Normal Urates?

[MzNENA]

Understand now that any white that is passed through a tort's number 2s & or urine, are urates.

But how often is too often?

Hadn't seen our hatchling Greek pass any urates until after 2 weeks after we got him.
But now seems that I find them in his urine everday & in his poopies every other time he actually poops.
A bit graphic, but this is what I find every day.



Is it really caused by dehydration? Our tort has a water bowl, cleaned every day which I never see him drink from. Only time I see him drink water is during his daily soaks in which I witness him drink a lot.




Can urates also be caused by giving the tort more nutrients/supplements than he actually needs?

Sprinkle our torts greens 3 times a week with calcium powder & have given him mazuri once this week (just purchased it a few days ago) too much supplementation for a hatchling?




Squirtle was also not passing poops as often since we've had him. Went from every day to quite a few days apart. Caught him with a BLACK mouth about 3 days ago, & I am guessing he was a little backed up because today, oh lord.

He is only 2 inches in size (shell size) but I literally found a 4 1/2 almost 5 inch long poop in his enclosure today. I was stunned.
Looked huge! I'll spare you all any photos of that lol
Advice, info, greatly appreciated. As always thank you for reading!

 

[wellington]

I don't know much about urates, but I would cut the the calcium down too no more then twice a week and actually just a tiny pinch. I also don't think it would hurt to a tiny pinch once a week.

 

[MzNENA]

Thank you very much for the advice
Will do so! I think Mazuri already has calcium in it as well, right?
Will be cutting back.

 

[tort_luv_5055]

My Greek did that too! How weird. Maybe its just a Greek hatchling thing? Who knows! These little babies are crazy! Anyways, I didn't cut back on anything. After a little bit he started having normal poops. Its a phase. But my guy hasn't had any problems with it. Our babies are almost exactly the same in age. I will PM you. love to hear from someone going through the same stuff as me

 

[ascott]

Urates are a common event with some species of torts....if you have a hatchling then it would not be something to be too concerned about...if you are now soaking the baby and he has a good diet and heat and exercise then passing the urates is normal...I looked at the pic of the urates and they look good...now, you can continue to soak the tort and as the tort becomes more regularly hydrated you will notice less and less urates.

The tort perhaps was not getting enough hydration before you start offering normal soaks...see, some species or torts are designed to retain water as a way to survive long periods of no available water..so when they get the opportunity to take in water on a regular basis then they will urinate more frequently and when this occurs they will pass stored water (including waste in the form so urates) because they can re up on new water...hence you will find urates...

The problem arises when the urates become gritty/sand like--chunky vs smooth and/or watery. So, essentially, the more they have access to water/hydration the more their system will void the stored waste (urates included) and begin to get a cleaner/clearer urination with less and less urates...

So, no need to worry if you find urates if the urates are smooth, watery and eventually you will find very little if at all...

Keep up on proper soaking/hydration and you will find this takes place...

 

[MzNENA]

Ahhhh thank you GREATLY for that well described explanation.
I now have a better understanding of how it works and it has certainly put my mind at ease.

LOL with being a new tort owner, I feel like anything the little hatchling does sends me up the walls, concerned, because I'm not fully certain what is normal yet and what is not.

Definitely learning now after joining this thread. So watery like urates are normal? Well his are definitely watery. Find random white spots of subsrate throughout his enclosure.

And he is finally pooping daily again after the 4 almost 5 inch long turd (lol) he left a few days ago. He was only passing poops every other day. Almost 3/4 days apart. I assume the poor thing was pretty backed up because he is just a bit more active & eating a lot more than he had prior to passing that bowl movement.

Thank you once again for the reply!

---

My Greek did that too! How weird. Maybe its just a Greek hatchling thing? Who knows! These little babies are crazy! Anyways, I didn't cut back on anything. After a little bit he started having normal poops. Its a phase. But my guy hasn't had any problems with it. Our babies are almost exactly the same in age. I will PM you. love to hear from someone going through the same stuff as me

Yes definitely glad to hear I am not alone! Had done about a month of research before buying my little tort, & wanted a hatchling for the cute factor, didn't realize how delicate they actually were and numerous things they do that can drive a new owner crazy lol

And yes! After that almost 5 inch poop I found the other day our little one is finally passing normal daily poops as he once did. From what I've been told our hatchling is like 3 to 4 months old now.

Definitely PM me if you'd like. It is always nice to hear of someone that is going through what you are as well