Normal pee?

wellington

Well-Known Member
Moderator
10 Year Member!
Tortoise Club
Joined
Sep 6, 2011
Messages
49,660
Location (City and/or State)
Chicago, Illinois, USA
Looks fine to me. Sometimes torts will have some white stuff in it, called Urates. That's normal too.
 

lccourt

New Member
Joined
Feb 22, 2017
Messages
4
Thanks, it's been kind of a rough week. There were two and yesterday the boy died. Since they were both sick, and now she isn't eating, I'm worried about all of it. Normal pee is one less worry.
 

JoesMum

Well-Known Member
10 Year Member!
Joined
Oct 26, 2011
Messages
21,606
Location (City and/or State)
Kent, South East England
Thanks, it's been kind of a rough week. There were two and yesterday the boy died. Since they were both sick, and now she isn't eating, I'm worried about all of it. Normal pee is one less worry.
Russians don't do well as pairs. They are very territorial. They are best kept alone. It may be that your other Russian was bullied / stressed causing its demise. Sadly it is very common.

I know Tom has given you the Care Guide links in another thread of yours. We are always happy to check over photos of the enclosure and lighting to make sure there's no environmental problem.

If you are concerned about hydration, I recommend a daily 30 minute soak. No less than 20 minutes.

Russians are notorious for disliking soaks, so you will probably find it is most successful when done first thing in the morning before the tort has warmed up properly.

My tips are:
- Soak first thing in the morning
- Use a high-sided, flat-bottomed bowl that your tort can't see over or through. A washing up bowl is ideal.
- The water needs to be warm, but not hot. Think baby bath.
- The water needs to be deep enough to come up over the join between the shell and the plastron (undershell).
 

JoesMum

Well-Known Member
10 Year Member!
Joined
Oct 26, 2011
Messages
21,606
Location (City and/or State)
Kent, South East England

lccourt

New Member
Joined
Feb 22, 2017
Messages
4
Maybe Tom hasn't given you the care sheets after all.

If you haven't already, I recommend you read these as they're written by species experts working hard to correct the outdated information widely available on the internet and from pet stores and, sadly, from some breeders and vets too.

Beginner Mistakes
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/

Russian Tortoise Care
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/
Thank you, I will look at these as soon as I finish answering you. I wasted time, valuable time, on another forum, and unfortunately, people were too angry with me for getting tortoises without full information about their care to listen to my questions, so, I appreciate that you are replying with information. That said, I will give you the bare bones rundown of this case, as it appears each day that she is worse and I have absolutely no idea how to help her or even if I can help her at this point.

Jan 22. Purchase 2 Russian tortoises from vendor at Repticon who said they were simple to take care of, and to buy mulch and romaine lettuce. we are newbies but excited to learn.
Jan 23. Tortoises have good energy and seem healthy and happy. Eating well and active. Somewhat weirded out by their new environment. Wood enclosure is built and lined with trash bags. Coco coir is purchased and wet down and eating and soaking area is placed in environment. Heat is not via lighting yet, but a heating pad. begin to notice tortoises are wheezing a bit. Read about respiratory illness and decide to take to vet.
Jan 24. Take tortoises to vet. vet says they are underweight, definitely wildcaught, have worms, and 10 years old, a full 6 years older than the vendor told us.
Jan 24, afternoon. On advice of vet, go to buy special lighting. purchase 2 heat lamps, 2 long UVB lamps and the bulbs for each. Use a heat sensor gun to establish correct distance set up UVB 1 foot high from torts and Heat lamp is adjustable.
Jan 24, Feeding torts lots of kale, a little strawberry. Also, meds. Baytril, every 2 days, Flagyl every 3 days and panacur every 7 days.

Over the course of the next 2 weeks, the tortoises appear to get better for about 3 days and then begin to tank. Neither liked taking the meds (of course) and one stops eating because he is afraid that there is going to be forced medicine behind each green. The boy who stopped eating after the first week, doesn't eat for an entire week. some raspy breaths begin to come back.

Feb 14, we go back to the vet, and additional meds are poured out. Now we are on baytril, panacur still, forcefeeding oxbow, giving shots of water and shots of fortaz injectible. Little did we know that we were toxing them out. Our vet is a specialist for reptiles, birds and fish, so we really trusted what he said. It wasn't really until 4 days ago when, after wasting time yelling at me for a few days, the other forum finally told me that the meds were too much and toxic. At that point I stopped all meds for the girl. She wasn't getting better. In fact, both tortoises really began to tank in a big way beginning on the 14th/15th after the second doctors visit.

Feb 15-now: I have been dedicating a good portion (4-5 hours) of every day, preparing meds, hand feeding, soaking, heating, measuring temps to try to save the torts. I have soaked them in baby food, given them oxbow, force fed and basically, on the docs advice, poked and prodded them in every imaginable way, and it only made them worse and worse.

Feb 18: I begin to learn helpful facts, such as Russian tortoises tend to need a period of no meds or treatment to allow their bodies to heal after being shipped, and, it is typical that they are wild caught, and that partly the best thing is to leave them alone. Also, parasites that would have lain dormant in their systems had they been left where they were tend to overproduce upon the stress of being shipped and creates a systemic imbalance. I realize that the internet is full of facts, some of them misleading and some helpful. Some seem helpful, but then you realize that they are misleading, and finding one source that agrees with another is quite difficult.

Feb 20, after a very terrible few days of wheezing and having injections and too weak to move he finally began to scream. It was horrific. He screamed for an hour and went to sleep and died that night. He must have been in a lot of pain and I take full responsibility for not putting him down before it got that terrible for him.

