FujiBaird
Member
- Joined
- Dec 15, 2014
- Messages
- 95
I've had my Hermanns tortoise, Roma, for about a year. In that time, he's always received daily soaks, and I'd say he poops in the bath about 75% of the time. However, that seems to have changed recently. Warning, poop details incoming!
Last week, he didn't poop in the bath at all for the entire week. He was walking around his enclosure with his tail down (unusual), often swishing it around as though he was going to poop, and when he'd sit down, he'd plunge his tail straight down into the substrate. I found a few small, hard poop pieces slightly under the substrate. I upped his soaks to twice daily.
He went for a car ride last Friday night and had a pretty big poop in the travel box, slightly hard though. I'm told he had a big poop the next morning too. On Sunday, he had a large poop in his bath -- that sadly included 2 decent sized rocks. One was about the same size and shape as a coffee bean, the other was about the same size but more of an arrowhead shape. (Sounds pretty uncomfortable to me!)
So far this week, I haven't seen any poop from Roma. I've been alternating between giving mazuri with a couple drops of mineral oil and mazuri with chopped aloe for breakfast, but that's only started this week. Continuing with the soaks twice a day... he's been relaxing in the bath much longer than usual before getting antsy.
Roma still seems fairly active (given that the weather has been a little cooler recently) and is still eating his usual amount. As background, he spends days in an outdoor enclosure (Hawaii... so highs in the 80s most days, fairly high humidity) where he can nibble on a wide variety of organic, tortoise-safe plants. A plant saucer of water is always available, though I don't see him use it often. We bring him in for the night, where he sleeps in a coco coir-lined plastic bin, humidity usually 60-70%, overnight low temps in the bin of about 70 degrees this time of year. In the morning, after his bath, I feed him moistened mazuri sprinkled with herbal hay and miner-all on a bed of greens, and then he can eat whatever he wants outside all day.
Last week, he didn't poop in the bath at all for the entire week. He was walking around his enclosure with his tail down (unusual), often swishing it around as though he was going to poop, and when he'd sit down, he'd plunge his tail straight down into the substrate. I found a few small, hard poop pieces slightly under the substrate. I upped his soaks to twice daily.
He went for a car ride last Friday night and had a pretty big poop in the travel box, slightly hard though. I'm told he had a big poop the next morning too. On Sunday, he had a large poop in his bath -- that sadly included 2 decent sized rocks. One was about the same size and shape as a coffee bean, the other was about the same size but more of an arrowhead shape. (Sounds pretty uncomfortable to me!)
So far this week, I haven't seen any poop from Roma. I've been alternating between giving mazuri with a couple drops of mineral oil and mazuri with chopped aloe for breakfast, but that's only started this week. Continuing with the soaks twice a day... he's been relaxing in the bath much longer than usual before getting antsy.
Roma still seems fairly active (given that the weather has been a little cooler recently) and is still eating his usual amount. As background, he spends days in an outdoor enclosure (Hawaii... so highs in the 80s most days, fairly high humidity) where he can nibble on a wide variety of organic, tortoise-safe plants. A plant saucer of water is always available, though I don't see him use it often. We bring him in for the night, where he sleeps in a coco coir-lined plastic bin, humidity usually 60-70%, overnight low temps in the bin of about 70 degrees this time of year. In the morning, after his bath, I feed him moistened mazuri sprinkled with herbal hay and miner-all on a bed of greens, and then he can eat whatever he wants outside all day.
. But I'm not sure why some tortoises get rocks. What I would do is cut food that is high in oxalates and keep soaking her more often. Also, check the humidity.
