Odd colour urine (sulcata )

karlscaff93

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Hi all I’m worried about the colour of my Sulcatas urine ( 3 years old ) over the past few weeks he has been passing a brownie red coulor urine is this a normal thing .....
All his temps are in the correct range
His diet consists of
Hay
green grass which he grasses on when the weather is warm enough (winter here at the moment)
Weeds ( not so much at the moment being winter )
And store brought greens
.kale
.spring greens
. Mixed salads (some of which are red in coulor )
He is eating, pooing and active ....
I have also booked him a vets appointment for this evening

Also his rear feet are looking slightly sore but doesn’t look to conserving yet but will get the vet to check that to ( think it’s where he has been shut inside for a few days at a time due to weather however I am in the prowess of build him a much larger indoor habitat 8x6 with a shelter in outdoor area )

Has anybody ever experienced this coulor urine in a sulcata ?
 

Randy Micheals

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Hi there,

I'm not terribly experienced with this, but my tort and I have been undergoing our own hydration issues recently, and based on what other members have shared with me here at TFO, it sounds like your tort may be having kidney issues. More specifically, dark red or brown urine can be an indicator of kidney disease. I would suggest you take your tort to a herp vet as soon as possible.

I'm not sure yet how to quote posts or tag members, but there are some here that can really explain this in better detail. Sa Ga can you help?

Hope its not serious. I will try to figure out how to quote the helpful info another member shared with me recently. Best of luck!
 

Randy Micheals

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From another member:

Chronic dehydration can cause acute kidney injury (which is what the vet suspects happened over the incorrect care she had at her former home), eventually leading to CKD (chronic kidney disease). She was diagnosed with this at her time of hospitalization and now I "tube feed" her water 3x daily (with a blunt needled, tube feeding syringe from the vet) in addition to daily soaks.
 

Randy Micheals

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Urates of course can be indicators and the one most commonly known to people. (The less and more liquid-y, the better.) But Morla's urates were never ever alarming (always light and at worst, a little more pasty--never grainy) so I thought all was peachy. It wasn't until she peed dark brown one night (alwys bf clean and clear) I realized something was wrong and brought her to the vet the very next morning (which is when she was hospitalized and i got the diagnosis).
 

Randy Micheals

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Hopefully CKD is not the case here, but very glad you are seeing the vet this evening, please keep us posted.
 

Maggie3fan

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Frankly I'm not sure what to say except the 3 Sulcata people who will know are sleeping now. But I guarantee that someone more experienced than I will help you...
 

Maro2Bear

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Good Morning, I’m sure @Yvonne G and @Tom will chime in and provide their thoughts. Could be many things including lack of hydration (are you soaking daily, weekly, monthly not at all?), humidity levels?, increased misc foods like your red spring mix could change color of urine too. I know that lots of fresh dandelion will make a sullys urine very dark.

Doesnt sound like it’s enclosure is very large, how large is the enclosure & how big is your Sully?

Hopefully it’s more a food intake issue vice a medical/internal organ one.
 

karlscaff93

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His humility levels are around the 60% range ...
He has regular soaks for 30 minutes twice a week
I will try to upload a photo of his enclosure
( I am currently building a large enclosure which will be completel ready for him to move into next week ) HE DOES HAVE A LARGE TRAY FOR WATER603F2DA2-0E9F-4DE9-81F6-5CC5F46537DE.jpeg
 

Maggie3fan

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Others will give you detailed advice...from me...there's no humidity...needs to be abt 80%, hay and grass are not good substrates as they are too dry. I use fine grade orchid bark or coir...I soak everyday for abt 10 minutes or until they poop. Might soak'em again later. Needs to be about 85-90 degrees under a basking UVB light which I think is too high away from the tort 18 inches is good.... Now I'll let @Marco2bear Tom and my sis add the exact details...
 

karlscaff93

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I am planning on takeing urine and poo samples with me if possible.... I did have him health
Checked 2 weeks ago at a very reliable reptile education centre where he was give a physical exam and I was told he is in good health
 

Tom

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Will make changes you have stated include info from vet
FIrst: Where are you? Please go into your user cp and add this info. This will give us clues about what sort of climate you are in and how your tortoise might be housed.

Discolored urine is pretty common and can happen because of diet. If all else is normal, appetite, behavior, bowel movements, etc..., I would not go to the vet.

Understand that most vets know little about tortoises and many of them do harm, AND no good. If the vet suggests a "vitamin shot" or injectable Baytril, politely decline, realize this vet knows jack about torts, and leave.

I would step up the soaks to 30-40 minutes every other day for a while, keeping the water warm for the entire soak, and see what happens.
 

karlscaff93

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Thanks for all responding.....I’m uk based tortoise is housed in a design similar to your night boxes until next week when he will move into his new enclosure he seems completely fine eating active wee and poo both as normal (just urine is orangey brown colour ) ? I will add a few pics of him up close when I get home ( would your advice be to leave the vets for now and increase soaks ? ) unless his condition changes ?
 

Maro2Bear

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I’m sure the offending colour of your tort’s urine was caused by mr torty eating a ton of that red vegg you have in there coupled with being dehydrated.

Id pick out the red stuff for a week see if that clears things up..

I would also remove all the hay you have as a substrate and replace with orchid bark, coco fiber or cypress mulch.

Offending Red Vegg

EFC0F947-1A1B-4856-8AAF-3FCAE620884D.jpeg
 

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