Feb 23, I learned that the amount of meds we were giving them was hurting their chances of survival and stopped all meds for the girl. Begin to notice that after a soak, she would now throw up a teaspoon full of water, clear but slimy. When I posted the pee, I thought it was, but now I believe it may have been vomit. She has been vomiting ever since and I'm not sure at this point if it's coming from her lungs or her stomach.

Today: Her eyes are getting worse, she is becoming more and more weak, and I can see that her chances of survival are slim. Her lights are 90 degrees. She has no interest in food. The kale babyfood I managed to get in her mouth was thrown up slightly after. (not spit up, but thrown up) I know she needs one med, but that all the meds will kill her even faster, and I'm trying to decide, fortaz or no? Put her to sleep? Find a rescue? I hate that she is suffering.

So: here are today's questions:

1. Is there hope at this point?
2. If so, would meds harm or help?
3. If meds would help, what would be the best without overwhelming her system? fortaz, baytril, azithromycin? I can't do all of those.
4. What circumstances cause tortoise vomiting?

Thanks,
Lydia
 

Kasia

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 15, 2015
Messages
807
Location (City and/or State)
Poland
Thank you, I will look at these as soon as I finish answering you. I wasted time, valuable time, on another forum, and unfortunately, people were too angry with me for getting tortoises without full information about their care to listen to my questions, so, I appreciate that you are replying with information. That said, I will give you the bare bones rundown of this case, as it appears each day that she is worse and I have absolutely no idea how to help her or even if I can help her at this point.

Jan 22. Purchase 2 Russian tortoises from vendor at Repticon who said they were simple to take care of, and to buy mulch and romaine lettuce. we are newbies but excited to learn.
Jan 23. Tortoises have good energy and seem healthy and happy. Eating well and active. Somewhat weirded out by their new environment. Wood enclosure is built and lined with trash bags. Coco coir is purchased and wet down and eating and soaking area is placed in environment. Heat is not via lighting yet, but a heating pad. begin to notice tortoises are wheezing a bit. Read about respiratory illness and decide to take to vet.
Jan 24. Take tortoises to vet. vet says they are underweight, definitely wildcaught, have worms, and 10 years old, a full 6 years older than the vendor told us.
Jan 24, afternoon. On advice of vet, go to buy special lighting. purchase 2 heat lamps, 2 long UVB lamps and the bulbs for each. Use a heat sensor gun to establish correct distance set up UVB 1 foot high from torts and Heat lamp is adjustable.
Jan 24, Feeding torts lots of kale, a little strawberry. Also, meds. Baytril, every 2 days, Flagyl every 3 days and panacur every 7 days.

Over the course of the next 2 weeks, the tortoises appear to get better for about 3 days and then begin to tank. Neither liked taking the meds (of course) and one stops eating because he is afraid that there is going to be forced medicine behind each green. The boy who stopped eating after the first week, doesn't eat for an entire week. some raspy breaths begin to come back.

Feb 14, we go back to the vet, and additional meds are poured out. Now we are on baytril, panacur still, forcefeeding oxbow, giving shots of water and shots of fortaz injectible. Little did we know that we were toxing them out. Our vet is a specialist for reptiles, birds and fish, so we really trusted what he said. It wasn't really until 4 days ago when, after wasting time yelling at me for a few days, the other forum finally told me that the meds were too much and toxic. At that point I stopped all meds for the girl. She wasn't getting better. In fact, both tortoises really began to tank in a big way beginning on the 14th/15th after the second doctors visit.

Feb 15-now: I have been dedicating a good portion (4-5 hours) of every day, preparing meds, hand feeding, soaking, heating, measuring temps to try to save the torts. I have soaked them in baby food, given them oxbow, force fed and basically, on the docs advice, poked and prodded them in every imaginable way, and it only made them worse and worse.

Feb 18: I begin to learn helpful facts, such as Russian tortoises tend to need a period of no meds or treatment to allow their bodies to heal after being shipped, and, it is typical that they are wild caught, and that partly the best thing is to leave them alone. Also, parasites that would have lain dormant in their systems had they been left where they were tend to overproduce upon the stress of being shipped and creates a systemic imbalance. I realize that the internet is full of facts, some of them misleading and some helpful. Some seem helpful, but then you realize that they are misleading, and finding one source that agrees with another is quite difficult.

Feb 20, after a very terrible few days of wheezing and having injections and too weak to move he finally began to scream. It was horrific. He screamed for an hour and went to sleep and died that night. He must have been in a lot of pain and I take full responsibility for not putting him down before it got that terrible for him.

Feb 23, I learned that the amount of meds we were giving them was hurting their chances of survival and stopped all meds for the girl. Begin to notice that after a soak, she would now throw up a teaspoon full of water, clear but slimy. When I posted the pee, I thought it was, but now I believe it may have been vomit. She has been vomiting ever since and I'm not sure at this point if it's coming from her lungs or her stomach.

Today: Her eyes are getting worse, she is becoming more and more weak, and I can see that her chances of survival are slim. Her lights are 90 degrees. She has no interest in food. The kale babyfood I managed to get in her mouth was thrown up slightly after. (not spit up, but thrown up) I know she needs one med, but that all the meds will kill her even faster, and I'm trying to decide, fortaz or no? Put her to sleep? Find a rescue? I hate that she is suffering.

So: here are today's questions:

1. Is there hope at this point?
2. If so, would meds harm or help?
3. If meds would help, what would be the best without overwhelming her system? fortaz, baytril, azithromycin? I can't do all of those.
4. What circumstances cause tortoise vomiting?

Thanks,
Lydia
Find a professional reptile Vet ASAP. Common sense is no to give that many drugs at once especially to a compromised animal. If she isn't dead and your willing to care for her there is always hope. Where are you from? Maybe forum members can recommend you someone knowledgeable near your location.
 
Top