DSoes not seem to want to poop!

[georgekathe]

I have had my Redfoot, GeeBee, about 2 weeks & he only seems to have pooped twice - once at the vets (took him in for initial check up - vet said other than slight pyramiding he was well) when he pooped copiously on the vet's table, & once when I temporarily put him in a dish bowl when cleaning his vivarium.

He eats fine - fruit sparingly & various greens & a small amount of protein (once chicken, once boiled egg in very moderation).

Is this normal? Is he OK? If not, is there a natural laxitive I can give him? How do I help him to poop (naturally) regularily if this level of frequency is not OK?

Thanks in advance for responses.

 

[coreyc]

He might be eating it before you get to it which is normal do you give him warm soaks? you can try canned pumpkin real pumpkin not pie filler

 

[Yvonne G]

I don't keep redfoot tortoises, so I'm not really familiar with their habits, but some of my species of tortoise do NOT poop every day. For instance, I have three leopard tortoises. I find a big pile of poop in their house or pen only two or three times a week. I don't feed them, but they have access to grazing all the time.

With the Manouria, I DO have to feed them, and I only have to clean out their house about every other day, and that's with 5 tortoises in there.

On the other hand, the Aldabran tortoises DO poop every day and sometimes two or three times a day.

So it all depends upon the tortoise. If your tortoise's poop is of a nice consistency and he doesn't have to strain to get it out, then I'd say its more than likely ok.

 

[Tropical Torts]

So your saying he has only pooped twice in two weeks? thats a little out of the ordinary compared to my small cherry head. He usually poops about 3 times a week. My adult redfoots that have access to grass and weeds whenever they want poop almost every day. So im thinking that since your vet said that he is fine then he is probably eating the poop(as coreyc mentioned). You should just soak him every now and then. Thats what i do with mine and it works great.

I hope this helps.

 

[Madkins007]

Red-foots don't poop everyday, and they often eat their droppings (not fun to think about but something many tortoises and other animals do.)

There are many ways to get most tortoises to poop. A couple easy ones for most people are warm soaks or more fruit, especially very 'wet' ones, or tomatoes.

Another thing that always gets my guys going- give the habitat a good cleaning and light make-over- new mulch, add a hill, etc. I don't know why, but this always seems to trigger a massive group poop-athon.

 

[DaisyDuke]

Sounds just like Sheldon when I first got him. He wasn't pooping much either and it worried me. He pooped at the vet [stress pooping] and when I would bring him outside. I noticed too that a few times that he must have pooped over night and it was blending in with the peat moss he has. Because I found dry poop when looking around for it and if I wasn't searching for it, I never would have noticed until changing the substrate Give him some time, he is still getting used to things. Mine wasn't fed the best at the pet shop I got him at. Not terribly but not the best. So I know some of Sheldon's issues was food adjustment. I have had him since September and he isn't pooping every day but I have noticed his pattern of a few times a week. I've caught him eating it on many occasions too, lol.