hi there, harry has been leaving white deposits in his pen, kinda like a seagull poo, any thoughts? jt
that would be urates, perfectly natural unless it's gritty, you will find that he'll do it in his water when you bathe him too
this is a really unique way that tortoises pass urine, nature has designed them to re-use water in their bodies, somewhere in the bladder area the body seperates the water from the salt etc, the body re-uses the water and the urates are then expelled, they usually pass urates when water is in plenty of supply (as in when bathing), this is why torts can go for long periods with out water.
ive never seen any in mines pen or water
mine usually go in the bath
ive never apparent any in mines pen or water
________________
I was just about to post a thread about this as mine is doing it!!
I was worried.
Phew I'm glad it's all natural
xx
If there is none at all, it is either because your tortoise is always fully hydrated or because it is dehydrated and forming crystals or a stone. If you are bathing daily and he is drinking then assume all is
OK, if you neglect his bathing and drinking then assume that you need to rehydrate quickly. Hope this helps
this sounds like what mine has just done for the first time in her bath, it kind of looks like a bit of chewing gum in the water? just fished it out and it felt a little bit gritty, not much at all though.
i noticed today that she hadnt moved even after her food had been in there an hour or two, she just seemed slow, shes normally wandering about all over the place.
so i thought i would give her a bath to warm her up as she likes a bath. and thats when she done that white poo thing. never seen this before, and she gets bathed atleast everyother day and has a water bowl in her enclosure. ive just weighed her and shes 70-75g and is about 8 months old. does that sound ok?
(02-11-2010 03:44 PM)yeah_mick Wrote: [ -> ]this sounds like what mine has just done for the first time in her bath, it kind of looks like a bit of chewing gum in the water? just fished it out and it felt a little bit gritty, not much at all though.
i noticed today that she hadnt moved even after her food had been in there an hour or two, she just seemed slow, shes normally wandering about all over the place.
so i thought i would give her a bath to warm her up as she likes a bath. and thats when she done that white poo thing. never seen this before, and she gets bathed atleast everyother day and has a water bowl in her enclosure. ive just weighed her and shes 70-75g and is about 8 months old. does that sound ok?
If you can seperate the urates from the water mick then its a bit too solid, it should look like a sloppy, slimy white mass that escapes being caught a bit like an egg does when you try to pick it up. I would give more warm baths Mick. It's hard to say if the weight is OK as they all grow at different rates depending on how they are fed - mine at this age would be more like 40 grams. Keep an eye on weekly weight gain and if she is not losing any then she will probably be fine - keep an eye on temps etc as they will influence activity too.