Possibly constipated??

[Michsquish]

Help.....my Hermans tortoise, Jack is not his little usual self. I say 'he' but Jack is actually a girl it transpired as time went on and he developed.

Usually, even despite the cold weather, he is quite spritely when we get him out and warm him up and loves a good run and climb etc and is never really off his food.

He's been a little fed up and I realise he's not really had a pooh for over a week. He was off his food last week. The last few days we have give him a good bath and soak at least once a day and he's perked up slightly and is now eating - not as much as his usual greedy self but still no poos but he is still weeing and producing calcium deposits. If there was a blockage of somekind, would 'he' still be able to wee and deposit calcium?

I'm just wondering, aside from baths and soaks and a spot of watery food (ie lettuce and cucumber) is there anything more I could give foodwise to try and move things along? I've read somewhere butternut squash may help but raw or cooked and if the latter, how do i cook it for the best?

Finally, we had given him kale last week as a treat and im worried this may be the cause of our problems - is kale ok for Hermans? I only fed that as I read it somewhere? His usual winter diet is watercress and we've had him for years and its never been a problem before.

Any help would be great I'm a very worried mummy - he's about 6/7 years old xxxxx

[Suze65]

Hi, it might be worth an X-ray to see if he is constipated and how badly, One of my young juveniles was very constipated before Christmas, and I had to go all out to get her to poo, I gave her hourly warm water enemas with a small srynge , hourly soaks, she ate very little, but what she would eat was mainly cucumber. This went on for a week and a half, until she finally pooped, all of it at once, then it took a few more days to get her back to normal, with daily baths. Kale is fine for Hermanns twice a week.

[sa123]

Hi if she is female could it be eggs?

[Marcusanthony24]

try dandelion leaves. I use lactulose, if you go to a vets they will probably give you this, a couple of blobs of it on a tomato works wonders i find.

[Michsquish]

Thank you so much all.. we did have a similar episode a few years ago but I don't recall it being this length of time.

Mediterraneansuze, I spent all morning reading about a story about Tiggy - I think this was your story?

He/she is eating ok now for this time of year.... I steamed a little butternut squash for jack and he/she has completely enjoyed it. I'm just worried that he may eat too much and then this may add to the problem like a full bag (although maybe it may push it through!)

When we bath Jack (obsessively at present), it all looks really promising with tail twicthing etc etc and then just wees (normal wees and calcium). However, when we remove from the bath, Jack then seems really agitated scrabbling about with tail twitching (and I swear you can tell when he/she is in a mood by the face!). He;s never really pooed in the bath from being a baby, its always just after we take him out.

I dont think it can be eggs, never been near another tortoise since hatching? (that sounds so sad!).

We're struggling to find dandelion leaves (we do live in the cold climate of Manchester I'm afraid)....Marcusanthony24, can you buy lactulose at all from anywhere?

Also, I know I may sound really thick, but I assume I need to buy a small blunt syringe to do the enemas - where would I find this? You just syringe this up the hole in the tail? I read a few threads about baby oil and KY jelly to apply to the area... I think I'm too scared of this?

I couldn't even enjoy Ant & Dec tonight as spent all night, as the rest of the week, staring at Jack's backside and praying!!! xxx

Thanks again for your replies... your further help is greatly appreciated xxx

[Suze65]

Hi Michsquish, Tiggys case was quite bad, yes I did use lactulose, I believe this can help but it didn't work for Tiggy, you can get it from your vet along with a small srynge for the enema, you would need to ask the vet to show you how but you have been shown it's very easy, and yes you do need to use a bit of ky jelly for this. I had to be brave and do it because she was so bad she would probably of died. Not saying yours is any where near that bad.if she is bunged up she won't want to eat much! Keep doing several baths a day and Speak to your vet about doing an enema.im sure she will poo eventually. I think Tiggy was constipated for about 3 weeks!!!!!

[Michsquish]

Thank you - I know, it's really wierd as this morning he's wanting to eat like nobody's business - I will see over next couple of days and if nothing, will pop to vets.

Will of course be the highlight of my year if a poo materialises!! I will report in soon xxx

Thanks again xxxxx

[Suze65]

It was the high light of my year when Tiggy finally did a monster poo!!!!! There's a pic of it on my thread. It's amazing how worried we all get about poo! Good luck.

[Marcusanthony24]

i got my lactulose from a chemist, just dont say its for animals or they might not sell it to you

[Michsquish]

Well....latest on the 'poo' saga...................

I was away last night (which could not have come at a worst time) so left my boyfriend in charge of baths etc and observations.

When he took Jack out of the bath last night, there was a large pea-sized pooh there - nothing major but it's a start - we just tried a bath again now when I got in but nothing, but he seems fine in himself (Jack not my boyfriend!)

God only knows what the people in the hotel bar thought we were talking about down the mobile phone when I got the call to say poo had appeared!

Hopefully this is the start of something, fingers crossed......thanks guys for your help xx