First, the primary cause of tortoise gastroenteritis
The cause of tortoise gastroenteritis The primary causes include: unreasonable feeding methods by the owner, such as feeding the tortoise with spoiled feed or food unsuitable for the tortoise, swallowing sharp food by the tortoise, improper breeding environment, and abuse of antibiotics for the tortoise.
How to prevent turtles from getting gastroenteritis in feeding
1. Avoid feeding indigestible food
Foods such as bread and dried insects are not easy for tortoises to digest, and pet owners should feed them carefully. For tortoises with a bad stomach, it is best not to feed them this type of food.
2. Avoid feeding spoiled food
Before feeding the tortoise each time, it is best to carefully check the shelf life on the feed packaging bag to see if there is any spoilage. If it has deteriorated, it must not be fed. If you are not sure if it has deteriorated, don’t take chances and throw it away decisively.
3. Stop feeding when the temperature is too low
When the temperature is too low, reduce or stop feeding the tortoise, because the tortoise’s gastrointestinal digestive function will be greatly reduced in a low temperature environment . Turtles are prone to indigestion when feeding when the temperature is too low, which is why most hatchlings suffer from gastroenteritis. It is best to feed the turtle normally when the breeding environment is above 20°C.
4. Stop feeding when the temperature difference is large
When the temperature difference between day and night is large (the temperature difference is greater than 5℃) ), it is recommended to stop feeding turtles, especially for turtles with poor physique. Otherwise, they may suffer from indigestion due to low temperature after eating, and even cause gastroenteritis.
5. Don’t rush to feed the new turtle that has just come home.
The new turtle comes to the new home and needs a certain amount of time to adapt to the new environment, especially the turtle that is purchased online. It takes longer to recover and adapt after a long journey. Therefore, for a newly arrived tortoise, you can not feed it for 3 days. I want to pay attention to observe the state of the tortoise, and then feed it after confirming that there is no abnormality in the tortoise.
6. Stop feeding the tortoise when it is sick
When the tortoise is sick and needs dry feeding or medicated bath treatment, because the breeding environment needs to be switched back and forth, even if it is normal at this time Feed it, it is also very likely to have indigestion, so it is best not to feed it when the turtle is sick.
In addition, the pet owner usually feeds the tortoise, it should be done regularly, fixed-point, and quantitative feeding, not too frequent feeding, generally at least every Feed the tortoise once every 3 days. The tortoise does not need to eat every day. It takes a certain amount of time to digest after each feeding. If the pet owner feeds too frequently, it is easy to cause indigestion and obesity of the tortoise. In addition, pet owners usually need to reasonably control the amount of feeding. If feeding too much at one time, not only will the turtle not be able to eat it, but the residual food will also easily cause water pollution. Regular feeding will help reduce the pressure on the stomach and digestion of the tortoise and allow the tortoise to grow better.
