thanks for sharing, I like to error on the side of caution.

 

[Jackie Cramer]

Does anyone use the soak water to water your plants?

I do and my plants are really doing well

 

[Lifeoftorto]

i do it all the time