Weird looking wee!

[karleyreed]

Sorry to be a bit graphic and all, but does this "wee" look normal to you guys?

 

[wellington]

Looks like a lot of urates. A small amount is normal with most torts. that much i would say is not. the reason most likely is caused by dehydration. How often are you soaking? Does he have water available 24/7 how old is he, what are you feeding?

 

[karleyreed]

It's never looked like that before!!! So had me slightly worried. He gets soaked 2-3 times a week, he's just turned 1 year old on the 10th of this month, and he's fed on a mixture of greens, pumpkin, squash, carrots etc. should I worry??

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And yes water is available 24/7

 

[wellington]

I would start soaking him a couple times a day for about a week 20-30minutes. Then after that every other day. I wouldn't worry.

 

[karleyreed]

Ok thankyou! Much appreciated. Do you think his diet is varied enough? I know he needs weeds etc but it's hard to get them in winter here

 

[CourtneyAndCarl]

I would say lay off the pumpkin, squash and carrots as part of his regular meal and only offer them to him as a an occasional, once a week treat. If you can, get some opuntia cactus and feed him that a few times a week. It's basically a tortoise "super food" and is especially helpful in the winter months when nothing is growing outside.

 

[karleyreed]

Ok thankyou. I shall take this into consideration.

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Also, with my tort being as small as he is, he very rarely goes into his water dish by himself, myself or my parents or sister usually put him in there. I have just changed his water dish to something smaller with less steep sides to see if this helps, do you recommend maybe circling it with stones as a sort of stepping stone for him?

 

[wellington]

Lower it into the substrate, so he doesn't have to climb over the sides. Then if its a little to deep, you can put a flat rock or stone in to help him get out. Also, don't count on him soaking himself. A tort under a year should be soaked everyday for 20-30 minutes in warm water. After they are a year, you can cut back to every other day.

 

[Laurie]

I'm not sure what the gravely looking stuff is, is that just something there when you took the pics? In my opinion, the urates don't look bad. Urates are ok if they are creamy, like toothpaste or egg whites. That's what it looks like to me. No urates is ideal, but they are perfectly normal. If they're gritty in texture it could mean dehydration.

 

[karleyreed]

The gritty things in it is just the substrate from his feet when he was in the water. They weren't actually part of his wee.

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I know this may sound silly, but how would I feed him the cactus if it's spikey? Lol. Dumb question I know.

 

[CourtneyAndCarl]

The gritty things in it is just the substrate from his feet when he was in the water. They weren't actually part of his wee.

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I know this may sound silly, but how would I feed him the cactus if it's spikey? Lol. Dumb question I know.

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You can buy spineless opuntia It literally lasts forever, too, when you've got a baby tortoise... I got four big pads two weeks ago, feed it to him 4 times a week, and I still haven't even gotten through a fourth of one pad

 

[karleyreed]

Does it just keep growing when you cut it up? You think I should be able to get it from any good garden centres?