Ahhhhh! Thank you so much for that! I should have done my own research on that, but it's really great to tap into your well of knowledge too. Thank you, Sarah! And yes! I see my babies drinking at least once a day, their "bedroom" is very warm and humid, there is nothing dry about their diet (they eat moist finely chopped greens with soaked mash of commercial tort pellets, with rotation of fruit, veggies, mushrooms, meet, eggs, seafood all in juicy soft form. Their little mouths are still so tiny I make sure that their food is easy for them to manage. They seem to love the meals I serve. There are always fresh greens in the cage they can nibble on (and they do! A lot!) and bunch of live plants that they like munch on at times. I think our babies are growing really well but always feel better getting some reassurance from the seasoned members hereClear urine is expected with red foots. They are not a urate excreting species: http://www.tortoisetrust.org/articles/feeding_redfoots.html
"One consequence of the higher protein, higher purine content diet of Red-foot and Yellow-foot tortoises is that they must always have access to fresh drinking and soaking water, and must be provided with adequately humid enclosures or terraria. Dehydration is a very serious hazard to any tortoise consuming higher protein and purine content foods (mushrooms, for example). It is no coincidence that all species with this class of dietary preference occur in high rainfall, high humidity ecosystems with regular access to free water. This is reflected not only in their digestive tract biochemistry, but also in the manner in which they eliminate the waste products of the protein metabolism; tortoises from habitats where water is plentiful are predominately aminoureoletic, excreting a combination of ammonia and urea, while tortoises from arid environments are predominantly uricotelic, excreting uric acid and urates."
Lovely Rowan! With nice big tinkleView attachment 157299
Here's little Rowan tinkling.