CONSTIPATION

Question
QUESTION: HI. I HAVE A 6 MONTH OLD RED FOOT TORTOISE THAT HASN'T POOPED FOR GOING ON 5 DAYS. I JUST GOT HER 3 WEEKS AGO. I FED HER SOME GREEN LEAF LETUCE KALE,CHARD,APPLES, MELON, KIWI,GREEN PEPPER.AS OF LAST NIGHT, SHE IS STILL EATING FAIRLY GOOD. I GAVE HER A LITTLT TOMATO LAST NIGHT FOR THE FIRST TIME AND SHE REALLY LIKED THAT. I'VE BEEN PUTTING WARM WATER IN HER DISH TO TRY TO STIMULATE HER, BUT SO FAR, NO LUCK. I,M GETTING WORRIED ABOUT HER, IS THERE SOMETHING ELSE I CAN TRY? PLEASE HELP.

ANSWER: Hi Don,

Tortoises have very slow digestive systems, so if your tortoise hadn't been eating for a few days before you got her, it's possible she might not poop for some time.  Also, in my experience redfoots don't poop as much as other species, possibly due to their diet.  Your diet for her so far looks pretty good, but leave out the chard and add in other greens such as turnip, collards, mustard, and dandelion.  You also want to feed some sort of animal protein once a week--boiled chicken/egg, worms, slugs, snails, pinky mice, etc.  You should soak her a couple of times a week, and that will help move things along.  Finally, redfoots are notorious poop-eaters.  She may very well be pooping and cleaning up after herself!  ;)  If you're worried, she should poop during soaks, and that should ease your mind.

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


BOBBER, OUR BABY   QUESTION: IT'S GOING ON TEN DAYS NOW, AND SHE STILL EATS PRETTY GOOD, BUT STILL I HAVEN'T SEEN ANY POOP.SHE SLEEPS ALOT,THOUGH. WHEN I GOT HER SHE WAS IN AN AQUARIUM AND TEMPS IN THE 70's, AND NOW I HAVE HER IN THE ZOO MED TORTOISE HOUSE IN A ROOM WITH TEMPS IN THE 60's. IT HAS SOLID SIDES. I WONDER IF THAT HAS ANYTHING TO DO WITH HER SLEEPING ALOT. I'M THINKING OF CHANGING ONE OF THE SIDES TO CLEAR PLEXIGLASS. DO YOU THINK THAT WOULD GET HER TO ROAM MORE? WHEN I TAKE HER OUT SHE WALKS ALL OVER THE PLACE UNTIL SHE FINDS A CORNER TO HIDE IN.MAYBE I'M EXPECTING TO MUCH TO SOON,BUT SHE IS SO CUTE WE WANT TO SOCIALIZE WITH HER.I REALLY APPRECIATE YOUR RESPONSE. THE GUY WHERE I BOUGHT HER FROM JUST SAYS TO GO ON LINE AND READ ABOUT RED FOOT TORTOISE. THAT'S HOW I FOUND YOU AND I LIKE THE MORE PERSONAL RESPONSE.THOUGHT YOU MIGHT LIKE A PICTURE OF OUR BABY.SHE HAS A RED PEPPER IN HER MOUTH,WHICH SHE LOVES.THANKS AGAIN.

ANSWER: Hi Don,

The lack of activity could be cause for concern, although some RFs are just more active than others.  Let's go over basic care and you can see if there's anything you need to change.  We've already gone over diet, so that's covered.  

RFs grow to be decent-sized tortoises, so the ZooMed house is OK for now but eventually you'll need something considerably bigger.  You want solid sides for a tortoise because if they can see through something, they'll want to walk through it, and that can be stressful for them.  Her activity level isn't related to the solid sides.

