Russian tortoise does not poop.. Literally

[chelslpn]

I've had my Russian tortoise since the end of July.. He's pretty active even now that it is fall because we live in south Florida and can still spend time outside (it's like 85 degrees.) Some days he does stay in his hide lately but will generally come out when I open a window, and even if he's not extremely active he'll still roam around outside. He eats pretty heathy... I feed him every day obviously but some days he doesn't even look at his food except to run it over and drag it around.. I'd say he eats almost every thing in his dish about every 3 days. The 2 days in between he might pick at it. I have the right temps. He loves butter lettuce and radicchio, will tolerate dandelion greens and carrots, won't eat any weeds I put in there.. Has a calcium supplement and will sometimes drink water during his soak but barely. When I first got him he would poop on his soak but only a tiny bit.. I think more out of stress.. Like one tiny piece. Now he never poops.. Ever.. In his soak, in his enclosure, running around the floor, outside.. Nowhere. Everyone says he's probably eating it but I've never seen him.. Granted he won't eat his regular food if he knows we're around either. He's still skittish.. He'll let me pet his head sometimes but won't eat from my hand, doesn't enjoy being held or coming near us in general even if I put food down.. I do put his food dish down early in the am while he's still sleeping but still. I Don't know if any of this signals a GI problem.. I think he's acting normal.. He hasn't changed generally since I got him but he wasn't a hatchling. Someone told me to give him some pumpkin puree so I'm going to try that.. Any suggestions?

 

[Yellow Turtle01]

Pumpkin is yummy. From what you're saying your tort is a picky eater because he hasn't had the right food. Now, let me explain! He loves his butter lettuce, and won't touch weeds? Lettuce really isn't good as a diet staple, and neither is raddichino. What is his ENTIRE diet like? Carrots should only be a treat. Here's what he should be eating- http://russiantortoise.net/edible_plants.htm -in other words, he should be eating straight weeds. No lettuce, no fruit (maybe a treat once a month) and no veggies unless it's a treat.
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/ Have you read this yet?
Tortoises are not social, and if he won't let you 'pet' him, that's okay. Did you get him from a petstore? He's probably WC, and being scared of the big, scary larger 'predator' is just natural for him. Torts WILL eat poop (it's disgusting, yeah) but you should most definitely still be seeing some! Has he had a parasite check?
I'm sorry, but it doesn't sound like his diet is right! Please read Tom's caresheet, if you have, then please go over it again!

 

[Tyanna]

Diet could be the culprit of no poop. How often are you soaking him? How old is he? Your temps may be "right" to you but you should still let us know so we can understand your set up. What's the humidity usually?

 

[chelslpn]

I soak him every couple days, sometimes every day... usually outside because it keeps the water warmer longer. His temps on the warm side of enclosure are between 90-100 depending on how warm the rest of the room is at the time... and on the cooler side, they're in the 70s. He usually prefers the cooler side... depending though as well. Humidity is over 65%... once again it fluctuates, but we live in south florida... its generally always humid outdoors, indoors, anywhere, so humidity is never an issue. I didn't mean thats all I feed him, I just meant thats what he prefers... I pick weeds for him, get dandelion greens, and also mix in the ZooMed Grassland tortoise food... he just doesn't care for them. I think I'm going to order a seed mix so I have more options closer to home. I've done a lot of research and read a lot on the forums so I'm trying not to come across as a total moron, I keep everything as close to "right" as possible. He is from a petstore... and I know he's not like a dog, he's a wild animal ha I just put in some of the info about his personality and being skittish because he doesn't like to eat if anyones around. I don't blame him because who likes to eat when someones sitting there looking at you? lol But yeah, any other advice is always appreciated.

 

[chelslpn]

I don't ever offer any fruit because I've read varying posts about parasites.

 

[chelslpn]

Sorry one more question.. ha It's warm here almost all year but we do get a couple "cold fronts" (not cold to most of you i'm sure lol) ...right now its a high of 70 and a low at 48 at night... it's pretty cold in the house though and not really warm enough outside for him to go out (it's windy so feels colder than 70.) Is there any thing I can do for his enclosure to keep it warmer? It's open top. I worry about those floor heaters people get.. seems like a fire hazard.. the heat lamp is already enough of one lol anything you guys do to keep your torts nice and warm?

 

[stojanovski92113]

You can buy a higher wattage bulb or lower your light fixture. Just be careful not to burn your tort.

 

[leigti]

Do you have an mercury vapor bulb? Those provide heat and UVB. Although he may be getting enough UVB from the sun. you can use a 60 W flood lamp, how big is the indoor enclosure? We can give better advice if we know the dimensions. I am not familiar with Florida weather, I've never been south of Denver heat and humidity are foreign to me. Will he be inside for months at a time or just for a couple days here and there over the "winter"?

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Hello. I also live in South Florida. With the wind, the temps are too low, even with a heater bulb in a doghouse like I'm using.A dog house also stops the wind from being an issue, yet my temps went under 65 degrees. Have you looked in your tortoises sleeping area for poo? One of mine only goes there. Kinda disgusting.