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I recently switched my sulcata male (35lbs) to a high fiber diet that consists of fresh cut grass, orchard grass hay, and cactus pads. A small bit of romaine will be given from time to time as well.

Prior to 09/02/05, I had never fed him hay before. I mainly fed him fresh cut grass, romaine and other greens, cactus pads, and a very small amount of fruit.

After doing a lot or research, I found out that orchard grass hay is a good staple for their diet, so I began adding it to his feed.

My question, is how long should it take to run through his digestive tract? It has been six days now, and he has only taken one poop, and based on the consistency of it, I would say it was the remnants of what he ate BEFORE I began adding the hay to his feed.

I am concerened about constipation. After about the third day I began wetting the hay down to get more water into his system. He also has water available for him to drink. I plan on not feeding him until he poops again...I don't want to compound the problem.

So....any thoughts? Anyone know how long it should take for the food to go from the front door to the back door? Any tips on what I should do in the mean time?

Well his gut bacteria will of course have to adjust to something new but it shouldn't be much longer. It's a really good idea to do what you say you're doing.. wetting the hay for him.
We don't feed ours hay but that's because we now know that as long as she has fresh growing grass to eat she will not eat dry hay. The grass becomes hay in the winter & she'll eat it then.
So when it's really dry grass, I feed her some sopping wet greens at least once a week, no more than twice a week & if she's had any constipation starting from the dried out grass food, the wet greens will take care of that.

She was very very constipated only once & I could tell she felt bad. It was then that I realized I hadn't seen poop in several days so we put her in a container & took her for a ride in the car. A ride in the car never fails to make her poop. When she did it was very dry looking so I gave her the wet greens right away & before 24 hours passed she was pooping like a normal tortoise again.
Because of what we saw with ours, I'm thinking that if you give the wet hay today & maybe add a little of the greens (wet them down too) you may not have a problem by the weekend.
Ok I know it's a terrible pun but I have to say this:
I hope everything comes out ok.

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PHRatz

I gave him some romaine today and wet it well before giving it to him. I figure it's probably 90% water anyhow (especially the crisp stems of it).

I may also give him some wet FRESH grass as well, but I am going to stay away from the hay until he passes what he has already consumed.

I suspect that what you say is true...once he passes the intial poop....he will be pooping like a fiend again.

i would have to say watch giving your tortoise to much dry grass such as hay because a tortoise gets almost all it's liquids from it's food. so i agree wet it down before giving it to him. and i think as well it may take him some time to get adjusted to the new food but as long as the tortoise continues to eat and does not act like it is sick then i would say you are ok, however if it should act like it is sick get it to a vet right away. and i was wondering to get it to poop have you ever thought of trying to soak it that usually does the trick.

thanks jason
www.midwestreptileexpo.com

>>I suspect that what you say is true...once he passes the intial poop....he will be pooping like a fiend again.

Please be sure to let us know what does work.
Good luck I hope that by today or tomorrow at the latest he's back to normal.
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PHRatz

Nothing yet. Unfortunately the weather cooled down a lot today. Not good for a cold blooded animal who needs to poop.

I tried a soak yesterday in a large tub with some hose water. He only tolerated it for about five minutes. I may soak him again today, but use warm water from the house this time.

If that does not work, I am cosidering giving him a little mineral oil enema. I dunno.

If nothing by Monday I am going to the vet.

After reading all of these other posts, It sounds to me like your tortoise has an obstruction. I have seen the strangest things come out of these animals naturally. I have seen chunks of glass, ribbons and even plastic bags (such is the type which you may bring your groceries home in.) All of these things I have seen pass through these animals on their own however, I have seen AST's die from swallowing stones and also after swallowing Cedar chips. These animals are eating machines, once they get going, they will pretty much consume anything that get in their paths especially when mixed beneath the thick of the grass.
The tortoise that swallowed the stone and died, was owned by a young girl and only taken out side sporadically. The tortoise was kept on a suitable diet indoors.
The tortoise that died after swallowing large amounts of cedar chips, was kept by a well meaning friend that thought he was doing his indoor pet a favour by placing him on these attractive sweet smelling chips. Both of these people were devestated at the loss of their long term pets.
Do yourself a favour dont water down your tortoises feed, you stand an excellent chence of really disrupting his system. These animals should have devecation that only has a shine to it for the first minute after being dropped and then it should appear totally dry. It should NEVER look wet! Most of the year in nature, these animals are eating totally dried out grass.
I would have to suggest that your animal probably has an obstruction caused by a swallowing a foreign objsct. Don't put of taking it to the vet any longer. Thanx, Leo

Skin & Scales

Well, I came home today and he had a little present waiting for me. I nice pile of poop!

It was not what I was expecting...it was less "fibrous" than I thought it would be. It did however smell like a barnyard, so I know it was the remnants of the hay and grass he has been eating (no, I did not get down on my hands and knees and smell it....it was very potent and I could smell it from 5 feet away).

Hopefully he will now be back to normal.

Smelled like a barnyard!! whooo hoo that sounds normal to me
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PHRatz

Hey there ~
how often are you feeding this animal? A Spurred Tortoise at 35 lbs., should be dropping several large stools a day!
African Spurred Tortoises feed for the majority of the day taking small brakes during the heat of the day.
I personally don't know why anyone would feed one of these animals Romaine (or any other type of lettuce for that matter) but I understand alot of people do.
Almost 100% of what my Tortoises eat through Spring, Summer and Fall is fresh growing grass and clover. Aside from that when the animals are moved inside for the winter, they are fed daily on bailed, dry Alfalfa hay, Collard Greens and Dandelion Greens. The bailed hay also enables the tortoises access to food all day ~ not only does this keep them well fed, but it also keeps them from getting too bored. Eating is a type of environmental enrichment.
Anyways, to answer your question, it takes roughly 9 days to get from the front door to the back door, but you should'nt have that window open to be able to tell, if the animal is fed enough. It should not miss a day without a bowel movement. Also, do you allow him outdoors?
Good Luck with him Thanx, Leo

Skin & Scales

I don't think it's odd at all that an animal who's just been given a major diet change for the better would have a disruption in fecal production. The gut bacteria has to get used to the change and now we hear that yesterday it all came out.

