Sparkly pee/urates!

Dosu

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Hello everyone,
When my tortoise pee'd today, his urates were in very small pieces, and it looked like there was some mucus like substance holding them close (Looks like mucus floating in water, but pale white) and it made the whole soaking tub very shiny. There were sparkly pieces in the urine for some reason. Is this normal? I know his hydrated because I soak him every day and he always drinks in front of me. He usually gives off solid, but slightly soft looking pieces of urates.
Thanks
 

Blakem

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Take a picture. You should see liquid (urine) with white creamy looking stuff (urates).
 

dmmj

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sparkly? Like glitter? If so that's not normal
 

Dosu

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sparkly? Like glitter? If so that's not normal

Yeh, exactly like glitter...
But it's not the urates that are glittery, but the whole soaking tub liquid, which was water + his pee became glittery.
 
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Dosu

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Take a picture. You should see liquid (urine) with white creamy looking stuff (urates).

Yeh I know, it's the first time her urates were all in really small pieces. Also some parts looks like the urates were stretched to it looked like mucus.

Unfortunately I don't have a picture of it. I'll try to take a picture the next time he pee's which would be tomorrow morning, unless you know a way I can make him pee again today.
 

dmmj

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the only thing that comes to mind right now is that wasn't urates but she also had a bowel movement and something was in there.
 

Dosu

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the only thing that comes to mind right now is that wasn't urates but she also had a bowel movement and something was in there.
What do you mean by 'something was in there'??!?!!?!!? Is there a chance that she might have worms?
 

SarahChelonoidis

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What do you mean by 'something was in there'??!?!!?!!? Is there a chance that she might have worms?

Yes, there is a chance. If it was a bowel movement and not urates that appeared like a white, mucousy mass, parasites would certainly be a possibility.
 

Dosu

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Yes, there is a chance. If it was a bowel movement and not urates that appeared like a white, mucousy mass, parasites would certainly be a possibility.

What do you guys mean by bowl movement? I mean, it's not like he randomly pee'd while walking or anything. He did it while soaking/eating as usual and also bobbed his head up and down before he pee'd as usual. Anyways, it there a more definite way to find out if she has parasites? Because I heard deworming can be really stressful for the tortoise.
 

SarahChelonoidis

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What do you guys mean by bowl movement? I mean, it's not like he randomly pee'd while walking or anything. He did it while soaking/eating as usual and also bobbed his head up and down before he pee'd as usual. Anyways, it there a more definite way to find out if she has parasites? Because I heard deworming can be really stressful for the tortoise.

Bring a fecal sample to a vet; they can examine it for parasites.
 

Dosu

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Bring a fecal sample to a vet; they can examine it for parasites.

Hmm, thanks! Sorry for the silly question but is there another way without going to the vet? Going to the vet here is very costly (70 dollars to open a file and another 70 dollars for general checkup which includes the fecal check), plus I'm 15, all money I use comes from my parents and they really were not really happy with the amount of money I already spent on the tortoise (substrate, food etc). I know I'm being a bit demanding here, but before I go to the vet, I really need a confirmation on whats wrong with my tortoise or else the money will be wasted if nothings wrong. (I doubt the vet here is very good with tortoises)
Thanks!
 

SarahChelonoidis

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You shouldn't actually need to bring the tortoise in - you only need the sample analyzed. Call around and find a vet willing to preform a fecal exam without a general checkup. You really don't have another way. Even with a decent home microscope, analyzing samples is very hard (many things look like eggs that aren't). The presence of some parasites is normal - it's only overloads that are the problem. If your tortoise is shedding worms or large amounts of mucous, that usually suggests the parasite load is high.

Of course, it could be something else. You haven't ruled out that it's just urates of a different texture than you're used to. Did it have the texture of mucous or just the colour? If it happens again, take a picture. If it doesn't and no other symptoms present, assume all is fine.
 

Dosu

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She didn't pee today. I'm starting to get really worried because it's the first day since I got her that she hasn't peed. I'll check tomorrow. If she pee's the weird sparkly mucus stuff then I'll definitely take her to the vet.
 

martaemha

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Do you have a separate soaking tub for her? If not it may have been some chemical deposits (btw you should have a separate tub to avoid such situations). While it is true that urates are crystals it is hard to imagine that their condensation was so high as to give the tub a shiny/glittery look.
I really think you should bring a fecal sample for examination to learn if it is parasites that is causing the problem.
 

Elijah

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Hello everyone,
When my tortoise pee'd today, his urates were in very small pieces, and it looked like there was some mucus like substance holding them close (Looks like mucus floating in water, but pale white) and it made the whole soaking tub very shiny. There were sparkly pieces in the urine for some reason. Is this normal? I know his hydrated because I soak him every day and he always drinks in front of me. He usually gives off solid, but slightly soft looking pieces of urates.
Thanks
Hello everyone,
When my tortoise pee'd today, his urates were in very small pieces, and it looked like there was some mucus like substance holding them close (Looks like mucus floating in water, but pale white) and it made the whole soaking tub very shiny. There were sparkly pieces in the urine for some reason. Is this normal? I know his hydrated because I soak him every day and he always drinks in front of me. He usually gives off solid, but slightly soft looking pieces of urates.
Thanks
Hello everyone,
When my tortoise pee'd today, his urates were in very small pieces, and it looked like there was some mucus like substance holding them close (Looks like mucus floating in water, but pale white) and it made the whole soaking tub very shiny. There were sparkly pieces in the urine for some reason. Is this normal? I know his hydrated because I soak him every day and he always drinks in front of me. He usually gives off solid, but slightly soft looking pieces of urates.
Thanks

I've seen this before in my 14 year old female sulcata. She had a bladder stone that had to be removed. Everything seemed fine. Then the resin they glued her plastron back together with broke open and the surgical site became infected. The vet put her on three antibiotics and kept her on them for 8 months. He urates turned sparkly like golden glitter. Or a star trek transporter beam. So called reptile experts saw this, and just looked at me like I was stupid and said, it's not metal glitter. I said, yeah I know, it's some kind microscopic crystal forming in her liquid urine. This NEVER occurred before she was on medications. They all saw it, she peed right on their floor. But, they talked to me like I was stupid and sent me home. I took her off the antibiotics, and her urates returned to normal for about another year and a half. Everything seemed perfectly fine. And then one day she started passing gobs and gobs of white urates, her liquid urine turned white like milk. I showed pictures to the head of reptile medicine at the vca west LA, supposedly one of the best in all of zoological medicine. And she once again talked to me like I was stupid, said it was perfectly normal. And then had me banned and blacklisted from nearly every reptile vet in the city of los angeles. So the gobs of white urates continued with the milky pee for a month. Then her urine turned clear again but now she's straining like she has a bladder stone again. She has had a marked decrease in activity and appetite, and just today had sparkly glitter pee for the first time sense she was off the antibiotics. I don't know what the cause is, but I'm very worried. Between being blacklisted, the coronavirus lockdowns and a few other things I'm not able to get in to see anybody today, or for a while. I'm really terrified.
 

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