Are urates bad?

[kjr153]

I've had my Tort for 11 months now and in that time I've only seen urates twice. There were urates in the tank last night. What is it from? Is it a sign of bad health?

 

[Tom]

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-14782.html

Read this.

 

[kjr153]

So I need to soak it more?

 

[wellington]

How often do you soak? At 11 months, I would still be soaking every day for 20-30 minutes. I have a leopard and I soaked him every day u til he was approx. 17 mo this and then every other day. Urates aren't bad, normal in most torts. They should not be gritty though.

 

[mctlong]

Urates are normal. They are not a sign of bad health.

However, if the urates come out chunky instead of smooth and creamy, the tort may be a little dehydrated.

 

[Levi the Leopard]

Not bad. Part of their created design to conserve water. Kind of neat when you understand how it works.

My Russians all have urates and pretty frequently.

Interestingly, my leopard had never once had urates. His pee looks like water.

 

[Andrea M]

I've never seen urates from Hokie (6 month old THB) is this normal? He does pee frequently but it's always clear

 

[ascott]

I would be sure to increase soaks both quantity of soaks and length of time for soaks....at least once a day for half hour at least....I also would spray water on food offerings to increase intake of water....I personally like seeing clear pee from the CDTs here......when they come out of brumation it usually takes a month or so before the are peeing clear....

 

[Logan J]

To the owner of the Russians mine are very funny they love the water I find it strange . Also my sullie's have Urates about once a week smooth and all so I'm glad that's normal.

 

[oknursedana]

Thanks for all of this. My sully has had a decrease in his urate production and I was worried so I found this thread. I soak him daily for 20-30 min and spray him a couple more times. On a totally different subject has anyone else's sully bitten themself while soaking?

 

[ascott]

has anyone else's sully bitten themself while soaking?

Only the crazy ones of course....

 

[oknursedana]

Only the crazy ones of course....

Nice one! My bad.