UGH!

[lMorphine]

Hey guys,

So Im a little frustrated. My tortoise is being a baby. Everytime I pick him up, he hisses (normal), but then he defacates and urinates all over me! I hate hate hate that! He doesnt even poop normal when I pick him up, he poops all watery, soft, nasty stuff. He wont poop in his enclosure either. Only when I put him in water does he poop normal. I dont understand it! Id love to let him walk around but he just doesnt stop pooping!

 

[dmmj]

Family forum, please refrain from vulgarities.

Your tortoise is not being a baby, he is being a tortoise, they poop and pee when startled so a potential predator will let them go.

 

[lMorphine]

Haha I thought I did refrain from vulgarities? Lol Whoops Sorry

And I get that but will he ever stop? I feed him, he knows I feed him youd think he'd be nice to me.

 

[Laura]

if some large thing came and picked you up and you were afraid you might be dropped or taken away from your home.. you may act the same way.. give it more time.. most get better... but these are still 'wild' animals and not domestic. Its possible your tortise was wild caught and its life has been a bit tough before it got to you.

 

[dmmj]

It's not a matter of being nice or not. Imagine this a 1000 foot giant comes and picks you up, you can't understand him, so you don't know what is going on, what would you do? I know what I would do, pee and poop myself.
To over come those reactions takes time, how much time depends on the tortoise. That is one reason,why I personally advise against handling except when necessary.

 

[lMorphine]

I mean I dont want to sit there and hold him all day, but taking him out to bring him outside without getting peed and pooped on would be lovely. You know? Lol

 

[Tom]

Try gently lifting him into a small tub that is sitting ready right next to his enclosure. He will likely feel more secure with his feet "on the ground" so to speak. Carry him outside or wherever in his little tub instead of your giant predatory looking hand with his feet dangling in the air.

In a couple of months you will probably already have forgotten that this was ever an issue.

 

[Laurie]

Sorry, this thread just made me laugh. Now I have a mental picture of a human throwing a tantrum because the tortoise is a baby ....

I'm not trying to be mean, it's just what I pictured in my head while reading this, it made me chuckle

 

[lynnedit]

Everyone is right about the fear factor!
At least for the first months/year, I avoided carrying my torts. Instead, they all had a small tub (just a bit bigger than them), with paper towels or newspaper on the bottom that I immediately place them in. This is how they were moved from place to place: to soak, go outside, etc.
Now for short trips they don't mind being carried short distances with my hand supporting them. However, this time of year they are outside full time, so I don't need to pick them up much at all. I just watch them (when I can see them, lol).

Their stools reflect their diet. Make sure your tort is not getting fruit. Limit Optunia cactus ( a GREAT source of calcium) to a couple of times per week. Runny stools could also implicate parasites, but if your tort is otherwise healthy and active, this may not be an issue.

 

[lMorphine]

His diet is collard greens, dandelion greens and kale. Maybe once a month he will get tomato when I cant get out to the store. I just started him on cuttlebone today, it SMELLED So bad! As far as being active, I mean hes basically pretty active for a tortoise, he walks around for id say like 3-4 hours a day but the rest hes in his hidebox. He climbs around and I just changed his substrate from sand and coco coir to straight organic plain topsoil. He doesnt have an overgrown beak or claws, no pyramiding, he eats like a horse.

 

[dmmj]

runny, watery type poop can sometimes indicate parasites.

 

[lMorphine]

Ahh I also added a bucket of water for him to climb into but im worried if he poops in there and im not home to change the water will he be okay in there?

 

[Tom]

He needs much more variety in the diet.

Cuttle bone should not have any smell. Something is wrong there. I'd remove it until you figure out what is going on.

What do you mean Bucket? They should have a shallow dish, that they can't drown in if they flip. Tall sided water bowls are death traps for tortoises. I like terra cotta plant saucers for this.

 

[lMorphine]

Its like a chip serving bowl, but I only filled it with minimal water, but he should be fine. Also the cuttlebone smells like cat urine x50

 

[Tom]

If the water bowl has high sides, slick sides, or is just not to the tortoises liking, they will often just avoid it. Just something to watch out for. If he's climbing in and or you see him drinking from it regularly, then you are probably fine. If the bowl stays clean and full all the time, you might need to switch it out.

It appears your cuttle bone is contaminated. Better remove it and go get a new non-smelly one.

 

[Yvonne G]

Cuttle bone is actually the skeletal structure of the cuttle fish. It should smell pretty fishy.

 

[MooingTricycle]

I use cuttlebone for my birds, no smell, where are you people buying these smelly cuttlebones?

 

[Masin]

Sorry, this thread just made me laugh. Now I have a mental picture of a human throwing a tantrum because the tortoise is a baby ....

I'm not trying to be mean, it's just what I pictured in my head while reading this, it made me chuckle

I have tears in my eyes because of Toms comment "instead of your giant predatory looking hand with his feet dangling in the air."

 

[Tom]

Cuttle bone is actually the skeletal structure of the cuttle fish. It should smell pretty fishy.

Are you making a joke?

Cuttlefish are Cephalopods. Like an octopus, squid, or snail. They don't smell fishy, and they certainly don't smell like "50x cat pee". After cleaning sanitizing and whatever other treatments they get, there shouldn't be any smell at all. None of the cuttlebones I've ever been around had any smell, unless a cat peed on them or they were dropped in something between the supplier and the buyer.

 

[lMorphine]

Petco wouldnt refund my money because "thats how it supposed to smell". So I asked the guy to get the current cuttlebone out of the bird cage and smell it and it had no smell. He still didnt budge...