Tortoise Poo

[mellie101]

Hi everybody. I was wondering if some kind person could shed some light on my tortoise problem please? I have a Golden Greek who is 8 months old. I seriously can't believe how much he has grown over the past 3 months. Anyway, we are feeding him mainly dandelion and clover right now. Mainly because we have an abundance of it but also it is clearly his favourite as it is eaten in no time. He can also eat huge amounts. We also give him spinach and cabbage leaves. I've also noticed him eating small stones. I'd say three times in the past 6 weeks he has had really loose stools. He can go a 2 weeks without having it sometimes more and then he has quite a lot. That's why I'm not sure it is the dandelions. We rinse them thoroughly but we don't use treatments on our grass anyway. He sometimes the stool trails behind him by what looks like a very fine hair. I made the mistake of trying to help it along once and he didn't like that at all.

I'm sorry if I sound a complete idiot but we are very new to this and have had no problems with this until the last 6 weeks. I really don't want to make this problem worse so thought I should ask advice.

 

[tortadise]

If he is eating small stones he is looking for minerals, or calcium. Do you give use mineral powder or calcium powder at all? I would try to add some grass in their, and dark leafy greens. Vary the diet a little more and add a cuddle bone to his enclosure for calcium intake. The stool seems like it may be the food your giving him. Could you post a picture? Also has he had a fecal done before?

 

[mellie101]

HI, thanks so much for responding. I have a cuddle bone in the encloser as he wouldn't eat anything with the powder on it. We fought for days over that He does nibble it so hoping that he is getting enough calcium. I use the Exo Terra 160 w bulb so the vitamin D shouldn't be a problem.

I wish I'd taken a picture earlier. The feces was very smelly. One about 2 inches long and the other about 1 inch long. I'll admit I haven't had a test done on him. We got him from a reputable breeder with good recommendations so didn't give it a 2nd thought to be honest. Do you think I should?

He really isn't a 'fruit loving tortoise'. Pretty much ignores all fruit. Always eats the leaves pretty quickly. His appetite is still good and when I put him in his bath for a soak today he can move at lightning speed to get out of it. He really isn't a soaker

Thanks again.