# MUCOUS IN URINE



## Pearly (Jul 14, 2017)

Hi guys, it's been smooth sailing for past year or more, and still is, really, except for this new finding in Shellie. 
Calling on seasoned tort keepers to tell me if they've ever had this happen with their torts. 

View attachment 212610


This is Shellie when she was much smaller. 
We think she is a girl (aberrant scutes), 2 yrs old as of last month.

Last time I did her measurements last wk of June, she weighted 3 lbs and few oz, and measured 8" straight carapace length.
In last 2 days at am feeding I noticed small size of quarter blob of thin runny mucous inside her pee puddle on the rag her food dish was.
This was her first morning pee. Then yesterday I noticed this same at supper time.
Urine looks clear, light color, as usual.
She's been eating, drinking, active same as usual. I have not noticed changes in her appearance other than her tail getting pretty big (swelling up) around the time she purges her cloaca of pee/poo. 
I never noticed it being that big before, but then... maybe I didn't pay that much attention.
I mammal pubescent females those would be signs of them approaching sexual maturity, but at 2 yrs old... should I be concerned???
I've been trying to find some info on the net, but probably not looking in right places
And really' where would one go to learn about the "tortoise puberty"??? I don't think she's getting sick, or at least I hope she isn't. She looks and acts healthy and strong as an ox.

@Yvonne G
@Markw84
@Anyfoot
@allegraf
@ZEROPILOT
@Tom
@MPRC
There are others I'd love to ask for their feedback but I can never remember all those user names. 
Guys, please help! What do you know? What do you think? If she does it again, I'll try to take a picture where you can actually SEE something, but really, there's nothing to see other then a wet rug or puddle of pee with a small, clear, glistening very soft/runny "booger" in the middle of it. 
Please, Help!!!!


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## Yvonne G (Jul 14, 2017)

Sometimes mucous means the very small, no-see-um type of parasites that only Flagyl kills.


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## Pearly (Jul 14, 2017)

Yvonne G said:


> Sometimes mucous means the very small, no-see-um type of parasites that only Flagyl kills.


Oh, crap, so I may need to look for hero vet down here to do cloaca swab or something?
They've been living outdoors during a day in their tort garden that's in my unfenced yard, so anything could be picked up in their enclosure.... including bubonic plague..... I did think about possible ways of keeping any other animals out of their garden but other then enclosing the whole thing inside fine mesh cage I didn't really see any way of guest-proofing it, and caging it is not feasible, their garden is too big for that....
Thank, Yvonne, I'll consider your feedback


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## Markw84 (Jul 14, 2017)

@Pearly Would really help to see what you are talking about. Is it a form of urates or a part of a partial stool? The stuff our tortoises eliminate can be so vairiable depending normally upon what they eat, and sometimes indicating a health or parasite issue.

As Yvonne mentioned, mucous in a stool CAN be a sign of hookworms, and also flagellates. But that is in association with a stool.

Tortoises do not have urine. They will release water when well hydrated or when scared. They will also release urates which is produced by the kidneys. Birds and Chelonians are extremely closely related and have developed with a way of handling kidney-based wastes by making it semi-solid. For birds, this is a weight issue to assist with flight. They cannot afford that much weight carrying around liquid urine. So liquids are expelled quickly and the kidney produces a much more concentrated form of urine which is also expelled. With tortoises, it is water conservation that is the issue, so water is conserved by the tortoise to maintain hydration through dry times, while only a very concentrated urate is expelled.

So, since you are seeing this while you tortoise seems to be expelling excess water, I would think this sounds like a kidney product and very probably due to something your tortoise is eating.


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## tortdad (Jul 14, 2017)

Start with a fecal. You don't need to take the animal, just a fresh sample and drop it off at the vet.


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## Kasia (Jul 14, 2017)

Hi 
First of all happy birthday . I can't see the picture, I get an error when I try to open it but when thinking how well you care for those torts and keep them hydrated I would go to the Vet for a check up. Is there a possibility that she hurt her tail/ your other tortie was trying to mount her?


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## Pearly (Jul 14, 2017)

Markw84 said:


> @Pearly Would really help to see what you are talking about. Is it a form of urates or a part of a partial stool? The stuff our tortoises eliminate can be so vairiable depending normally upon what they eat, and sometimes indicating a health or parasite issue.
> 
> As Yvonne mentioned, mucous in a stool CAN be a sign of hookworms, and also flagellates. But that is in association with a stool.
> 
> ...


 Mark, Shellie is a Redfooted. I was told here that this species does not make urates (something about them being omnivorous- I haven't had the time to dig deeper into this yet) and she pees daily. Always in her bath (i can tell when she does by the way the water starts billowing out of her tail with slight tinge (sediment? not really any color to it that I could tell) to it, she also usually goes big puddles outside (both of my RFs do that and always have). She usually doesn't go #1 & #2 at this same time so there is no way to mistake her urine for anything else. ...... Which brings me to a conclusion that those 2 incidences of this "mucous plug" being expelled was not associated with her GI system. .... so would that be still parasites causing it???? As for my baby-torts hydration status, they should be well hydrated with the pretty rigorous bath schedule that we have (at least 1xday and on hot days more, plus they use their wading pools outside all the time to drink or get in and cool off). I have not really changed anything in their diet lately ... except being out of opuntia last few days... and more frequent mango treats since it's in season now.... I'm just trying to think what in a world could cause their most likely cloacal mucosa to kick into a bit of an overdrive making this mucous. I said "cloacal" bcs I don't think it came from any higher level, it looked to thin and too pristine ... as for pictures... really not much to show

other than wet paper towel and on my photos the mucous was so small/thin barely distinguishable after sitting on papertowel for few minutes and loosing its moisture, but when it first came out it looked something like this

only much much flatter dome


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## Pearly (Jul 14, 2017)

Kasia said:


> Hi
> First of all happy birthday . I can't see the picture, I get an error when I try to open it but when thinking how well you care for those torts and keep them hydrated I would go to the Vet for a check up. Is there a possibility that she hurt her tail/ your other tortie was trying to mount her?


Dziękuje, Kasiu za życzenia as for the potential for sexual harrassment from Tucker..... ummmmm.... i.... don't think so! But then also can't swear bcs as much as I watch them I'm not there 24/7. I did look at her tail yesterday after her evening bath and didn't see any signs of injury, or irritation, abrasions.., but it does seem a bit puffy. Again, I maybe reading into those things. I will check about the vet visit for ruling out parasites, but .... my gut tells me that this is not necessarily pathological (though I'm not closing a door on it) but then... again: do female torts dysplay their hormonal cycles in this way? And... moreover, is she not way too young for that at just 2 yrs old???


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## Kasia (Jul 14, 2017)

When I see it I would keep an eye on her but I don't think it is anything serious. If it looks different maybe hormones but for another stuff I would say it's too little to judge. Parasites would cause more mess behavior wise. Again  Wszystko Najlepszego, mam nadzieję, ze bedziesz miala wspaniłe przyjęcie urodzinowe  Pozdrowienia z Warszawy/Łomianek ode mnie i żołwikòw!


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## MPRC (Jul 14, 2017)

You are correct, redfoots shouldn't be producing urates. 

Personally I wouldn't worry about it so long as she is eating, drinking and growing as expected. My tortoises run the gamut on how much and how frequently they pee and to be honest, I really don't pay it any mind so long as everyone is fat and happy. 

This post needs more Shellie photos though.  Maybe you can flip her over and we can play the gender guessing game.


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