another newbie

[cemmons12]

Hi, my name is Chris. I have a 9 month old (or so) 132 gram Sulcata named Cooper. He is awesome! We love him like a child. But he is having problems pooing because his/her poo is so firm/hard. Last night he pooed but he was pushing so hard and when he got done he was making squeaking sounds like he was just hurting sooo bad. I held him for hours, he went to sleep. I have read so many things to try to loosen it up but does anyone want to give me some advice on here please? It hurt me so bad to see and hear him that way it brought me to tears. We had I'm at the vet the first month we had him cause he had runny nose and eyes. I think I had him to cold that time. But I have since fixed that problem. When I picked his poo up it was very hard and huge for his small size. Bigger around then a pencil and about 3 or 4 inch's long if it hadn't been broken in 3 pieces.
Thank you for ANY advice you can give me for little Cooper. If anything happend to him I don't know what I would do, I'm very attached to him!
Chris

 

[John]

hello and welcome. How often do you soak him?

 

[dmarcus]

Hello and welcome, also what type of substrate do you have him on and what's his diet consist of?

 

[cemmons12]

Hello and welcome, also what type of substrate do you have him on and what's his diet consist of?

Thanks for the welcome!
He is laying on timothy hay with paper under it. The hay is about 1 to 2 inchs long. His diet is the hay, romain lettuce, turnip greens, and as a treat he gets tortoise food that my wife got at the pet store. And I am starting to grow grass for him but its nor ready to eat yet. Also I put the d3/calcium powder on his food every other day.

 

[coreyc]

Welcome to the forum Chris what you feeding Cooper?

 

[cemmons12]

Hello and welcome, also what type of substrate do you have him on and what's his diet consist of?

Thanks for the welcome!
He is laying on timothy hay with paper under it. The hay is about 1 to 2 inchs long. His diet is the hay, romain lettuce, turnip greens, and as a treat he gets tortoise food that my wife got at the pet store. And I am starting to grow grass for him but its nor ready to eat yet. Also I put the d3/calcium powder on his food every other day.

I soak him every other day as long as he will stand for it.

 

[ALDABRAMAN]

Welcome.

 

[TortieLuver]

Welcome to the forum. Warm soaks are great for hard stools.

 

[John]

How long is as long as he will stand for it? I would soak everyday for awhile and see if that helps at least fifteen minutes each time, you may want too vary the diet some more and drop the romaine.what is pet store food?

 

[DeanS]

For starters...read this:

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/Thread-How-To-Raise-Sulcata-Hatchlings-and-Babies#axzz1L88Txx8w

Now, for the quick fix. If your using fluorescent lighting...stop! It has absolutely no value whatsoever. Instead, use an MVB (Powersun 100W minimum). Soak him for about 20 minutes in the morning and another 20 in the late afternoon! Lose the hay...it's probably keeping him too dry! Instead...soak a brick of coco coir (Eco Earth) and use that as your substrate...it'll boost the humidity. Cut back on the Ca/D3...and offer him chopped up cactus at least twice a week (high in Calcium and fiber)...the two best sources...

www.rivenrock.com
www.tortoisesupply.com

The rest is covered in the above link...keep us posted...and WELCOME!

 

[cemmons12]

How long is as long as he will stand for it? I would soak everyday for awhile and see if that helps at least fifteen minutes each time, you may want too vary the diet some more and drop the romaine.what is pet store food?

10 minutes of it and he starts tryn to get out of his bowl. The pet store stuff is critter culture land & tortoise food.

 

[John]

How long is as long as he will stand for it? I would soak everyday for awhile and see if that helps at least fifteen minutes each time, you may want too vary the diet some more and drop the romaine.what is pet store food?

10 minutes of it and he starts tryn to get out of his bowl. The pet store stuff is critter culture land & tortoise food.

I would dump the pet store food, and soak him a little longer even if he trys to get out just watch him in case he flips himself, do you keep the bowl under a light?

 

[cemmons12]

For starters...read this:

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/Thread-How-To-Raise-Sulcata-Hatchlings-and-Babies#axzz1L88Txx8w

Now, for the quick fix. If your using fluorescent lighting...stop! It has absolutely no value whatsoever. Instead, use an MVB (Powersun 100W minimum). Soak him for about 20 minutes in the morning and another 20 in the late afternoon! Lose the hay...it's probably keeping him too dry! Instead...soak a brick of coco coir (Eco Earth) and use that as your substrate...it'll boost the humidity. Cut back on the Ca/D3...and offer him chopped up cactus at least twice a week (high in Calcium and fiber)...the two best sources...

www.rivenrock.com
www.tortoisesupply.com
Thanks a lot! I do use the powersun 100 now. I learned that the hard way when he got sick during his 1st month home and a $270 exotic vet bill. But the worst part to me was having to give Cooper shots every other day for 4 days. I hated doing that to him.
The rest is covered in the above link...keep us posted...and WELCOME!

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How long is as long as he will stand for it? I would soak everyday for awhile and see if that helps at least fifteen minutes each time, you may want too vary the diet some more and drop the romaine.what is pet store food?

10 minutes of it and he starts tryn to get out of his bowl. The pet store stuff is critter culture land & tortoise food.

I would dump the pet store food, and soak him a little longer even if he trys to get out just watch him in case he flips himself, do you keep the bowl under a light?

Ok, I will try. Thanks a lot! Oh and yes I keep it under the light to help keep him warm.

---

I have read plain old pumpkin is helpfull for hard poo, would it be worth a try? I sure don't want to do anything else wrong as it seems I don't do much right as hard as I try and as much as I want to. Since I lost my son Cooper fills that void more then anyone could possibly imagine. Thanks to everybody for all the advice, links, and support!

 

[Jacqui]

The pumpkin could be used and it usually does soften stools a bit. I will differ a bit with one of the suggestions above about the Romaine. I would at this point still keep it in the diet. While romaine has less food value then most of the greens, it does also have a higher water content which is good in this case. Once you get your little guy more regulated, then yes stop feeding it. Also try adding more weeds and greens like collard or dandelions which have a higher fiber rating.

I forgot to ad: Welcome to the forum! Sorry to hear you have lost a son.

 

[Jacob]

Welcome, The Hay Might Be Causing this!
Try Giving Him A Warm Soak Twice A Day, Along With Pumpkin!

 

[cemmons12]

The pumpkin could be used and it usually does soften stools a bit. I will differ a bit with one of the suggestions above about the Romaine. I would at this point still keep it in the diet. While romaine has less food value then most of the greens, it does also have a higher water content which is good in this case. Once you get your little guy more regulated, then yes stop feeding it. Also try adding more weeds and greens like collard or dandelions which have a higher fiber rating.

I forgot to ad: Welcome to the forum! Sorry to hear you have lost a son.

Thanks so much! :shy:

---

Welcome, The Hay Might Be Causing this!
Try Giving Him A Warm Soak Twice A Day, Along With Pumpkin!

Starting to think you are right about the hay... have to see what I can get here in lousy old Indiana. Sorry, but the is not much more then "corn in Indiana!" Hehe. Second soak is coming up in a few, letting him take his after dinner nap right now. Thanks!!

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Chris:

Welcome to the forum!!

 

[cemmons12]

Hi Chris:

Welcome to the forum!!

Thank you! I'm very happy I joined this forum! A lot of nice people here.

 

[Isa]

Welcome to the forum and I am very sorry to hear about your son

 

[cemmons12]

Welcome to the forum and I am very sorry to hear about your son

Thank you very much!