Advice about the white stuff

[Champoi bibiano]

Hi fellas, how is everyone? Now i have 2 concerns about champi, its been a while since i last posted, about two months ago it was i think, and heres the thing, i know they poop out white stuff occasionally, but i noticed just a couple of hours ago, he was poopoing this white stuff that was very very big! It was about half the size of his head, i know im an idiot i didnt take any pictures but it happened outdoors, i was not able to bring my phone with me when it happened, it was large and very hard he was obviously struggiling to poop the damn thing out, and it took him about 15 minutes to get it out, but after that he was back to his usual things. I wonder why this is, what made that thing very large and very hard? It had the consistency of chalk when broken apart. What do i do to prevent this?


Another thing is that when i took him out, he was not eating grass, there were dandelions everywhere but he seems to be uninterested by it, he just keeps walking, not paying attention to any grass or weed he ends up seeing. Why is this? Any thoughts?

 

[JoesMum]

If the white stuff is hard or chalky that is a sign of dehydration and that is a problem. Normal urate should be jelly-like.

Sometimes it can be pretty large. So the size is of less concern.

Your tortoise needs lots of very long soaks in warm water.

- Soak twice a day for at least 30 minutes each time.

- Use a large flat-bottomed bowl that your tort can't cannot see over or through

- The water should be warm, but not hot (think baby bath)

- The water must be deep enough to come up over the line between the shell and the plastron (undershell)

Does your tortoise have access to drinking water in its enclosure? It must!

How frequently have you been soaking and how long for?

What's the humidity in the enclosure?

 

[Champoi bibiano]

If the white stuff is hard or chalky that is a sign of dehydration and that is a problem. Normal urate should be jelly-like.

Sometimes it can be pretty large. So the size is of less concern.

Your tortoise needs lots of very long soaks in warm water.

- Soak twice a day for at least 30 minutes each time.

- Use a large flat-bottomed bowl that your tort can't cannot see over or through

- The water should be warm, but not hot (think baby bath)

- The water must be deep enough to come up over the line between the shell and the plastron (undershell)

Does your tortoise have access to drinking water in its enclosure? It must!

How frequently have you been soaking and how long for?

What's the humidity in the enclosure?

You are gonna hate me for this, i soak him twice in a week, im sorry this will change as soon as possible meaning starting tomorrow, yes he has water supply in his enclosure, changed from time to time, but now that you mentioned it, he seems rather dry, because i can see signs of dry scales in the face, and it is starting to peel off.

 

[JoesMum]

Dry peeling scales on the face are frequently just skin shedding. They're normal.

Snakes do it all in one go. Tortoises do it in bits and look tatty.

You need to pay attention to your enclosure and care of your tortoise. Soaking a couple of times a week is fine if you know your tortoise is drinking in its enclosure and that the humidity and temperatures are correct.

It would appear that yours isn't drinking and once urate is back to jelly then you can step back to soaking once a day. Serving food wet helps with water intake too.

 

[Champoi bibiano]

If the white stuff is hard or chalky that is a sign of dehydration and that is a problem. Normal urate should be jelly-like.

Sometimes it can be pretty large. So the size is of less concern.

Your tortoise needs lots of very long soaks in warm water.

- Soak twice a day for at least 30 minutes each time.

- Use a large flat-bottomed bowl that your tort can't cannot see over or through

- The water should be warm, but not hot (think baby bath)

- The water must be deep enough to come up over the line between the shell and the plastron (undershell)

Does your tortoise have access to drinking water in its enclosure? It must!

How frequently have you been soaking and how long for?

What's the humidity in the enclosure?

When i soak him, it usually lasts about 20-30 minutes, humidity in his enclosure is good considering the amount of sweat like water droplets found in the enclosure walls,

Another thing about soaking, my girlfriend metioned to me that their 7 year old sully gets soaked with water that has salt added to it and that i should do the same, any thoughts on this?

 

[JoesMum]

Not ordinary table Salt - that is dehydrating.

