Tortoise x-ray condition

[randomvj]

Hello, so I ask on my other post about my tortoise coughing and I appreciate the help and advice that they gave me and makes me consider a lot of how I will take care of my Sulcata Tortoise... So we just went to the vet about last week and we did an x-ray and we found like stones inside his body.. can this be pooped out naturally? He seems really active and keeps eating a lot of mustard greens and tortoise pellets and also he keeps walking a lot.. check my attachments...

 

[The_Four_Toed_Edward]

Sorry, I am not someone who can read xrays, so: Did the vet diagnose these as bladder stones? They are caused by lack of hydration and protein digestion.
Or are they something he has swallowed?

On top of getting down to the root cause of your problem, there are some things you can do to help these stones pass.

• Soaking daily. Long soaks, 40 to 60 mins in a large container with space for the tortoise to move around in. This induces pooping and peeing, plus hydrates your tortoise.
• Adding hydration to their diet. Feeding foods with laxative effects like aloe vera, lettuce, cucumber, pumpkin or zucchini.
• If they are something he has swallowed, adding more fiber to his diet with some good quality pellets to improve digestion should work too.
• And lastly, mineral oil to lubricate. This can be swiped around his cloaca with a q tip and/or given orally wrapped in lettuce or with some soaked pellets.
• On top of all these things, proper temperatures and moving around will also help anything to pass.

 

[Yvonne G]

Yes, those are small enough to pass right on through. And walking aids in digestion.

 

[TammyJ]

Does your tortoise have his own properly set up enclosure or does he live freely loose in your house?

 

[randomvj]

Sorry, I am not someone who can read xrays, so: Did the vet diagnose these as bladder stones? They are caused by lack of hydration and protein digestion.
Or are they something he has swallowed?

On top of getting down to the root cause of your problem, there are some things you can do to help these stones pass.

• Soaking daily. Long soaks, 40 to 60 mins in a large container with space for the tortoise to move around in. This induces pooping and peeing, plus hydrates your tortoise.
• Adding hydration to their diet. Feeding foods with laxative effects like aloe vera, lettuce, cucumber, pumpkin or zucchini.
• If they are something he has swallowed, adding more fiber to his diet with some good quality pellets to improve digestion should work too.
• And lastly, mineral oil to lubricate. This can be swiped around his cloaca with a q tip and/or given orally wrapped in lettuce or with some soaked pellets.
• On top of all these things, proper temperatures and moving around will also help anything to pass.

The diagnosed that its like real small stones. He assumed that he goes outdoor, but he doesnt really go outdoor... he sometimes freely roams around in one of our rooms, he may have find one of those stones I guess

 

[randomvj]

Yes, those are small enough to pass right on through. And walking aids in digestion.

Thank you so much! That gives me some relief

 

[randomvj]

Does your tortoise have his own properly set up enclosure or does he live freely loose in your house?

He have his own enclosure and sometimes we put him in one room to roam more freely.

 

[COmtnLady]

It isn't wise to allow a tortoise to wander around loose in a house, even if it is in one room. It's too easy for things to be eaten - tracked in on shoes or accidentally dropped by people... sharp things and odd pieces of plastic or paper... rubber bands....more. It can get crushed by accident, stepped on, smashed by a door, a piece of furniture tipped over, The tort could chomp on a wire.

No matter how vigilant you are, it is not possible for the tortoise to be safe walking around like that.

.

 

[ryan57]

It isn't wise to allow a tortoise to wander around loose in a house, even if it is in one room. It's too easy for things to be eaten - tracked in on shoes or accidentally dropped by people... sharp things and odd pieces of plastic or paper... rubber bands....more. It can get crushed by accident, stepped on, smashed by a door, a piece of furniture tipped over, The tort could chomp on a wire.

No matter how vigilant you are, it is not possible for the tortoise to be safe walking around like that.

.

It truly depends on the household. With other people (kids, pets, guests, etc.) in the house, that is not cleaned regularly, with no note on the door that a tortoise is out, yes. I don't see any dirt or debris on our floors but it is cleaned every Tuesday. Every space has its dangers.

I've seen almost more hazards in enclosures that are too small/wrong temps with flipping over, trying to eat the substrate, trying to swallow pieces of cuttlebone that break off too large, bulldozing their humid hides to other areas of the enclosure and getting stuck, etc. This summer we had a box turtle that was a climbing maniac sometimes and had to be put outside. This summer Stump stepped on his terra cotta water dish on and cracked/broke it because of his weight. If we didn't see that water was leaking he could have cut himself.