Substrate:  RFs need a lot of moisture in their enclosure, and this is especially true for the smaller ones.  For juveniles under a year old, I would just use straight sphagnum moss (sold at Lowe's or Home Depot as orchid moss--it'll say "long-staple" on the label and may be from New Zealand).  If you put something under the enclosure so it's tilted up about an inch under the cool end, water will collect at the warm end and create a nice, warm, boggy area for her..  I also put the water dish on the warm side; not directly under the heat lamp, but close enough so the water warms a bit.  RFs love to sit in water, so make sure the dish is big enough for her to get into completely.  If you notice that her eyes seem to be tearing, that's a sign that her enclosure isn't moist enough.

Temperatures and UVB:  The temperature of the room isn't as important as temperatures within the enclosure.  Measure these at the substrate level, not in the air.  So to measure basking temps, you want to put the thermometer on the substrate right under the basking lamp.  The basking temp should be 90-95.  The cooler areas of the enclosure should be about 75-78, and if those temperatures are too low, you may have to use some kind of supplementary heat (a ceramic heat emitter, for instance).  

UVB is very important for calcium metabolism.  You may have read that RFs don't need UVB because they live in heavily forested areas, but this isn't entirely true.  They live in areas that range from open savanna to forest edges, and the UVB levels in the tropics are quite high.  They do need UVB, and they do actively bask under UVB lights.  I would recommend getting either a ZooMed Powersun or a T-Rex Active UVheat (100 watt; you can order them at www.carolinapetsupply.com).

Here's some websites that may be of help to you:

www.tortoiseyard.com
www.redfoottortoise.com

Please post back if you have any questions at all!    

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

QUESTION: IT'S ME, AGAIN. OUR BABY IS EATING GOOD; FRUITS, VEGGIES, LEAFY THINGS, BUT I'M AFRAID I'M SPOILING HER. I FEED HER IN THE MORNINGS, AND THE EVES, ABOUT THE SAME TIME. IN BETWEEN THOSE TIMES SHE HIDES AND USUALLY SLEEPS. I ALSO FEED HER IN THE SAME SPOT. SHOULD I CHANGE THE TIMES, AND THE PLACE OF FEEDING. MY THINKING SHE WILL GET MORE EXERCISE AND BE MORE EXPLORING HER SETTING.
 I ALSO WANT TO BE ABLE TO HOLD HER MORE. SHE PULLS AWAY FROM ME WHEN I HOLD HER. WILL THIS CHANGE IN TIME? I DON'T WANT HER TO BE STUCK IN A CAGE WITH NO HUMANE CONTACT.
ALSO, BY HER HIDING, I DON'T FEEL SHE GETS ENOUGH OF HER DAILY LIGHT. SOMETIMES I MOVE THE LIGHT WHEREEVER SHE IS, JUST TO GET HER SOME "D"
 THANK YOU
   DON

Answer
Hi Don,

Only feed her once a day, and when she's a year old either cut back to every other day or feed less.  Tortoises have slow metabolisms and it's easy to overfeed them, which is unhealthy.  It's fine to vary the feedings, and you can also scatter the food around so she has to "forage" for it.  

She'll get used to being handled over time, but remember that tortoises aren't like dogs and cats so they don't need human contact, and they're solitary creatures anyway so even another tortoise isn't necessary.  In fact, too much handling is likely to stress them out.  When they're outside, they'll follow you around to see what you're doing, but I prefer to leave mine on the ground and not handle them more than necessary.

Most likely she is getting plenty of basking in and you just don't see it.  Most of the time they'll hang out in shadier areas, coming out periodically to bask.  I have one that I rarely see under the basking lamp, but I know she does it because I catch her at it every once in a while.  She also doesn't have to be directly under the UVB bulb to get the benefit.  In the warmer months you can build an outdoor pen for her and then she'll get plenty of UVB from sunlight.  At her age, she can go out when the weather is about 70 or above.  Once she's bigger, 65 or above would be fine.  She can also graze for herself outside and hunt for bugs, worms, and slugs.  

Hope this helped.  Post again if you have more questions!