You could add pedialite (dioralyte) or a similar electrolyte to the soaking water. The type you use when a human has diarrhea.

In the UK we can get Reptoboost which is an electrolyte designed for reptiles. I use it with my Greek.

 

[Champoi bibiano]

Not ordinary table Salt - that is dehydrating.

You could add pedialite (dioralyte) or a similar electrolyte to the soaking water. The type you use when a human has diarrhea.

In the UK we can get Reptoboost which is an electrolyte designed for reptiles. I use it with my Greek.

Ohh i see , thankyou very very much i will be taking your directions to heart, because it really upset me how pained my sully looked when he was pooping that horrible thing.
Salamat! I will be keeping in touch about this to report any improvement and any effects

 

[keepergale]

I thought I would try to address the second part of your post. Does your tortoise have a outside pen you are putting him in or are you just taking him outside and sitting him in a good spot? If the latter he won't know where he is at. They often respond by taking off walking or freezing where you set him. If it's "home" he will be more relaxed and act more naturally.

 

[Yvonne G]

You are very lucky that the tortoise was able to expel that large urate ball. Those things kill tortoises. My sister's tortoise had to have surgery to have the ball removed from the bladder. Here's what it looked like:

This was the tortoise's stone, it weighed 1 1/2 pounds

 

[Champoi bibiano]

I thought I would try to address the second part of your post. Does your tortoise have a outside pen you are putting him in or are you just taking him outside and sitting him in a good spot? If the latter he won't know where he is at. They often respond by taking off walking or freezing where you set him. If it's "home" he will be more relaxed and act more naturally.

Oh thankyou for taking time to answer my second concern,

But unfortunately no, we dont have the luxury of an open grassy area often as i live in an urban area, but i do try to go tonthe countryside often and i take him along with me and that the only time he ever sees grass , should i be concerned, about him not eating grass? Or is this a minor problem?

 

[Champoi bibiano]

You are very lucky that the tortoise was able to expel that large urate ball. Those things kill tortoises. My sister's tortoise had to have surgery to have the ball removed from the bladder. Here's what it looked like:

This was the tortoise's stone, it weighed 1 1/2 pounds

Oh my god, i hope he's okay. Good lord i am defenitely going to pay attention to soaking from now on. And thank you for sharing this, this will defenitely wake me up.

 

[Champoi bibiano]

Well instant results ladies and gents, this was his urate today 5minutes ago, as you can see he also ruined his lunch, i spray on water on his enclosure now, and i fed him cucumber this morning and just now. Thanks to everyone who guided me i hope we are on our way to a better health.

A special thanks to joe's mum
For soaking tips and enclosure maintenance

 

[Fredkas]

Really you are lucky he pooped it out. keep the great routine going since now you have better care

 

[keepergale]

Oh thankyou for taking time to answer my second concern,

But unfortunately no, we dont have the luxury of an open grassy area often as i live in an urban area, but i do try to go tonthe countryside often and i take him along with me and that the only time he ever sees grass , should i be concerned, about him not eating grass? Or is this a minor problem?

Grass is very good for your tortoise.
Just be positive it has not been sprayed with chemicals.

 

[Champoi bibiano]

Grass is very good for your tortoise.
Just be positive it has not been sprayed with chemicals.

Oh yes absolutely, i make sure that it hasnt been treated with any kinds of chemicals whatsoever. i would defenitely try to make him eat grass, is hay a good substitute for fresh grass?

 

[Champoi bibiano]

Really you are lucky he pooped it out. keep the great routine going since now you have better care

Oh god definitely, that last encounter gave me quite a scare, thank god he's fine after all that.

 

[JoesMum]

Grass or hay should be introduced, but it takes time.

Chop a really tiny amount up very small with scissors and sprinkle it on wet food so it sticks.

Don't increase the amount of grass/hay unless your tort eats the food at the previous feed and then only increase it by a very tiny amount.

Tortoises are notoriously bad at accepting new foods so be patient and take it very slowly!