Horsefield isn't urinating or passing urates.

[Tortoisegirl97]

I got my 1 year old Horsefield on the 5th August. It just had it's first poo this morning. However, I have never seen it wee or urate. I give it one bath each day in warm water for 20-30 minutes until the water goes cold and have witnessed it drink from the bath. I haven't seen it drink from the bowl in the enclosure but it is reachable.

The diet so far is dandelion leaves, rocket, red leaf lettuce. I have given him furry leaves that resemble dandelions but I think are cat ears? I am changing the substrate soon to 50/50 playsand and coconut coir soon but do you have any ideas what the problem could be?

 

[Reptilelove]

Welcome to the forum! Usually in a warm bath they tend to go loo, your horsefeild may be still settling into new surroundings. Please dont use any sand as its bad(clogs up stomaches, once in the stomach it wont go and will be there forever, too dry so wont be humid enough and is irrating if gets under scales) i would go for 100% coir, could you post some pictures please

 

[Tortoisegirl97]

Thank you I just changed my mind about using sand in the exact moment I read your message surprisingly. Where I am I cannot find any coir sold apart from one pet shop and it is £3 for 650 grams which won't get me enough and is very expensive. I plan on buying a hygrometer and thermometer, if the humidity levels are okay while I'm using the hemp bedding should I continue using the hemp bedding?

 

[Yellow Turtle01]

Hi, welcome to the forum!
Okay, a few things to get straight here.
Diet- he needs more variety! Lettuce isn't too good for them in a large amount, it has almost nothing in it nutrition wise.
Here are some good plant id sites and food lists- http://www.tortoisetrust.org/wiki/index.php5/Toxicity_of_Some_Common_House_Plants http://russiantortoise.net/russiantortoisediet.htm
Substrate- sand is no good, as @Reptilelove said. I also highly recommend coco coir. You can get super cheap in compacted bricks at garden stores. You can also use organic (no yucky chemicals) topsoil.
Your tortoise looks like she has little pyramiding. Higher humidity and more soaks can help
Here is a fabulous care sheet written by Tom! It should cover everything in way more description.
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/

 

[wellington]

Ditto on diet, no sand, coconut coir or plain dirt and potty in the soaks, which is almost impossible to see no matter where they do it unless they have no substrate.

 

[Tortoisegirl97]

I'm going food shopping tomorrow. Is it okay if I buy Florette Crispy Salad (Lamb's Lettuce, Radicchio and Frisee), pick Cats Ears from my garden and use that as it's diet for a while?

 

[lismar79]

You will still need more broadleaf weeds. Here is a great link to id things from your yard
http://m.thetortoisetable.org.uk/m/plants_19.asp

 

[Sarah Winchester]

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Substrate-Terrarium-Cocoground-briquettes-Kokobricks-fine/dp/B00HGHIUQ6/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1407919460&sr=8-3&keywords=coco coir blocks
It's not badly priced for 6 blocks of coco coir
I bought some florette crispy salad at the weekend and my tortoise is loving it