Think about this logically; if any enclosed space, including a room, is made safe, then it is a safe tortoise "enclosure". Similarly, in every properly set up environment (stadium, pole barn, greenhouse, room, shed, closed chamber, outdoor enclosure, etc.), the tortoise is actually "loose" inside of its enclosure.

There is no disagreement that all tortoise spaces need to be safe, dedicated to the tortoise only and not shared but to say that a space, particularly a room cannot be made safe because the tortoise is "loose" is incorrect.

 

[The_Four_Toed_Edward]

It truly depends on the household. With other people (kids, pets, guests, etc.) in the house, that is not cleaned regularly, with no note on the door that a tortoise is out, yes. I don't see any dirt or debris on our floors but it is cleaned every Tuesday. Every space has its dangers.

I've seen almost more hazards in enclosures that are too small/wrong temps with flipping over, trying to eat the substrate, trying to swallow pieces of cuttlebone that break off too large, bulldozing their humid hides to other areas of the enclosure and getting stuck, etc. This summer we had a box turtle that was a climbing maniac sometimes and had to be put outside. This summer Stump stepped on his terra cotta water dish on and cracked/broke it because of his weight. If we didn't see that water was leaking he could have cut himself.

Think about this logically; if any enclosed space, including a room, is made safe, then it is a safe tortoise "enclosure". Similarly, in every properly set up environment (stadium, pole barn, greenhouse, room, shed, closed chamber, outdoor enclosure, etc.), the tortoise is actually "loose" inside of its enclosure.

There is no disagreement that all tortoise spaces need to be safe, dedicated to the tortoise only and not shared but to say that a space, particularly a room cannot be made safe because the tortoise is "loose" is incorrect.

I am not saying that there aren't enclosures out there that are hazardous, but in this case we agree, that walking loose in the house has caused the tortoise to swallow rocks? Maybe OPs floor isn't as safe and enclosed as it should be.

 

[randomvj]

It truly depends on the household. With other people (kids, pets, guests, etc.) in the house, that is not cleaned regularly, with no note on the door that a tortoise is out, yes. I don't see any dirt or debris on our floors but it is cleaned every Tuesday. Every space has its dangers.

I've seen almost more hazards in enclosures that are too small/wrong temps with flipping over, trying to eat the substrate, trying to swallow pieces of cuttlebone that break off too large, bulldozing their humid hides to other areas of the enclosure and getting stuck, etc. This summer we had a box turtle that was a climbing maniac sometimes and had to be put outside. This summer Stump stepped on his terra cotta water dish on and cracked/broke it because of his weight. If we didn't see that water was leaking he could have cut himself.

Think about this logically; if any enclosed space, including a room, is made safe, then it is a safe tortoise "enclosure". Similarly, in every properly set up environment (stadium, pole barn, greenhouse, room, shed, closed chamber, outdoor enclosure, etc.), the tortoise is actually "loose" inside of its enclosure.

There is no disagreement that all tortoise spaces need to be safe, dedicated to the tortoise only and not shared but to say that a space, particularly a room cannot be made safe because the tortoise is "loose" is incorrect.

I like your answer. Indeed the room is already clean and we have like a mat around the room. I made sure every corner there is no stone before I put my tortoise inside that room. The room is much more bigger than his normal enclosure plus he can freely roam around as well.

 

[The_Four_Toed_Edward]

I like your answer. Indeed the room is already clean and we have like a mat around the room. I made sure every corner there is no stone before I put my tortoise inside that room. The room is much more bigger than his normal enclosure plus he can freely roam around as well.

So you have no idea where he found the stones? Of course you want to prevent this in the future. Next time it might be a bigger stone or something else.

 

[_The_Beast_]

I like your answer. Indeed the room is already clean and we have like a mat around the room. I made sure every corner there is no stone before I put my tortoise inside that room. The room is much more bigger than his normal enclosure plus he can freely roam around as well.

When the stones pass, if you're able to share a picture here folks should be able to identify if they're bladder stones or not. If bladder stones, the hydration advice already shared + a diet review should help prevent them from reoccurring.

 

[ryan57]

I am not saying that there aren't enclosures out there that are hazardous, but in this case we agree, that walking loose in the house has caused the tortoise to swallow rocks? Maybe OPs floor isn't as safe and enclosed as it should be.

I would definitely agree with that if any tortoise ingested stones laying around any enclosure but if it is outside at all, I've seen Stump pull up and eat full clumps of grass with the soil beneath! Do we really want to get into the suggested soil depth on top of the possible rocks and gravel in your yard? I mean... this goes down the cuckoo road pretty quick.