Pee/urates

[laney]

Know it's normal for torts to have urates but Harley has been doing really massive pees lately and they are crystal clear, is that ok? When the white stuff comes (not as often) it is usually just expelled on its own, usually in the soak it's like a piece of tissue or rubbery plastic. She normally perks right up after the urates have passed, but I'm not sure if this is normal and I'm just being paranoid.??

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Forgot to say, she gets calcium powder in food and UVB/A

 

[GeoTerraTestudo]

What species are Harley and Yoshi?

Tortoises from moist habitats (like redfoots) do not have urate in their urine, while those from drier environments, like Testudos and sulcatas, do produce urate. However, the more hydrated they are, the more diluted the urate becomes, so that less is expelled in a given episode.

If you have arid-land tortoises (and I think you do), then the behavior you described is normal. In fact, when bathing the tortoise, you wouldn't see the liquid fraction of the waste. All you would see is the white mass of urate, so that's normal.

 

[ascott]

pees lately and they are crystal clear, is that ok?

Yes, clear is desirable

 

[laney]

They are Russians.
Yoshi's is more mixed together compared to harleys. With harleys urates in soak u can actually pick it up by the edge and it will hang like rubber.
Ok clear is ok that's good news, but am I maybe over soaking Harley (every day)? It is a lot of pee, maybe 1/3 of shell size.
I'm just being an anxious mommy huh?!

 

[GeoTerraTestudo]

They are Russians.
Yoshi's is more mixed together compared to harleys. With harleys urates in soak u can actually pick it up by the edge and it will hang like rubber.
Ok clear is ok that's good news, but am I maybe over soaking Harley (every day)? It is a lot of pee, maybe 1/3 of shell size.
I'm just being an anxious mommy huh?!

Oh okay, yeah I have two Russians, too. And that's exactly what happens at our place every Saturday morning in their weekly soaks. They sit in the water for a few minutes, and then pee, releasing a sizable "pad," shall we say, of urate. It does have some consistency to it, and kind of looks like a bit of dried white latex paint.

The female usually makes more waste than the male. Part of this is because she is bigger, but she also tends to eat more than he does. Since urate is how some animals get rid of excess nitrogen (as opposed to urea, which is how we do it), that makes sense. The more you eat, the more protein you get, and the more waste nitrogen you have to get rid of. (Tortoises may not eat meat, but they still get some protein from plants, so that's normal.)

 

[laney]

Oh okay, yeah I have two Russians, too. And that's exactly what happens at our place every Saturday morning in their weekly soaks. They sit in the water for a few minutes, and then pee, releasing a sizable "pad," shall we say, of urate. It does have some consistency to it, and kind of looks like a bit of dried white latex paint.

The female usually makes more waste than the male. Part of this is because she is bigger, but she also tends to eat more than he does. Since urate is how some animals get rid of excess nitrogen (as opposed to urea, which is how we do it), that makes sense. The more you eat, the more protein you get, and the more waste nitrogen you have to get rid of. (Tortoises may not eat meat, but they still get some protein from plants, so that's normal.)

Oh ok, cool thanks, just over protective of the little rascals
Thanks for the reassurance