What should a healthy Tort stool look like?

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Fernando

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Weird question I know. My torts stool comes out black. Solid but wet of course. My friend says is Sulcata's stool came out sort of watery and completely green......any ideas? or does it matter.

Also yesterday i was soaking my sully and white stuff was floating in the water. I took him out and replaced the water. What is that?
 

DeanS

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solid and black is better than green and watery...too many greens (or more likely, greens only). White liquid is urine...semi-solid whites (cottage cheese texture) are urates...a good sign that your tort is well-hydrated...how about some pictures?
 

Fernando

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DeanS said:
solid and black is better than green and watery...too many greens (or more likely, greens only). White liquid is urine...semi-solid whites (cottage cheese texture) are urates...a good sign that your tort is well-hydrated...how about some pictures?

That's good to hear...at least for my sully. So he is probably feeding him too many leafy greens? (Romaine lettuce and mustard greens from what I've heard) He said this is the first time he's seen it like that...his Sully is just now eating more grass and clovers from the yard...could it be because it's a new diet he is digesting the bad stuff out?

Sorry He didn't send me any photos of the stool... =/

The cottage cheese substance def. sounds like what I saw the other day from my Sulcata

Also....should torts be shedding skin around the neck and/or head? Apparently my friends is...says his torts head looks bigger =P I'll have him send us a pic
 

moswen

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a sulcata should definately be eating as much grass and clovers from the yard as possible! i agree with dean, a good healthy sulcata poop should be black and wet looking, without looking runny. yes to too many leafy greens, and definately he should continue feeding grasses from the yard (pesticide free, of corse!) i don't understand what you mean by "digesting the bad stuff out" sorry, could you explain a little better? blonde on this end of the computer lol!

cottage cheese stuff is good, just like dean said, it's called urates. when they look hard and crumbly then your tort needs more water. when they're soft and cottage cheesey that is better, but the best pee is just plain liquid. the way tortoises conserve water in the wild is to pee out as little liquid as possible, so they collect the little white things (urates) and usually those just get expelled with the poop so it looks like your tort pooped out some white stuff. while this is okay, and not harmful at all, what you want to see most is no urates at all! that means your tort is getting as much water as it could possibly need. but, don't worry, i still get urates from my sullies every so often. probably once a week i see urates from somebody!
 

Fernando

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moswen said:
a sulcata should definately be eating as much grass and clovers from the yard as possible! i agree with dean, a good healthy sulcata poop should be black and wet looking, without looking runny. yes to too many leafy greens, and definately he should continue feeding grasses from the yard (pesticide free, of corse!) i don't understand what you mean by "digesting the bad stuff out" sorry, could you explain a little better? blonde on this end of the computer lol!

cottage cheese stuff is good, just like dean said, it's called urates. when they look hard and crumbly then your tort needs more water. when they're soft and cottage cheesey that is better, but the best pee is just plain liquid. the way tortoises conserve water in the wild is to pee out as little liquid as possible, so they collect the little white things (urates) and usually those just get expelled with the poop so it looks like your tort pooped out some white stuff. while this is okay, and not harmful at all, what you want to see most is no urates at all! that means your tort is getting as much water as it could possibly need. but, don't worry, i still get urates from my sullies every so often. probably once a week i see urates from somebody!


IMG957660.jpg



Torts shed...that's news to me =P

moswen said:
i don't understand what you mean by "digesting the bad stuff out" sorry, could you explain a little better? blonde on this end of the computer lol!

sorry...i don't know what i meant lol
 

tobibaby

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fmadrigal said:
DeanS said:
solid and black is better than green and watery...too many greens (or more likely, greens only). White liquid is urine...semi-solid whites (cottage cheese texture) are urates...a good sign that your tort is well-hydrated...how about some pictures?

That's good to hear...at least for my sully. So he is probably feeding him too many leafy greens? (Romaine lettuce and mustard greens from what I've heard) He said this is the first time he's seen it like that...his Sully is just now eating more grass and clovers from the yard...could it be because it's a new diet he is digesting the bad stuff out?

Sorry He didn't send me any photos of the stool... =/

The cottage cheese substance def. sounds like what I saw the other day from my Sulcata

Also....should torts be shedding skin around the neck and/or head? Apparently my friends is...says his torts head looks bigger =P I'll have him send us a pic




about shedding the skin around the neck i would think its normal since they are growing and new skin is comig in.. my baby is peeling a little also but make sure u soak him everyday for at least 15 min :D
 

Fernando

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tobibaby said:
fmadrigal said:
DeanS said:
solid and black is better than green and watery...too many greens (or more likely, greens only). White liquid is urine...semi-solid whites (cottage cheese texture) are urates...a good sign that your tort is well-hydrated...how about some pictures?

That's good to hear...at least for my sully. So he is probably feeding him too many leafy greens? (Romaine lettuce and mustard greens from what I've heard) He said this is the first time he's seen it like that...his Sully is just now eating more grass and clovers from the yard...could it be because it's a new diet he is digesting the bad stuff out?

Sorry He didn't send me any photos of the stool... =/

The cottage cheese substance def. sounds like what I saw the other day from my Sulcata

Also....should torts be shedding skin around the neck and/or head? Apparently my friends is...says his torts head looks bigger =P I'll have him send us a pic




about shedding the skin around the neck i would think its normal since they are growing and new skin is comig in.. my baby is peeling a little also but make sure u soak him everyday for at least 15 min :D







ooooh I see. Thanks!!! I want mine to grow already...but he's only two months old. :)
 
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