Red-foots and fruit: Some ideas

[Jacqui]

I've seen papaya juice and papaya ice cream, but I've never eaten it myself. I'm more of a popcorn and ice cream kind of snacker!

Yvonne

I always try a little bite of all the fruits I fed. My Mom would, when I growing up, pick us up new fruits that our store would happen to get in, just for us to sample. I guess I have just carried it on.

 

[Madkins007]

Thanks, guys! Next food run I'll give it a try. I've also discovered a Caribbean/Island food mart, and I am wondering if they carry any of the more native foods. I'll let you know.

 

[alidsalbern]

HI,

I have had Ruby for 2 mos.She weighs 478 gms and is approx 6 inches front to back. I had a fecal done on her as soon as I got her It was neg. She has had loose foul smelling stools since I got her. Green brown in color with mucous. Corn passes right thru her undigested. I give her a varied diet of mustard/dandelion greens veggies and a little fruit. Tru to the species she eats like a pig. I also soak her in warm water a few times a day. She chews a lot on the calcium block in her habitat. She is on a thermatically controlled heat pad. Any ideas ? I am an RN an her stool is some of the foulest smelling I have come across. Thx Mark

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Mark:

to the forum!!

Its usually too much fruit and animal protein that causes the feces to stink badly. Try offering more dark leafy greens for a while and see if that doesn't help a bit.

I don't keep redfoot tortoises, but I do have a nice little colony of Yellowfoot tortoises. Mostly they graze on broad-leafed weeds and plants, but when I feed them, I offer escarole, endive, red or green-leaf lettuce, various kinds of squashes occasionally kale and dandelion, etc. Their feces are dark and firm and I don't notice a smell.

Yvonne

 

[Madkins007]

HI,

I have had Ruby for 2 mos.She weighs 478 gms and is approx 6 inches front to back. I had a fecal done on her as soon as I got her It was neg. She has had loose foul smelling stools since I got her. Green brown in color with mucous. Corn passes right thru her undigested. I give her a varied diet of mustard/dandelion greens veggies and a little fruit. Tru to the species she eats like a pig. I also soak her in warm water a few times a day. She chews a lot on the calcium block in her habitat. She is on a thermatically controlled heat pad. Any ideas ? I am an RN an her stool is some of the foulest smelling I have come across. Thx Mark

Corn does that pretty much for humans as well. I offer an occasional (monthly or so) ear of fresh corn to the herd when they are outside as a treat, but it does not play a real role in my normal diet.

Mustard greens- my guys rarely eat these. I doubt they are part of the problem, but Turnip Greens are an option you can try.

Heat pad- if the soil temps are too high, and her belly is getting too warm, it can mess up the digestion process. Lay a thick pad or something on the soil and measure the temp under it after a few minutes- see if it is getting too hot. Gentle belly warmth is good, hot tummys are not.

I think the biggest problem is the too-frequent soaking. It tends to stimulate defecation, and does not allow the food the long digestion process Red-foots use most of the time.

If the habitat is nice and humid (at least some areas in the 90%+), much of the food is moist, and there is free access to water, and there is no sigh of dehydration (light body weight, sunken/watery eyes, very dry skin), you can probably only do a weekly soak or less. Some of us rarely if ever forcibly soak our tortoises.

You might also try some more fibrous foods- mulberry or hibiscus leaves, timothy grass or hay, etc.- but I would only change one thing at a time, starting with the soaks, then checking the temps, then wait a few defecations and see if things are getting better.

 

[Yvonne G]

The advice in your last paragraph is excellent. Too often we give a person several things to change in their tortoise-keeping practices in order to solve a problem, and they change them all, never knowing which piece of advice was the one that worked! Thanks for that insight!

Yvonne

 

[Candy]

I think the biggest problem is the too-frequent soaking. It tends to stimulate defecation, and does not allow the food the long digestion process Red-foots use most of the time.

If the habitat is nice and humid (at least some areas in the 90%+), much of the food is moist, and there is free access to water, and there is no sigh of dehydration (light body weight, sunken/watery eyes, very dry skin), you can probably only do a weekly soak or less. Some of us rarely if ever forcibly soak our tortoises



Madkins, I thought we were supposed to soak our tortoises 2 to 3 times a week especially in the summer time. I do soak Dale and he seems to like it am I doing it too much, is that what your saying? I never thought of the digestion of the food going to fast, interesting thought. I'm curious if anyone else has any information on this.

 

[Yvonne G]

The OP was soaking three or four times a day. This is what Madkins was talking about. Your two or three times a week is fine.

Yvonne

 

[Candy]

The OP was soaking three or four times a day. This is what Madkins was talking about. Your two or three times a week is fine.

Yvonne

Thanks Yvonne. I thought it was O.K. because Dale is looking pretty good and he's even starting to marble.

 

[Madkins007]

Candy- soaking frequency is an interesting debate. I only soak monthly or so unless my torts show signs of dehydration or stress. There are a lot of pros and cons to soaking, and I am just not sure it is a big help if everything else is done correctly.

However, if you are going to or need to soak, you'll want to find a nice balance between the benefits and the stress. I would SUGGEST that 2 or 3x weekly is a little much, but I don't know your situation, how dry it is for you, etc.

I'll be happy to share my opinions (in case you have not guessed, I LIKE sharing my opinions!) on this topic, but possibly in a different thread.

---

The advice in your last paragraph is excellent. Too often we give a person several things to change in their tortoise-keeping practices in order to solve a problem, and they change them all, never knowing which piece of advice was the one that worked! Thanks for that insight!

Yvonne

I'm going to blush! Thanks!

 

[Maggie Cummings]

I raised a Gopherus agassizii from a hatchling. I soaked her everyday. I was taught and I believe that we keep these small tortoises on 'slow cook' under hot lights all day so dehydration could be a problem. So anyhow, I soaked her daily as I do my other tortoises. My box turtles have constant access to water and soak themselves. I started soaking her every other day when she was 3 years old and continued that regime as she grew. When she was 4 years old she stopped eating and after a few days (not weeks, days) I took her to the Vet and the first thing she said was "this tortoise is dehydrated". How could that be? I soaked her all the time. She was dead in 3 weeks.
I realize it is a contradiction, but I remain an advocate of soaking and I think that once they get used to soaking it does not stress them and they stop pooping in the water so the theory of soaking causing too much pooping so the tort can't utilize his food is not valid in my house. I have 8 small tortoises right now and when I put them in to soak they all dunk their faces under the water and drink deeply. They are only a few months old and none show signs of stress in the water and they don't poop in it either. That is my experience and my opinion.

It bothers me to hear that someone only soaks his tortoises when they show signs of dehydration...why would you wait that long? How is that beneficial to any animal?

 

[Yvonne G]

The difference here, as I see it, is that redfoot tortoises usually don't have the hot lights that we keep the desert species under.

Yvonne

 

[Madkins007]

Maggie- we have discussed our differing opinions on soaking before. As I said, each person's care situations are different in many, many ways- species, ambient humidity, etc. I understand where you are coming from, and would be happy to discuss it with you in more depth if you wanna start a thread on it apart from this one on fruit. (Please understand, I'm not trying to be evasive or curt- I'm just trying to keep the thread focused. I really WOULD like to discuss this more if you are interested!)

 

[sameul]

Hello,

I read that article.That is very nice infornation contained by that.I like ypur idea for sharing this information,that is so helpful and required.Red-foots and fruit are really healthy.Thank you for sharing the comment..