As the tortoise eats more grass and hay then what comes out will begin to look more like what went in and continue to smell like a barnyard.
It wouldn't worry me unless the tortoise does not become regular after this initial period of change.
Just MHO.
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PHRatz

Hello ~ I don't recall the person that made the post saying anything about a major diet change though, he/she said that they simply added another type of grass (Orchard grass hay) to the animals existing diet. That does'nt constitute a major dietary change, its an addition, just as if yours or my own tortoises happened upon a fresh bunch of dandelion flowers or another non toxic wild plant. The animals system will still continue to function at normal speed and won't go through a bacterial change, as long it is still consuming healthy plant matter ~ (it would be considerably different if you started feeding it on meat for instance) not to mention, when an AST feels a system change (sick if you will) they will naturally consume their own feces "coprophagy" ~ they should always have access to some of their own droppings, just like Rabbits.
Theoretcially, even if an AST's diet were completely changed say from just grass to say, all Collard Greens, the animal would still continue with its daily movements because its intestinal track should already be full (if of course the keeper has been feeding it properly.) It would take a good 7 to 9 days for the newly digested matter to make an appearance. There are of course other variables which would dictate a speed issue in digestion, such as metabolic function distress due to inadequate temperatures or mechanical obstruction with a foreign object.
I know the person that made the post said a small dropping did appear, hopefully thats a sign of things to come, but should'nt be interpreted that the animal is functional at a normal rate.
I hope i'm not sounding combative, that's not what i'm trying to do. Just trying to help. Thanx, Leo
Skin & Scales

Hey Leo,
He said that the tort had never eaten hay before now so to me that's a major dietary change. I don't mean to sound combative either & actually I don't think we are being that, I know we both have the tortoise's best interests at heart.
When my tortoise grazes every day I think about cattle & horses, I literally think of her as a cow with a shell who poops like horse. lol.
I know how quickly a cow can bloat and a horse can colic so that leads to my chalking this decline in voiding up to a gastric upset similar to that of livestock, however not quite so serious as horse colic.
I'd forgotten until today that mine has actually gotten quite constipated twice since she's been here. The first time was very soon after she got here. She ate some cooked sweet potatoes that caused a major gastric upset, that's what I'd forgotten...then the extremely dry grass with no fresh greens in the picture did the same to her about 2 years later.
In any case I think we'd agree & so would the tortoise owner in question agree.. if things don't start happening normally soon, then a vet is needed.
Since he said a large pile happened this weekend, I'm hoping that means normal is on the way.

Where is our tortoise owner for an update? That's what we need here.
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PHRatz

First off, I would thank everyone for thier input. Even though it seems like tempers may flare from time to ime, I understand that you all have the the tortoise's best interest at heart.

To bring everyone up to speed. I have a 35# male sulcata who a few weeks ago stopped eating. I keep him outside 24 hours a day in the warm months, and bring him inside at night during the cool months. After about five or six days of not eating, I took him to the vet and got him x-rayed. The vet said everything about him looked fine. A day or two later he was back to his normal food devouring self.

Since then, I have been doing a lot of research about sulcatas. His diet used to consist of about 40% grass, 50% gorcery store produce (mostly greens), and 10% fruit. I decided to switch him over to about 40% grass, 40% hay, 10% cactus pads, 10% grocery store produce.

After I began to add hay to his diet, I did not see a bowel movement for about 6 days. When it came out it smelled like a barnyard, so I figured the hay had finally made the journey though him.

Today, about 70 hours later ( a little less than 3 days), I got another bowel movement (bigger this time).

Now, the long gap between bowel movements may have been due to his adjusting to the new diet. It may also be a result of him not eating for nearly a week. Either way, he seems fine and happy. I feel I am giving him the right foods and the vet gave him a clean bill of health. Everything seems to be ok.

Thanks again to all.

Well it looks like everything came out ok!
I hope he keeps up the good work. Are you now seeing more fiber coming out as you'd expected?
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PHRatz

if it seemed that my temper was flaring. I certainly didn't mean to sound that way. I know we won't all always agree on every single word but we can always disagree in an agreeable manner.
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PHRatz

No apology required. A lively debate is a good one.

Just to update. Ol' Stanely dropped another load today. Three "pellets" about three inches long each.

It really is amazing how his body takes that pile of grass and hay and cactus I feed him every day and wrings out most of the water and nutrients, and all that comes out are a couple of small (well comapred to the pile of food he gets) droppings.

So, he has pooped Friday 09/09, Monday 09/12, and Tuesday 09/13. Three poops in five days is reasonable I think. I think he is back on track.

Yeah I agree, it's amazing how mine grazes all that grass & whatever else she finds then compacts it into these road apples lol.
It's really gross when she's done this in the afternoon, when I may not be home then I find where birds have picked through this stuff. Sometimes I find dung beetles in it too.
If it's allowed a few hours to sit it's easier to pick up with the pooper scooper though, the flies don't seem to buzz around it when it's good & dry.
She tends to produce a whole lot more this time of year than any other time too. When the daytime temps are in the mild 80s she spends many more hours outside grazing than she does when the temps are in the 90s or 100s.

I'm glad that Stanley seems to be "moving" back to normal.
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PHRatz