Hi Everyone,

How often should tortys poop?
Spike is a spur thigh 55 years old with shell damage that he is under treatment from the torty vet. He eats a mix of weeds, carrot, broccli, kale and cabbage. I am trying to convert him to an all weed diet but underestimated how many weeds he would need. Could anyone give me a rough estimate on how much weeds he would need a day when eating an all weed diet? He also gets a sprinkle of nutrobal on his food daily.

Im just concerned that he hasnt pooped for a few days since saturday and before this he was pooping evry day though they were soft but mostly formed. He is still passing urates but every other day at the mo rather than daily. He gets bathed once a day.

Any advise would be wonderful
Many thanks

Tracy and Spike

Hi Tracy

First of all well done for changing Spike's diet, it can sometimes take a bit of time to get them off the naughty foods, but stick with it!

It is difficult to say how much to feed him and you will find that his appetite varies - I give my adults as many weeds as they will eat, and they also have access to a large weedy lawn to graze on.  Adult tortoises will stop eating when they are full - unlike youngsters where you need to keep an eye on their intake.  So try a pile of weeds about the same size as Spike and see how you get on, adjusting the amount to suit him.

As his diet changes to a high fibre weed one, food will pass more slowly through his digestive system, so he will poo less frequently, just keep bathing him as you are doing now.

I hope this helps

all the best

Arlene TPG