What is this?! (white chunks in soaking water)

[CleanRiversDirtRoads]

Hi everyone!

Tonight, I was soaking my sulcata hatchlings and going about business as usual when I looked in their water and it was full of this white chunks... I have seen them before in their soaks, and didn't think anything of it. Then I was holding them and using a soft toothbrush to gently scrub their plastrons and one of them starting squeaking and then shot out A LOT of these white chunks almost 3 feet all over the top of the enclosure ?. Does anyone know what this is or if I should do something about it? Since then, it is acting and breathing normal just cruising around looking for food.

Just for background. The hatchlings were started correctly and are in a closed chamber with 90% humidity, a basking spot of 97 deg and a ambient temp of 85 deg. They get soaked once daily and are on a very diverse diet of grocery greens, herbal hay, wheat grass, hibiscus leaves and flowers, and I am now introducing buffalo grass while I try and track down mulberry!

Thank you for your help!

 

[KarenSoCal]

Usually, tortoises don't shoot anything 3 ft. But I guess he just really had to potty!

The white stuff is urates, and is normal to see occasionally. They are a byproduct of the digestion of protein. If they are creamy, with no lumps or grit, and not huge quantities, it's nothing to worry about.

Here's the catch...tortoises have the ability to store water in their bladders for long periods of time. That's how they survive during dry seasons. We hydrate them so they don't feel the need to store water. They know water is available to them all the time, so they drink and pee frequently, keeping the pipes cleaned out.

If they are storing water, and urates form, they can start clumping together and form bladder stones, which as the stones get larger, can block off the ureters and kill the tortoise. The only way to diagnose stones is by x-ray. If unpassable, surgery can be tried, but it's a horrible operation involving removing part of the plastron.

That is the worst outcome, and it takes time to happen.

So, is there something you should do about it? Ideally, you will not see any urates. That means you have a fully hydrated tortoise who is peeing often. If you see urates, feel them. If they are creamy with no grit or lumps, don't worry. If they are gritty or lumpy or "rocks", amp up your soaks. Maybe 2x/day for an hour. Spritz his greens with water. Feed him some watery foods, like opuntia pads, cucumber, aloe. Really actively push water, and the urates should disappear.

 

[CleanRiversDirtRoads]

Usually, tortoises don't shoot anything 3 ft. But I guess he just really had to potty!

The white stuff is urates, and is normal to see occasionally. They are a byproduct of the digestion of protein. If they are creamy, with no lumps or grit, and not huge quantities, it's nothing to worry about.

Here's the catch...tortoises have the ability to store water in their bladders for long periods of time. That's how they survive during dry seasons. We hydrate them so they don't feel the need to store water. They know water is available to them all the time, so they drink and pee frequently, keeping the pipes cleaned out.

If they are storing water, and urates form, they can start clumping together and form bladder stones, which as the stones get larger, can block off the ureters and kill the tortoise. The only way to diagnose stones is by x-ray. If unpassable, surgery can be tried, but it's a horrible operation involving removing part of the plastron.

That is the worst outcome, and it takes time to happen.

So, is there something you should do about it? Ideally, you will not see any urates. That means you have a fully hydrated tortoise who is peeing often. If you see urates, feel them. If they are creamy with no grit or lumps, don't worry. If they are gritty or lumpy or "rocks", amp up your soaks. Maybe 2x/day for an hour. Spritz his greens with water. Feed him some watery foods, like opuntia pads, cucumber, aloe. Really actively push water, and the urates should disappear.

Thank you so much for that response @KarenSoCal !

Right now, I’m soaking once a day and they have a big (shallow) water bowl that they soak themselves in, but I will definitely add an additional soak to their daily routine! The urates were gritty. Almost like fine sand. For some reason, mine don’t like the opuntia pads, but I’ll try cucumber today as well! Thanks again!