Russian tortoise Diarrhea (gross, help!)

[whitnaaaaaay]

Sheldon, whom I have had for two months, all the sudden had very nasty diarrhea. His diet is loucious greens, peas, green peppers, etc.. I came home from school and he smelled so gross! He is running around fine though. What happened? and how do i get him to stop smelling...?[/font]

 

[Jacqui]

So nothing new in the diet or perhaps you fed a higher amount of something? Nothing could have caused a stress recently and sent the parasite counts up? Have you had a stool sample tested by the Vet? Excuse my ignorance, but what are loucious greens? At this point his diet sounds like it might be a problem.

 

[GeoTerraTestudo]

So nothing new in the diet or perhaps you fed a higher amount of something? Nothing could have caused a stress recently and sent the parasite counts up? Have you had a stool sample tested by the Vet? Excuse my ignorance, but what are loucious greens? At this point his diet sounds like it might be a problem.

I'm inclined to agree. Diarrhea can be caused by parasites, but it can also be caused by something as simple as not enough fiber in the diet.

Testudos should be getting mostly leafy greens and weeds in their diet, like lettuce, endive, dandelion, chicory, arugula, collards, etc. It almost sounds like the plants you're giving him (peas, peppers, etc) are not providing him with enough fiber. I'd put him on a strict diet of leafy greens, and see if that doesn't fix the problem. You should see results in a couple days. If not, I'd consider taking him to a vet for deworming. Tortoises can handle small numbers of parasites, but if your guy has a heavy infestation, then long term diarrhea could lead to dehydration and eventually death.