# White bowel movement



## Tazman (May 9, 2010)

Help needed. My 30 yr old desert tortoise came inside today and got a drink of water. While drinking, he had a bowel movement and the resulting mess was white with the consistency of cottage cheese. His bowels movements normally look like tight pellets of grass, so this really worries me. Has anyone experience anything like this in the past?


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## dmmj (May 9, 2010)

that is not as bowel movement it is urates. It is how a tortoise elimantes it's urine.


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## Tom (May 9, 2010)

Welcome to the forum. Sounds normal to me. The white stuff is urates. Basically its concentrated urine. Most reptiles, including CDTs concentrate their urine to conserve water. Often when the find a good water source and replenish with fresh, clean water, they release all the old stuff.


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## Tazman (May 9, 2010)

Tom said:


> Welcome to the forum. Sounds normal to me. The white stuff is urates. Basically its concentrated urine. Most reptiles, including CDTs concentrate their urine to conserve water. Often when the find a good water source and replenish with fresh, clean water, they release all the old stuff.



Well, 2 replies and both say the same thing, so I guess everything is fine. I have had this turtle over 10 years and I have never seen this before so we were very concerned.


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## egyptiandan (May 9, 2010)

The white is urates  and is perfectly fine. It is though not concentrated urine. Urates are the by product of the breakdown of protein in the body. The excess (not used by the body) of whats broken down is exceted as urates.
It's the concistency that you want to watch out for. Cottage cheese or toothpaste like is fine. It's when it becomes gritty that there can be a problem.

Danny


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## Tazman (May 9, 2010)

egyptiandan said:


> The white is urates  and is perfectly fine. It is though not concentrated urine. Urates are the by product of the breakdown of protein in the body. The excess (not used by the body) of whats broken down is exceted as urates.
> It's the concistency that you want to watch out for. Cottage cheese or toothpaste like is fine. It's when it becomes gritty that there can be a problem.
> 
> Danny



Well, thank you all for your quick replies. We are much more at ease since all of you agree that it is urates. 

BTW....I posted a picture of Speedy/Mr T 
I call him speedy, wife and kids like Mr. T


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## Tortellini87 (May 24, 2010)

Here's a photo of my tortoise who had just "expressed her bladder" as her exotic vet calls it. She is recovering from surgery last Fall for a baseball-sized bladder stone so it's very good news that she is able to flush her system out now. We have sure learned a lot more about her during this time. She has her own recovery blog and describes it here: http://deserttortoisetales.blogspot.com/search?q=urates

Nice to find all of you here!


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## Maggie Cummings (May 24, 2010)

Gosh! That's a great story!!! I am glad she is getting better...it must have been awful for you...


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## Yvonne G (May 24, 2010)

Hi Tortellini 87:

Welcome to the forum!!

It would be a good idea for you to start your own thread and introduce yourself and tell you tortoise's story. Many of us would be interested in knowing about the tortoise's stones and how you are fixing the problem. (but this is Tazman's thread!!  )


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