Is it OK to help my tort poop..?

Ciki

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So I picked up my tortoise (she's like 5 months old so she's still small enough) in order to bathe her and I noticed that some poop was hanging from her butt. I thought it was just sticking to her so I tried pulling it off, but it turned out that it was inside her. I tried my best to pull as slowly and softly as I could, and eventually, it came out with another block (honestly don't know what to call it) at the end of it. Yeah it's gross but I love her so it's ok. She seems fine, but I have too much anxiety to really fully label her as ok. Would such a thing hurt her in anyway?
 

daniellenc

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Your tort is probably fine but constipation could be culprit or a slight blockage. How is your tort housed and do you provide water.
 

Ciki

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Your tort is probably fine but constipation could be culprit or a slight blockage. How is your tort housed and do you provide water.

I do provide water, I bathe her everyday so that she can get some water since she doesn't seem too fond of the water that I have out for her. Forgot to mention but the reason why it was hanging from her but is because she ate a hair sort of thing, not hair itself, thicker but in the same sort of long skinny sort of way, you know? I would imagine it's kinda hard to poop out, just like hair itself normally is. My tort is housed in a plastic tub, it's an ok size for her size but I'm trying to get a bigger one. She has the usual hide and nice heat lamp.

Edit: "stringy" would probably be the best word to describe it lmao I'm terrible at wording
 

wellington

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Let's start with details so we can help you the best way. What kind of tort? Give enclosure details. Temps basking all over and night, lighting being used and heat being used. What kind of substrate and what's the diet consist of?
You shouldn't pull anything from its butt, specially any hair/stringy stuff. It could be wrapped around something on the inside. If your using a stringy moss get rid of it she's probably eating it. If your letting her roam your house floors, stop it's dangerous and she could have eaten a hair. Soaking in a large container so she can move around a lot will help her pass the poop. If there is hair or string cut it off as close to her butt as you can and wait for the rest to come out. Cut again if it still sticks out.
 

daniellenc

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Mine once somehow ate one of my hairs but it was dangling and there was no stuck poop. I just cut it close to his tush so it couldn’t wrap around his leg and he pooped the rest out in a day or two. But it sounds like you pulled actual poop out or did I misread?
 

Yvonne G

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I would have done exactly what you did. The tortoise was obviously having trouble passing a hard poop and you helped. A hair by itself is another story. I would have just cut off a hair, but a hard poop that won't come out! I would have helped it along too. It sounds like your tortoise isn't getting enough water. Place the baby in a bowl of warm water daily for about 15 minutes.
 

Joma

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Possible TMI.....
For those who care for dogs - who has not done this? After they’ve eaten grass? And they just can’t get it out?

Can’t think why a tortoise would be different ;)
 

drew54

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Mine usually has grass that can't be pooped out all at once sometimes. I actually just pulled some remaining grass out during her soak. I'm wondering now if that is something that shouldn't be done.
 

Mo & Bolt

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From my veterinary back ground . You should never " pull " any stringy things from the anus of any animal , as it may be attached much higher up in the digestion tract, and pulling could cause damage. Gentle easing is fine , but pulling on resistance is a No .
 

Ciki

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From my veterinary back ground . You should never " pull " any stringy things from the anus of any animal , as it may be attached much higher up in the digestion tract, and pulling could cause damage. Gentle easing is fine , but pulling on resistance is a No .

Thank you and to the others who replied also. I'm not sure if it would make a difference but I now think "stringy" is the best word I can use to describe it. I understand from my experience from pulling hair out of her mouth that it could be wrapped up in something inside her (you shouldn't do that :, ) I did it because I do things purely out of worry without much thought), but it was not long at all. It was more like.. a skinny stem of a plant she might have not chewed much of (not that they really have teeth). I use soil as ground, maybe she ate a small piece of that. While it was semi-flexible, it was somewhat thick. Like maybe a centimeter, not something like hair or even the thick hair of a cat's whiskers. Next time I will definitely just let her do her own thing, if anyone is wondering she is fine from that whole poop thing. No blood or anything.
 

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