Golden Greek diarrhea

[John D. Williamson]

Good afternoon tortoise forum members. I am the new owner of a rescue Golden Greek tortoise. The tortoise is a gift for my son for Christmas but he was not being well cared for by the previous owner. He was in a 20 gallon aquarium and just took him out to go for “walks“ in the kitchen.

I’m in the process of building him a 2’ x 5’ tortoise table. Until Christmas he is living at my moms house. I went to check on him today and found what I now know is white diarrhea in his food dish.

He is being fed a diet of mustard greens and a small amount of red peppers. He has adequate lighting via mercury builds and ceramic heat bulbs at night. Being a brand new owner I don’t know if this is a serious issue I should take him to the vet or what might be the cause. Unfortunately I don’t have a lot of history on the tortoise. He also has the white lines of his shell which I am hoping are growth rings.

I was told that he is seven years old and is a Golden Greek. Although, I’m not sure if that is his accurate species.

Any help or recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

 

[wellington]

I don't know anything about the Greeks to tell you if that is indeed what he is.
However, I do know his diet needs improvement. Peppers once in a while, greens as big a variety as possible. Never just one or two items.
The white in the stool/urine is urates. If it's of a creamy texture then it's fine. If it's gritty or hard then the tort needs more hydration.
The enclosure your building needs to be bigger. A minimum of a 4x8 foot. For those limited on space, building a second level works well.

 

[John D. Williamson]

Thanks for your reply. I feed him a very wide variety of greens; I made a point to buy all the ones that are on the care sheet . But typically just one or two different ones each day. Should I be mixing them all each day? I have been reading a lot of contradictory information about the size of a tortoise table. Obviously bigger is better. I can make it 2’x8’ with a second area on top 1/3 of the size. Is that so small as to be negligent ? Thanks again for your help. The unrates was milky, so it appears all is good there. Thanks again.

 

[LeoTheTortoise]

From my experience there are two types of diarrhea, one is normal and linked to diet or hydration, and the other can be a sign of something seriously wrong. If it is just like normal poop, but softer and grosser with some lumps, and smells like normal and is colored normal then you should just change the diet and wait a few days. I will warn you that if it smells weird, is discolored and completely liquid then I would worry a little bit, if you suspect this type you can post a picture. I had a Greek hatching that had that type of diarrhea then died the next day.