General Care Discussion :: Super Duper Poop questions...

[kikicool]

I apologize in advance for the graphic nature of my questions. But... I was reading through old forums, and someone mentioned that their turtle had diarreah. She wrote something about "it was floating as usual..." of course, now I'm paranoid.

1. My shmeegel's poops don't float at all. They are on the bottom. Basically, I guess, what is NORMAL turtle poop SUPPOSED to look like? This is cylindrical, light brown, and very soft.

2. The past two poops have been different. The last one had what looked like a white worm in it (not moving). This one is segmented into three, and is a large poop. I can see a LITTLE bit of white inside it. Does he have worms? If so, where can turtles get them, so I can avoid in the future? And what can I do for him to help?

[missibsu]

I've heard of worms coming in through live prey...different kinds of feeder fish, and through old pellets.

The best way to identify the nature of a parasite and how to treat it is to take stool sample to your vet. I'm not an expert on this, so this is all I know.

[SpotsMama]

In your item #1, your turtle's poop sounds exactly like my turtle's poop. But I've never seen anything white in it.

[Ferd]

my turtles have always had poop that sinks to the bottom

[missibsu]

Just to add to the 'what my turts poo looks like' convo...I've never seen a turd last. My filter obliterates it, lol. Other than the white, it does sounds normal.

[kikicool]

Thanks I klnow it's a ridiculous topic, but there's nothign about it in guide books or the like. And really, these are important things to know. I am lucky: my dogs' vet also sees reptiles. So I'll just bring in the poop sample. Thanks for the help!

One more thing: I don't give him live prey, and the pellets are only about 2 months old. Weird. I wonder where he got this!

[missibsu]

I just remembered about another conversation about white in the poo, and it had to do with something else completely. Sorry that I don't remember what this is. If your pellets are fresh and you haven't offered live prey, then it may be something else to consider.

I can't find the actual post I was thinking of, but I found one that jogged my memory, just to give you a word...urates. I'll let you do the reseach!

[marisa]

What have you been feeding your turtle?

[CountryGirl68]

My vet mentioned that turtles are suseptible to worms which they can get from things put in the tank, such as rocks and even their food.

[marisa]

If the rocks weren't cleaned before putting them in (or, if they had cracks in them that couldn't be really cleaned) it wouldn't surprise me. This would seem to be the case with certain foods, as with some pellets that are too old.

[Starchick]

How would old food contribute to worms? Is it an issue of whether it's been tightly sealed? My reptomin was given to me by my turtles' last owner, I have no idea how old it is! Should I replace it?

[Tenodera]

Maybe just on the safe side you should replace it...

[Starchick]

Yeah, that's what I decided, even though it's a ton of food to throw away, I know it's at least a year old and probably older than that. Plus I was reading about fish stuff tonight and it said that nutritional value of fish food drops off quickly after you open it, and I can't imagine why turtle food would be any different. So I'm clearing house and buying everything new, in smaller containers so I know it's reasonably fresh.

[Safdar]

That sounds good man
Usualy when a turtle eats more veggies the poop floats

[Tenodera]

really? Serra's poop is always very flaky but it never floats....