Reptile & Amphibian Forums

this morning i woke my redfoot up by turning on her light, misting her enclosure, and bringing her some greens. she went and drank out of her water dish for a really long time, then opened her mouth and expelled a little water a few times. then she threw up a little bit of the dogfood she ate yesterday.... and then after a couple of minutes she ate it again! i have never seen her do this before, but i have only had her for a few months. she seems fine now, but what was going on?? is that normal or should i be worried???

What temperatures are you keeping her at?
Does she smell like old dog food?

I keep yellow foots and if I feed them “too much” meat and do not keep them warm enough it sometimes ferments in their stomachs (They are a little sick for a day or two) and they will throw it up. (Often into their water dish). I have since installed a heat lamp and keep them about 2 to 4 degrees warmer. When they get sick on meat – they also tend to smell like old meet (Not really off meat – but more old meat).

I would feed your tort mainly on vegetables and grasses until she gets a little better (when she is back to her normal self).

Good luck

thanks. it was really cold here this morning (i live in RI), so maybe that was it. i have her heat emitter on 24/7, but it was freezing out, and the bedroom was alot colder than normal. i only feed her dogfood once a week and up till now she has never thrown up. she seems ok, but she didn't really eat much today. thanks for the tip.

How often do you feed your tort dog food?
My understanding is one should only feed once a week at the most. (Others feel free to jump in). Too much dog good = trouble with bladder stones and other health issues. Too little is also not good for them as with humans.

You want to keep your temperatures above 60 – 65F. My yellow foots have trouble below about 65F (They get a cold and have trouble digesting food). I keep my Yellow Foots between about 70F and 80F (they do not like it any hotter than 80 – they instead try to climb out of their box and hide under my bed (Coolest place in the house). I also have a 250W heater on a thermostat to keep them toasty warm.

i only feed her dog food once a week. i feed her 2 days of greens, 1 day fruits and veggies, 2 days greens, 1 day fruit and veggies, and then 1 day dog food.
the heat emitter i use is only 100 watts. do you think that is warm enough? it gets around 85 - 90 right under it but cooler in the rest of the tank. i have her in a 95 gal. rubbermaid bin (about 36" by 16". i leave it on all day and night, and i just put her uvb light on during daytime hours.

i dont know where that smiley face came from! sorry!

I suggest you keep your Tort warm during the cold – I suggest you get a higher wattage element with a thermostat (Important to have a thermostat as you do not want to cook your Tortoise. You an also look at covering your Tortoise cage over night when it is cold. That way you will keep in the heat. The only issue is it can result in a reduction in humidity.

might be that tanted dog food from China.or it could be because its not a dog.lol I used to see this happen with "monkey biskets back in the Didnt know what the ..we were doing 80s.To rich,try a mouse or rat every now and then,its the perfect package,a fuzzy vitamin if you will.If you want to really LOL feed a live mouse to a Chinese box turtle.Now thats a show.All seriousness aside you might want to check for a protozoan overload.Very common in the pet trade,captive born or not.Is the mouth color pale,it should be pinkish.Are the stools runny or slimmy,or worse bloody.The temp thing may not be it.Good luck,take care,wash your hands,let us know how its doin.Later VIC

her mouth is pink, and her stools are always pretty firm and just a greeny brown color. she seems okay to me now- she didn't eat much the day that she puked, but she ate more the next day, and all her greens the day after that. i've been keeping a close eye on her, and i'm hoping she is okay. maybe i should find a good tort vet in RI though, just in case. thanks for the advise.
and i don't think i could ever feed her a mouse... that grosses me out! maybe i'll get her some earthworms or something!