Like the title says, how often do you'll spot clean your enclosures? Everytime I look into it and see some poop, I cant leave it there and have to pick it up. I usually do this 2-3 times a day. Is it safe to leave the poop in there till the next morning?
Spot cleaning-how often?
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samstar said:
I Normally do it Twice a day.. Morning and evening..
.. I don't know whether i am lucky or something with this but mine torts mess up there enclosure either in the early morning or late in the evening.. Maybe this is wrong of me, but I don't do it nearly that often. Just when I start to notice its getting decently messy. I keep redfoots though and was told that it was really healthy for them to eat their own poop (well, at least it's really natural for them) so maybe it's different with each species? I don't know.
Not to give any wrong impressions, I don't wait until there is poop piled high in some corner or any such nonsense. It never stinks. It always looks clean and with only 1 tortoise per each generously sized enclosure it doesn't really get messed up very quickly.
Not to give any wrong impressions, I don't wait until there is poop piled high in some corner or any such nonsense. It never stinks. It always looks clean and with only 1 tortoise per each generously sized enclosure it doesn't really get messed up very quickly.
samstar said:
Probably. Most species of tort eat their own droppings on occasion and this is not a big deal for them. Otherwise, unless you have a problem with pests, smell, or something, you can relax a bit.
I pick it up whenever I see it.
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What sp. do you own? I have an RF also and he is really low maintenance... he poops only when he eats and I feed him once a day. Maybe you can set a habit somehow?
As soon as I see it I get rid of it, when he's inside. Outside he usually goes in the same place every day, so I pick that up too. When he was little, I couldn't find it all the time and he would eat it, but now it's VERY noticeable .
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I don't see any problem with cleaning up each time. When my tortoises are outdoors I usually go through the enclosures once at the end of the day to remove feces, clean their water dishes if necessary and always to give them fresh water for the following day. When mine are indoors I usually remove feces each time I am in the tortoise room. I think it's much more important to keep indoor enclosures even more clean. Indoors very few tortoises have the same space that they do when kept outdoors. If feces is left long enough indoors they will usually eventually track it everywhere along with their feet, legs and plastrons eventually being covered with it. Just more chance of bacterial problems and smell. I'm much less concerned about them eating it, I've never really seen any of mine eat feces that I can recall.
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when i see poo i will clear it out.
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I try to clean up the poo whenever I notice it...otherwise she tramples it all around or eats it all. If I work from home I can usually get it right when she poos and get rid of it right away, but when I am in the office I usually find she has already eaten it or stomped it into the substrate.
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When I"m in the mood...
I don't do much with my outdoor torts. We get enough rain that it just turns into natural fertilzer pretty fast. But if I have company coming, I may shovel out the tort yard just so they don't have to worry about stepping in any. The tort shed get's cleaned a few times a year wether it needs it or not But they tend do do their business outside.
Inside, my tort areas get spot cleaned about once a week. I'll clean it if it ends up in the food or water when I see it, and I clean those out every day or 2.
I don't do much with my outdoor torts. We get enough rain that it just turns into natural fertilzer pretty fast. But if I have company coming, I may shovel out the tort yard just so they don't have to worry about stepping in any. The tort shed get's cleaned a few times a year wether it needs it or not
But they tend do do their business outside.Inside, my tort areas get spot cleaned about once a week. I'll clean it if it ends up in the food or water when I see it, and I clean those out every day or 2.
My tortoise isn't awake when I'm home in the morning, so every evening I pick up food and any waste. My tort doesn't poop on a regular schedule--sometimes daily, sometimes skips a day, sometimes twice in a day. Lately I've unfortunately missed some pees as it will go straight down to the bottom and he'll pick over the top of it, so it made a big stinky wet mess. Trying to be more careful about that as its always in the same spot where he spends most of his day. Weekly I wash the water dish and food tile, every couple weeks replace the hay he sits in during the day, and every so often I'll take out aspen on the top layer and anywhere he burrowed. I don't do a 100% clean since I have deep substrate that in many areas doesn't get touched. I wouldn't see a problem leaving poop. I'm just weird about it. Once its dried it isn't a problem. Its more of a problem when its fresh and they walk through it! My tort has done that and made a nasty mess all over himself.
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