Gritty urates pics included

[katieandiggy]

I’ve had my Russian 1 week today. He weighs 53g.
Since having him I have soaked him every day for 30 mins. He’s been having radicchio, Frisse, romaine, dandelion leaves, chicory. I’m waiting on some weed seeds to grow.

Today he did his first urate I’ve not seen any before in any of the soaks, it looks quite gritty, not big grit but like fine crushed. I know before I got him he was being kept dry. Even the guy in the pet store said he was quite dry and to soak him.

Today I’ve given him some cucumber in the hope he will get some extra water.

Is there anything else I should be doing?

 

[ScStange891]

Just keep up with the daily soaks. When I first got mine, I kept him drier than he should have been (while between 20-30g) and eventually he passed a solid urate stone. I just kept soaking him every day after that, and added a partially closed top with higher humidity (it's always around 60-70% humidity in his enclosure now). He never passed gritty urates after that. now he's 100g and if he passes at all, they're healthy and gooey.

I think this is probably just "residue" from your little guy being dry for so long, so as long as you keep up what you're doing, it should go away.

 

[katieandiggy]

Just keep up with the daily soaks. When I first got mine, I kept him drier than he should have been (while between 20-30g) and eventually he passed a solid urate stone. I just kept soaking him every day after that, and added a partially closed top with higher humidity (it's always around 60-70% humidity in his enclosure now). He never passed gritty urates after that. now he's 100g and if he passes at all, they're healthy and gooey.

I think this is probably just "residue" from your little guy being dry for so long, so as long as you keep up what you're doing, it should go away.

Thank you. He’s become much more active the last 2 days so I hope he’s hydrating now. I have him in a closed vivarium and like you my humidity is around 60-70%

 

[ScStange891]

Yeah, you should be fine then- just keep a look out!

Also, have you seen the attached Russian care sheet yet? Every time I have some sort of issue, I go back and read this and learn something new every time: https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/

The diet isn't bad (a lot of similar things to what mine gets), but you might also want to start introducing more variety too so it's not the exact same thing day after day. This will also help balance out nutrition. I usually give spring mix instead of Romaine (it has romaine in it, but the other stuff has a lot more nutritional value), and I also add Escarole, collard greens (in moderation), and mustard greens to the mix every so often, just to keep it mixed up. There's also others you can add in, referenced in that link.

The dandelion greens and endive (chicory) are definitely solid though. Do you dust with calcium powder and or have a cuttle bone in the enclosure? What weed seeds are you using? I hear great things about the ones from tortoise supply, and am waiting on some of those to arrive myself.

 

[katieandiggy]

I have added various wild plants that I checked on the tortoise table but it never eats them... today I’m going to try dead nettle and some ribwort plantain that I found growing. When I put calcium on the food it barely touches it, at the moment I’m using nutrobal 3 x per week and I have a cuttle bone In the enclosure too. Any tips on getting them to eat the calcium.?
The seeds I’m using are from eBay from a shop called shelled warriors


They have just started to sprout I’m so excited [emoji5]

I have ordered some others that have flowers including hibiscus.

 

[katieandiggy]

UPDATE: I’ve had my baby 2 weeks and is is still passing gritty urates. Today I saw a little in the enclosure. I rubbed it between my fingers (gross I know) and it’s still very gritty, but wet if that makes sense.
I’m still soaking every day, damp down the food, humidity 60-80%, is there anything else I should be doing? I always remember that the 50g mark is a bit of a crucial one. My little one still weighs 53g not put on any weight in 2 weeks, I’m starting to get a little concerned.

 

[ScStange891]

Hmmm. In terms of the urates there’s not much more I can think of other than keep soaking consistently.

In terms of weight gain, sometimes I feed Mazuri tortoise diet to mine to get him to sprout. It’s not a staple by any means but it’s packed with ingredients and calories and such. The only problem with this in your case is that it’s high in protein, which means it will contribute to irate production. You may want to hold off until the urates normalize for that though.

 

[katieandiggy]

FINAL UPDATE

Thanks for your reply

Today whilst having a soak my tortoise finally passed Clear water urine. Thankfully I was watching closely otherwise I would have missed it, I just saw a big gush with no grit, I am [emoji2]

 

[Jay Bagley]

That is great news!! Good job on your care.