Horsfield tortoise pooping problems

[No1much]

Hi guys. I'm new to posting to this site but I read it daily it's an amazing resource.

I have 2 horsfields that I've had about a month. Both about a year old. One of them is really straining to poop this week. She is going multiple times per day but really struggling and when she does go it's kind of browny grey and small and firm.

We bathe them daily in warm water for between 10-20 mins depending on if they're feeling it or not. Fresh water dishes daily.

We feed them a broad mixture of leaves, lambs lettuce, romane, kale, rocket, water cress, Pak Choi and other things thetortoisetable.org deems safe or safe in moderation in varying amounts daily so they get as broad a diet as possible all organic and thoroughly cleaned. We also supplement this with calcidust and a d3 supplement on a daily basis alternating. We also feed a tiny amount of tortoise pellets daily just to make sure they're definitely getting everything they need. They don't eat them most days.

I've started giving her cucumber because I've read it will help.

I have them in a table on a thick layer of Aspen with orchid bark on top because the tortoise sand the pet shop sold me was really irritating there eyes which got me worried so I took them to a nearby tortoise sanctuary to get them looked at.

I've booked an exotic vet appointment but the earliest I could get here is Friday (a week from now)

I have them at 90 degrees (warm end )
95-100 degrees under the lamp (Mercury vapor)
25 cool end (heat mat attached to a thermostat heated from above).

I feel like I'm trying damn hard to keep them in ideal conditions as best I can and I'm panicking I've done something wrong and she won't make it to the vet. I even have a webcam set up to keep an eye on them while I'm at work ! Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Yvonne G]

Does the tortoise eat the cucumber?

It sounds like what you're seeing isn't feces, but rather urates. Hard, dry urates means the tortoise is dehydrated, so cucumber will help. Soaking for longer periods of time will also help. It might also be constipation, like you originally thought. The longer soaking period also helps with that. Using a tub or large bowl that the tortoise can't climb out of, add warm water that comes up to the middle of the sides of the tortoise and just leave it in there for a half hour or more. If you can set the soaking bowl back into the enclosure, it helps to keep it warm (not directly under the light, but right next to where it hits the substrate). Foods like cactus, aloe vera, cucumber, will help to get moisture into the gut and digestive tract.

 

[No1much]

Hey thanks Yvonne. She does eat the cucumber yeah she loves it ! She normally passes urates and wee and poop all separately but today I noticed she did wee straight onto the poop, maybe the strain of being constipated is making her do all three at once.

When we first got them there urates were literally like chalk which is why we bathe them every day because they must've been extremely dehydrated and there urates have been fine since then.

We have been giving extra soakings but I didn't like leaving them too long incase the water got cold. I never thought to put the bowl in the table to keep it warm that's a great trip ! Thanks alot.

 

[TammyJ]

Hi, how did this work out? Any news?

 

[No1much]

Hey she's doing alot better. When I bathed her yesterday she went to the toilet and it was more or less normal. Still a little on the grey side but she didn't struggle as much. She's more active and getting back to her old self. We took her to the tortoise sanctuary because, although they aren't vets they have about 500 tortoises and have seen it all and they said she looked really healthy if not slightly overweight. We have a vets appointment Friday anyway just to make sure but at the moment at least she appears to be on the mend. By the looks of it maybe she ate something a bit iffy and the worst of it is over now.