My RedFoot is not pooping

Question
QUESTION: Hi,
I have a yearling red foot who, about a 2 weeks ago has stopped pooping. I soak her every day, and she use to poop everytime in her water. I have been trying to figure out what the best diet and environment for her is because every website says something different. I feed her the diet they recommened on redfoot.com of 2 days of leafy greens, 1 day of fruit, repeat, and protien on the last day. I fed her a quarter of a hardboiled egg around the time she stopped pooping, I am afraid it might have constipated her. I continue to offer her the mixed diet, but she only eats a few bites, which is much less than what she would eat before. She also is not very active, she won't come out of her hide unless I take her out. Also, I have heard on different sites that a UVB light is not necessary, and I stopped using the one I had for her. Is there something I can do to help her poop, or is this an emergency for a vet to handle. Thank you so much!

ANSWER: Hi Jesika,

Hardboiled egg is unlikely to cause constipation; in my experience, it's more likely to cause loose and somewhat strangely-colored and smelly poops.  Redfoots also often eat their poop.  So it's quite possible your tortoise is pooping and eating it.  The lack of activity and appetite is more of a worry, but it may be because you stopped using the UVB light.  I know there are sites that say UVB is not necessary because redfoots live in the forest areas where there is little sunlight, but from my research this is not true.  Redfoots live in savannah areas and on the edge of forests, so in fact they probably have regular exposure to sunlight.  I have also spent time in South America and the forest is not as dark as you might think.  The tropical sun penetrates so there is dappled light and probably considerable UVB exposure as the sun is stronger at the equator.  I provide UVB to my redfoots indoors and they have natural sunlight outdoors; sometimes they bask and sometimes they don't.  I would provide both UVB and plenty of hides/shade area to your redfoot so she can choose where she wants to be.

If your redfoot continues to be lethargic and have a lack of appetite after you start using the UVB bulb again, I would take her to a herp vet to be checked out just in case.

Here's a couple of sites with care information.  Both of these people are very experienced with redfoots and have hatched out hundreds of healthy babies, so you can be safe in following their advice.

http://redfoottortoise.com/
http://tortoiseyard.com

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

QUESTION: Hello Jeannie,
Thanks again for the advice, Lali is doing much better! She's pooping and much more active now with the UVB light back on. I've continued to feed her the diet of greens 2 day, then fruit, the 2 more days of greens and then fruit again, and cat food on the last day of the week. She won't touch the greens that I offer her and only eats on the days that I give her fruit and cat food. even if I mix fruit or cat food with her greens, she picks out what she wants and leaves the greens. I'm worried that she will not be getting the nutirtion she needs. What should I do? Thanks again!

Answer
Hi Jesika,

I'm glad Lali is doing better for you.  Don't give her cat food--it's too high in fat and even the best grain-free commercial cat food has ingredients that are inappropriate for tortoises.  I know care sites say it's fine to feed, but I disagree with that.  You can rotate whole prey items such as pinky mice, worms, slugs, snails, crickets, etc. with boiled chicken/shrimp/egg, chicken heart, etc.  You can try chopping the fruit, meat, and greens up together into small bits and feeding her that way.  Also, if she's a year old she really doesn't need to eat every day, so try cutting her back to every other day.  www.carolinapetsupply.com sells a supplement called TNT that is basically a mix of dried weed powders that you can get to sprinkle on her food to help boost her nutritional intake if she continues to avoid the greens, but I've found that chopping everything up finely and mixing it together usually works.