- Joined
- Dec 19, 2015
- Messages
- 122
Hi.
I received my darling Otis on Christmas Eve. For the first few days, she had eaten and weed (only in her journey here, which I suppose, as it was in the car, was out of fright / nerves), but not pooped. Four or so days after I got her, she pooped, and I found it in her enclosure. I was overjoyed of course, and discarded of it.
Each day I would find one poop in her enclosure, usually around the same sort of spot - it's about the size of my thumbnail, long and unbroken, and a good colour and consistency; t didn't sound any alarms in my head. I've never actually seen her poop, but as I have found evidence, it did not worry me. I have noticed she never poops in her soaks and doesn't seem to enjoy them very much. I bathe her for around 15-20 minutes every day in warm water, and she sits still apart from the occasional scratch at the sides of the tub. When I lift her out, she tends to perk up again, so I assume she just doesn't like water very much (adding to this, she also steers clear of her water dish in her enclosure, and will not self-soak unless I plop her in there. It's shallow and the water isn't too deep, around chin-level, and once she bent down to drink). She has produced a urate in the water which wasn't grainy in texture and about the size of my fingernail.
Recently I have noticed (over the course of 2 days) that there hasn't been poop in her enclosure. Although I know that tortoises are all unique and can poop once every week and still be perfectly healthy, I was just surprised as she pooped every day and now has suddenly stopped. I have not seen her pee but I use a sterilised soil substrate, which makes pee undetectable, and I have never seen her urinate. Is there anything I should worry about? She roams around and is still active and alert, although she sleeps a lot!
She had this morning - wild rocket, dandelion leaves, plantain and mulberry leaves with a sprinkle of Nutrobal. I hope the diet isn't affecting it, as I really don't want to be feeding her the wrong things. I may just be fretting which I am prone to do! I just want the best for my tort.
Many thanks.
Olivia
I received my darling Otis on Christmas Eve. For the first few days, she had eaten and weed (only in her journey here, which I suppose, as it was in the car, was out of fright / nerves), but not pooped. Four or so days after I got her, she pooped, and I found it in her enclosure. I was overjoyed of course, and discarded of it.
Each day I would find one poop in her enclosure, usually around the same sort of spot - it's about the size of my thumbnail, long and unbroken, and a good colour and consistency; t didn't sound any alarms in my head. I've never actually seen her poop, but as I have found evidence, it did not worry me. I have noticed she never poops in her soaks and doesn't seem to enjoy them very much. I bathe her for around 15-20 minutes every day in warm water, and she sits still apart from the occasional scratch at the sides of the tub. When I lift her out, she tends to perk up again, so I assume she just doesn't like water very much (adding to this, she also steers clear of her water dish in her enclosure, and will not self-soak unless I plop her in there. It's shallow and the water isn't too deep, around chin-level, and once she bent down to drink). She has produced a urate in the water which wasn't grainy in texture and about the size of my fingernail.
Recently I have noticed (over the course of 2 days) that there hasn't been poop in her enclosure. Although I know that tortoises are all unique and can poop once every week and still be perfectly healthy, I was just surprised as she pooped every day and now has suddenly stopped. I have not seen her pee but I use a sterilised soil substrate, which makes pee undetectable, and I have never seen her urinate. Is there anything I should worry about? She roams around and is still active and alert, although she sleeps a lot!
She had this morning - wild rocket, dandelion leaves, plantain and mulberry leaves with a sprinkle of Nutrobal. I hope the diet isn't affecting it, as I really don't want to be feeding her the wrong things. I may just be fretting which I am prone to do! I just want the best for my tort.
Many thanks.
Olivia
