Is this a bladder stone?

[Ardelle]

Hi, twiglet has been looking well, active eating and enjoying time outside:
This morning I noticed his tail was swollen and urates almost blocking it, I bathed him and eventually he pushed it out, I could see him straining.
I wanted to check this is ok? Haven’t seen one this size before and it was almost crumbily much harder than normal.
Thanks in advance

 

[wellington]

Looks like a urate and if so he is very dehydrated or being fed a very wrong diet. It should be creamy like tooth paste. Start soaking him daily for at least 1/2 hour in warm water. Be sure he has a clay saucer for a water dish that he can get to easily and add romaine to his diet.
What is his diet that you feed now?

 

[Ardelle]

Hi,
He has daily soaks as struggling to keep him in after say 10 mins he is trying to get out.
He loves verda lettuce, dandies clovers and a hoary plantain all from the garden

He did a normal looking urate just before this hence I wasn’t sure what it was

 

[Lyn W]

If you soak his food before feeding it, that will also help keep him hydrated.

 

[Ardelle]

I normally spray then dust with calcium but yes will try that thank you 😊

 

[zolasmum]

I normally spray then dust with calcium but yes will try that thank you 😊

Perhaps you could soak twiglet in a large container which gives him the chance to move about quite a bit - maybe even put one or two floating objects to break up his sight line and make it more interesting. I wasn't meaning bath toys like rubber ducks necessarily (though Zola has one) but any plastic object that would float . He might not be so desperate to get out then!
Angie

 

[wellington]

I normally spray then dust with calcium but yes will try that thank you 😊

If you are dusting daily with calcium thats too much. A tiny pinch 2 times a week is enough. Too much I'd as bad as too little. A proper diet and you don't need any added calcium or even less then the 2 times.
You you need to add more variety to the diet. Look in the Russian caresheet I believe there may be a diet of items listed.
You need to soak him for at least 30 minutes. Make sure he cant get out and let him move around and try. It's all good for him anyway.

 

[Tom]

Hi,
He has daily soaks as struggling to keep him in after say 10 mins he is trying to get out.
He loves verda lettuce, dandies clovers and a hoary plantain all from the garden

He did a normal looking urate just before this hence I wasn’t sure what it was

The only difference between what you are seeing there, hard urates, and a bladder stone, is which side of your tortoises cloaca it is on. This is your wake up call.

Clover and plantain are both good tortoise foods, but both are high in protein which cause the formation of urates. Urates are a by-product of protein digestion.

You need to:
1. Feed a greater variety of foods.
2. Soak for at least 30-40 minutes and don't worry about him trying to get out. We call that the tortoise treadmill and its good for them.
3. Make sure the enclosure is at least 4x8 feet so that the toprotise can get plenty of locomotion going in its safe home.

 

[Ardelle]

Hi, all thank you for all of these helpful suggestions, so too much protein? Will reduce his acess to those foods although tricky as my garden backs onto a canal its full of them!
The bathing advice is great will add some floating objects and larger tub.

 

[Tom]

...so too much protein?

No, not necessarily. Could be not enough hydration, or confinement to too small a space.

Those foods are okay, but be sure you are using them more infrequently and as part of a much larger variety of foods, like other weeds, mulberry or grape leaves, spineless opuntia pads, rose of Sharon or hibiscus leaves, etc...

More diet info here:

The Best Way To Raise Any Temperate Species Of Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies and care for adults? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. What is...

tortoiseforum.org

 

[Ardelle]

Ok thanks Ill have to see where I can source these

 

[Gijoux]

I normally spray then dust with calcium but yes will try that thank you 😊

You may be overdoing the calcium. You only need to add calcium once-twice per week.