Mojave Desert Tortoise

Question
QUESTION: Hello Jeannie,

I need to know how I'm doing, and what I can do to improve, and also a minor medical question.

I have a Mojave Desert tortoise, we both live in southern Arizona so he is in the 'correct spot', I got him over a two years ago. He is now 5. He is approximately 7" by 7". Now, he is a semi inside and outside tortoise. He stays inside during the night and peek morning (4-6am), during 7 am to 5 pm he stays outside, because that is when I leave and come back from school. He doesn't seem stressed at all that he must go in and out repetitively, because whenever he wants to go out, he waits at the door, and vice versa when he wants to come in. I do not have an enclosure for him. When I first received him I had tried to put him in one but he was too rebellious and kept climbing, scratching, and hissing. So now I just let him roam around outside and inside my house (except for my parents' room because they do not like him in there).
 The foods he likes to eat are bak-choy, utao, kai-lan, and mazuri. Sometimes I give him the springmix that you buy at the store, but he only picks out the red cabbage and leaves the rest. I give him water at least once a week from the hose. He wouldn't drink the water from the bathtub, nor the drinking water from the sink. I tried placing a small dish with water in it, but he wouldn't approach it either, or he would walk over it. He drinks the water off the flagstone when I let it run. He also has a tendency to poop on my porch when I'm gone. I have soaked him a few times in the sink and he really didn't like that either and would climb out (I don't put the water on his head because I think he might drown).

FINALLY....well, my tortoise keeps having watery, dark green diarrhea. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong. I give him vegetables and protein every week. I try my best to balance it out by giving him a little bit of vegetables (usually bakchoy) and little bit of mazuri, which has all the protein. I rinse the vegetables before I give it to him. It is getting close to hibernation season, so could this be a factor as well? My mom likes to clean the house alot, so could inhaling these chemicals give him diarrhea too? I try not to clean with clorox when he is close by. Then there is the calcium, a year ago he wouldn't eat the calcium powder we sprinkled on his food, and I read somewhere on the internet that he is supposed to have lots of calcium, but figured that the Mazuri had some.

ANSWER: Hi Ginny,

Rather than bringing your tortoise inside, I would keep him outside all the time.  You can set up a dog house or other enclosure as a shelter for him.  Allowing a tortoise to free roam inside isn't ideal, and since you live in an area that's natural for him, he'll do fine outdoors.  Provide a large water dish for him, not a small one.  It should be big enough for him to get into completely (like a big plastic plant saucer).  You can also make mud wallows for him when the weather is hot.  He should be soaked a couple of times a week for about 15 minutes in lukewarm water that comes about 1/3 of the way up his shell (so he can keep his head out).  Use a bin or other container that he can't climb out of

His diet needs improvement.  Avoid what you've been giving him (especially the Mazuri), and focus on leafy greens like turnip greens, mustard, collards, kale, some spring mix/romaine (not too much), dandelions, clover, chicory, mallow, sow thistle, etc.  Also give prickly pear cactus pads, mulberry leaves, grape leaves, hibiscus flowers, grasses, etc.  Variety is important.  No vegetables and no fruit other than occasional cactus fruit in season.  If you have a planted area for him he can graze for himself.  You don't have to provide "protein" other than what is in the greens he eats--they are designed to eat low fat, low protein, high fiber foods.  An excess of protein is very unhealthy for them, and Mazuri contains ingredients that aren't appropriate for tortoises.  A natural diet is much better.  Put a few cuttlebones out for him to nibble on for extra calcium, rather than adding calcium to his food (you can overdose calcium, and he knows better than you do how much he needs).

The diarrhea may be due to his diet, especially if he gets too much lettuce, or could be due to something else.  I would suggest having a vet check a fecal sample to make sure he doesn't have a heavy parasite load.  If he does, he should be treated for them and NOT hibernated this year.  It's very important that a tortoise go into hibernation completely healthy.  

Hope this helped. Please ask if you have more questions!  


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you so much for your answer, Jeannie. :D

I also forgot to ask a few more questions. He's been having dry sneezes for the past three-four months, his nose doesn't drip at all but just sounds like a loud blast of air blown out from his nose. I read on the internet as well that you should see the vet only if it was a wet sneeze. AANNNDDDD. Oh gosh, last night, after I asked you that rather long question, my tortoise pooped out a big, hard, white ball. It is covered in his uric acid, but you can see it really is white and it does not in any way look like a turd. O-O It's about a little less than an inch in diameter, maybe 2 cm, and is hard and round. Is that a gall stone or whatever you may call those?  I'm very surprised and confused.

Answer
Hi Ginny,

The sneezes/noises you've been hearing probably aren't due to a respiratory infection if you're not seeing other symptoms (wheezing, runny nose, yawning/gaping, lack of appetite, lethargy).  They may be due to the bladder stone he expelled.  The bladder stone is, however, a serious issue.  It's an indication of dehydration and improper diet, and is essentially solid urates.  Bladder stones can grow very large--too large to pass--and can cause death unless surgery is performed.  It may be the only stone he had, or there may be more.  To be on the safe side, I would take him to the vet and have him x-rayed.  To prevent this from happening again, make sure to keep him hydrated (provide the water dish and soakings as I explained above) and on a good diet (NO pellets, no veggies--just leafy greens, weeds, cactus, and grasses).  

If you need help finding a vet, just post back with your general area (or set it to private) and I'll see what I can find out for you.