WASHING A REDFOOT

[mintybum]

I often give custer my 12 year old redfoot a good bath in the sink but just recently i've noticed he smells, lol, he has free rein of the house from a ramp on his tortoise table and he quite often rollows me around the house, i can smell him before i see him just lately
so my question is what can i wash him with? maybe a gentle baby bath for instant?

 

[dmmj]

What type of smell are we talking about?

 

[mintybum]

the i've just been to the loo type of smell like he could do with a good scrub lol

 

[jackrat]

I'm going to go ahead and say the obvious. Letting him roam loose in the house is not a good idea. No matter how close you watch him,there are just to many things that can happen. Besides swallowing things,the temperature at floor level is much cooler. Unless you keep your house in the mid 80's,it's probably to cool for him. I'm not jumping on you,I just want the best for your redfoot.As far as the smell,have you looked at his plastron? Shell rot can have a little bit of smell,but it would have to be pretty bad to smell him across the room. Does his bedding have any smell? You can wash him with Nolvasan. It's an antibacterial scrub. Just be sure to keep it out of the eyes.

 

[mintybum]

I'm going to go ahead and say the obvious. Letting him roam loose in the house is not a good idea. No matter how close you watch him,there are just to many things that can happen. Besides swallowing things,the temperature at floor level is much cooler. Unless you keep your house in the mid 80's,it's probably to cool for him. I'm not jumping on you,I just want the best for your redfoot.As far as the smell,have you looked at his plastron? Shell rot can have a little bit of smell,but it would have to be pretty bad to smell him across the room. Does his bedding have any smell? You can wash him with Nolvasan. It's an antibacterial scrub. Just be sure to keep it out of the eyes.

I thought someone would mention around the house bit lol, he doesnt come out all day just a hour or so then pack to his house. i figured if it was too cold he'd go hide up somewhere but he's quite happily tramps around stopping to look at the kids etc.
as for the smell it was his butt and under shell (no rot there) i inspected him today and he was a bit messy so he's had a scrub and he smells fine now

 

[Madkins007]

A clean Red-foot should have little smell. Usually warm water and a gentle scrub removes all 'residue', but sometimes you may need to add a bit of something like a baby 'no tears' soap to get some detergent action going.

Wastes that stick to the animal can also indicate that they are not well-formed, which can suggest a diet that may be low in fibers, high in sugars, etc., or may suggest a substrate that is either dirty or does not help clean the animal.

 

[Jacqui]

Here I was just going to suggest throwing him into the washing machine with your regular laundry. Just don't put him in the drier, tortoises clunk around in there something terrible. The noise will drive you crazy. (Just to make this clear folks, the before written comments were just a joke and only a joke. Do not put tortoises in the washing machine either. )

 

[Scout Mom]

My red foot stepped in his poop yesterday so his foot was yucky. I wasn't sure what to wash it with so I just washed his one foot with anti-bacterial Dial hand soap, it this okay? I made sure I rinsed it very well and soaked him in the tub afterwards. He really loves bath time

 

[Madkins007]

I am not a fan of anti-bacterial products being used for everyday jobs. The problem is that it basically trains germs to be resistant, coupled with the increase of exposure to chemicals during our day and in our drains.

Plain soap and water is fine for washing hands, and one of the best general-purpose tortoise washes is a little baby shampoo if you want something 'stronger' than water.

 

[Scout Mom]

I am not a fan of anti-bacterial products being used for everyday jobs. The problem is that it basically trains germs to be resistant, coupled with the increase of exposure to chemicals during our day and in our drains.

Plain soap and water is fine for washing hands, and one of the best general-purpose tortoise washes is a little baby shampoo if you want something 'stronger' than water.

thank you so much for the advise, I really appreciate it! I was thinking the same thing on the ani-bacterial soap but wanted to be sure to wash the poop germs off him, lol I'll be sure to get some baby shampoo to have on hand. I normally just wash him with water and will only use the shampoo in specific situations