Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a russian tortoise that I got about a month ago. I am concerned because she doesn't eat or poop very much... she eats very little and i've only seen her poop maybe 2 times. Could it just be that she is not adjusted to her new home yet? Her box is fairly large and has a lot of reptile bark for burrowing and a heat lamp and water for soaking, and i feed her yams, lettuce, snow peas, etc, and occasionally also feed her fruit. I spray her twice a day and soak her in warm water about once a week to avoid dehydration. I take her outside every couple of days (I live in the seattle area - not very nice weather in the fall...) where she seems to enjoy running around and occasionally eating grass and such.

Any thoughts on her habits and how to make her happier would be welcome!

what its temps on the warm side? cool side? basking spot? are the foods that you are feeding correct? i wouldnt personally feed any lettuce. what was it eating where you got it. seems like torts seem to get use to one kind of food. i would feed it more greens. collards, turnip greens, dandelion greens as well as flowers. if you take it out all the time maybe it hasnt had time to adjust to its new surroundings. is it cb? if its wild caught maybe it has parasites that are making it sick? vet check up might be a good idea

>>I have a russian tortoise that I got about a month ago. I am concerned because she doesn't eat or poop very much... she eats very little and i've only seen her poop maybe 2 times. Could it just be that she is not adjusted to her new home yet? Her box is fairly large and has a lot of reptile bark for burrowing and a heat lamp and water for soaking, and i feed her yams, lettuce, snow peas, etc, and occasionally also feed her fruit. I spray her twice a day and soak her in warm water about once a week to avoid dehydration. I take her outside every couple of days (I live in the seattle area - not very nice weather in the fall...) where she seems to enjoy running around and occasionally eating grass and such.
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>>Any thoughts on her habits and how to make her happier would be welcome!

Get more fiber in her diet with more greens, and if possible good old weeds from outside - as long as it's not sprayed with pesticides of course. ZooMed puts out a tortoise pellet that's full of fiber, I used it on Ben when he lived here and his turds became alot more firmer than before. I would crumbl;ed this up and mix in in his diet which was mostly greens of all sorts, sometimes grated zuchinni, potato, squash and carrots.

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Buslady of SoCal
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