Help! Yellow and pink urine

Ldove

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Hi, I’ve had my tortoise for about 3 months now. Her name is Dudley and recently she’s been having pink in her urine. I feed her romaine lettuce and carrots. I soak her between everyday to every other day. Please help with any info you have.
 

KarenSoCal

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Hi! Welcome to the forum!

It would be good for us to have a bit more info before we just start taking wild guesses.

First, what species of tortoise is she? And you said you've had her 3 months...was she a hatchling when you got her, or is she older?

We'd like to know about her enclosure..what lights you use, heating methods, substrate.

And if romaine and carrots is all you feed her, she is starving. First thing...stop the carrots! Go by the grocery store and get some endive, escarole, radicchio, mustard greens, dandelion greens, bok choy, cilantro, and wheatgrass.

You don't have to buy all of these, but buy 2 or 3 of them. Start mixing a small amount of each into his lettuce. Let's start getting him on a better diet. Once we know what kind of tortoise she is, we'll give you a caresheet to follow.
 

Ldove

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She is a Russian tortoise. She was not a hatching when I first got her, she is roughly 4inches in size (I don’t know how old she is but she is younger).
I use a daylight blue 100 watt lightbulb for heat and I have forest floor substrate for her tank. The heating lamp is on one side of the tank so she has a cooler side and a warmer side.
 

Ldove

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Are there specific foods I should start giving her first? Also just out of curiosity why are carrots bad?
 

ZEROPILOT

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She is a Russian tortoise. She was not a hatching when I first got her, she is roughly 4inches in size (I don’t know how old she is but she is younger).
I use a daylight blue 100 watt lightbulb for heat and I have forest floor substrate for her tank. The heating lamp is on one side of the tank so she has a cooler side and a warmer side.
You have no UVB light?
 

ZEROPILOT

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Are there specific foods I should start giving her first? Also just out of curiosity why are carrots bad?
Too much sugar
Russian tortoises can not process sugars and it will damage the kidneys.
That may or may not explain the urine.
Start with any dark leaf greens. No lettuces and no spinach
 

Ldove

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Too much sugar
Russian tortoises can not process sugars and it will damage the kidneys.
That may or may not explain the urine.
Start with any dark leaf greens. No lettuces and no spinach
Oh okay, I did not realize that carrots had so many sugars in them. Is romaine lettuce still okay to feed her? To get her on a better diet, I buy 2 of the foods you listed and mix that in with some of the Romaine lettuce, correct?
 

ZEROPILOT

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No I do not have a UVB light. When I was doing research on how to care for a Russian tortoise, I didn’t find anything about needing a UVB light.
UVB is critical.
Without it your tortoise will suffer badly
The good news is that you don't have to rush out and buy one. You can let your tort get some outside sunlight if it is warm enough outdoors20200219_145404.jpg
 

ZEROPILOT

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Oh okay, I did not realize that carrots had so many sugars in them. Is romaine lettuce still okay to feed her? To get her on a better diet, I buy 2 of the foods you listed and mix that in with some of the Romaine lettuce, correct?
You can include Romaine. Yes. But it alone has little nutritional value.
No fruit.
No sugars.
Do a search for our Russian tortoise care sheet.
There will be a good foods list there
 

KarenSoCal

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Is there a specific watt of UVB light I need to get?

ZEROPILOT has given you excellent advice.

The Reptisun fixture he showed in his post is what you want. They aren't bought by wattage. They come in different strengths of UVB light. You would need a 10 or 12%. They also come in different lengths. Unless you have a giant indoor enclosure, a 22in should be great.

The first time you buy one, you need the fixture and the bulb. After that, you only need to replace the bulb. Here's a link for that light and fixture.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07HJG7TJ4/?tag=exoticpetnetw-20

For the foods, start with the ones I listed in post # 2. Just get 3 or 4 of them. Cut the new food into tiny pieces, and mix it with the romaine. Torts are reluctant to try new foods, so a very small amount works best. Once Dudley gets the taste of the new food, she will slowly accept it. Then you can give larger amounts of it, and can start adding another new food. It's a process to follow if she doesn't immediately eat something. Try just giving her some of the new food...maybe some time in her past she ate some and will eat it again. If she doesn't, cut it tiny and follow the process.

Here's the care sheet...

 

Ldove

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ZEROPILOT has given you excellent advice.

The Reptisun fixture he showed in his post is what you want. They aren't bought by wattage. They come in different strengths of UVB light. You would need a 10 or 12%. They also come in different lengths. Unless you have a giant indoor enclosure, a 22in should be great.

The first time you buy one, you need the fixture and the bulb. After that, you only need to replace the bulb. Here's a link for that light and fixture.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07HJG7TJ4/?tag=exoticpetnetw-20

For the foods, start with the ones I listed in post # 2. Just get 3 or 4 of them. Cut the new food into tiny pieces, and mix it with the romaine. Torts are reluctant to try new foods, so a very small amount works best. Once Dudley gets the taste of the new food, she will slowly accept it. Then you can give larger amounts of it, and can start adding another new food. It's a process to follow if she doesn't immediately eat something. Try just giving her some of the new food...maybe some time in her past she ate some and will eat it again. If she doesn't, cut it tiny and follow the process.

Here's the care sheet...

Thank you, all of this information is very helpful. I do have one last question, because Dudley is peeing pink and yellow do I need to take her to the vet? I’m only reluctant to take her to the vet because I am in college and vet bills are usually a lot to pay even if it’s just a check up.
 

JoesMum

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Apologies if you have already been given this link, but you really need to read this care guide which explains how your tortoise should be kept

If you post photos of your enclosure and lighting it will help us to help you further.
 

Ldove

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She is currently in a 20 gallon tank. Like I mentioned before I’m in college and I live on campus so I have a restriction on how big of a tank I can have. She has a 100w daylight blue heating light that I leave on for around 12-14 hours a day. I have a food bowl and water bowl for her. She never uses her water bowl but I try to keep it filled with water and let it slowly evaporate. She is in forest floor substrate with a wooden hide.
 

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