My tortoise pooped out some white stuff-discussion

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Seiryu

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RE: My tortoise pooped out some white stuff

CtTortoiseMom said:
I might have figured out what I did wrong this week... I think I incorporated collard greens as a snack too much this week. I am going to keep a written log. I am feeding the correct spring mix sans spinach since Jeffbens0n and Mao helped set me straight. Any other idea's, I am definitely taking this as a warning sign.

I have 2 Leo's (2 years and 1 year old). I have yet to see any urates so far.

I personally don't feed spring mix anymore as I feel there are better options (turnips, radish, collard, endive, escarole to name some). But I did feed Thor some when he was younger.

I think if you feed collards that day you can skip calcium supplements. I do calcium 3x a week with vitamins once or twice. And then they have a cuttlebone (which they rarely use) if they need it.

Princess Leia is likely just getting more calcium than she needs I think.
 

Jacqui

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RE: My tortoise pooped out some white stuff

CtTortoiseMom said:
I am going to keep a written log.

That is a VERY smart thing to do. That way you can see how your animal reacts to certain foods, stress, ect..,
 

nharr2

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RE: My tortoise pooped out some white stuff

I let my leopard (who has had some issues lately ... not eating, not opening its eyes, but it has improved 100% in the last 3 days) soak for 30 minutes and when I took him out all kinds of clear liquid came out of what I thought looked like where poops from... im assuming this isnt normal?? Any thoughts are appreciated!
 

wrmitchell22

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RE: My tortoise pooped out some white stuff

flyinghome said:
thanks tortoisenerd
when i soak my tortoise, i will mix some warmer water to the cooling water. i dont think the forced soak is the best way to hydrate my tortoise, since no man would take care of them in wild life. But i heared soaking is the best way to help them pee and defecate. i find that my tortoise would not pee if the soaking is less than 40min. i would really worry about her if i soak her less. And when I put her in water, she just stay their quitely without struggling。 seems she likes the soaking.

i also put a water tray in her enclosure, so that she can drink if thirsty. But the tray i use is only 10
cm in diameter and the she is more than 20cm long. so she cant put herself in water. can this be ok?

I think the reason we need to soak our Tortoises in captivity is because you cannot completly replicate a tortoises habitat or activities. So although no man would interfere with a wild tortoise, we are interfering in every aspect of a captive tortoises life, so.....

Boulder excreted urates the day after I got him and I know that the breeder I bought him from keeps her torts very dry and I didn't see any water in there tank, also she fed them mostly alfalfa hay and romaine. I haven't seen any urates since that day which was about 2 months ago. I soak Boulder every other day for 20 mins in warm water, but I have also seen him drink from his bowl. He also lays in his water bowl everyday :) so I am lucky he is pretty good at soaking himself.
 

Yvonne G

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RE: My tortoise pooped out some white stuff

nharr2 said:
I let my leopard (who has had some issues lately ... not eating, not opening its eyes, but it has improved 100% in the last 3 days) soak for 30 minutes and when I took him out all kinds of clear liquid came out of what I thought looked like where poops from... im assuming this isnt normal?? Any thoughts are appreciated!

Sometimes after finding a place to take a nice long drink, a tortoise will get rid of the urine he's been holding. He was probably just pee'ing.
 

Tortoise

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RE: My tortoise pooped out some white stuff

Does it depend on species the visible urate thing?

My old hermanns did it all of the time. My red foots and Bells Hinge-never yet as far as I have noticed?

The Hermanns I gave calcium too constantly, less for these though. They do have cuttle bone at all times however.

I always wondered as I expected all torts to do this based on my first tortoise-a hermanns
 

Yvonne G

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RE: My tortoise pooped out some white stuff

Yes it does. Some species don't have visible urates. I've never seen them in my Aldabran pen or in my Manouria pen.
 

Tortoise

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RE: My tortoise pooped out some white stuff

emysemys said:
Yes it does. Some species don't have visible urates. I've never seen them in my Aldabran pen or in my Manouria pen.

Thanks Emysemys I always wondered and never knew who on earth to ask such a question.
I am always learning on this forum!!:D
 

angel_82

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RE: My tortoise pooped out some white stuff

emysemys said:
Quoted from The Reptile Channel:


Tortoises produce urine and urates. Urine is the liquid portion stored in the urinary bladder. Urine contains waste products and toxins that are filtered from the bloodstream. Reptiles also have one more type of excretion product, called urates or uric acid. This is the end product of protein digestion and is also stored in the urinary bladder as a creamy, off-white pasty semi-solid. In reptiles, uric acid is cleared from the bloodstream by the kidneys. When the tortoise urinates, it will pass the liquid urine and the semi-solid urates at the same time. A tortoise may urinate and defecate at the same time, which may leave urate deposits on the fecal material. This will make the feces appear as if it is white or off-white.

thank you for explaining this, it been bothering me when Tokyo's done this... its not all the time which is why I was unsure if it was 'normal' - so it is not an indication of too much calcium?
 

CtTortoiseMom

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RE: My tortoise pooped out some white stuff

Angel, it can be an indication of too much calcium. Just watch what you feed and cut back on anything high in calcium when you see it. For instance, In the winter I was feeding my Leo mixed greens and then giving a midday snack of collard greens. That proved to be too much calcium for her and she had a urate. Now collards are once a week mixed with mazuri. It is a delicate balancing act.
 

tyguy35

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RE: My tortoise pooped out some white stuff

In the 5 months I've owned my Leo he's never pooped the white stuff
 

Yvonne G

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RE: My tortoise pooped out some white stuff

tyguy35 said:
In the 5 months I've owned my Leo he's never pooped the white stuff

I'm not a scientist or an expert, so I don't know the reason, but not all tortoises have urates. Of the types of tortoise that I keep, the leopards, Manouria and Aldabrans do NOT have urates.
 

blanco1982

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RE: My tortoise pooped out some white stuff

I imagine this was quite the shock, especially if it was unexpected :)
 

heather.annie43

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RE: My tortoise pooped out some white stuff

I was wondering why he was pooping white stuff. thanks for the info! :)
 

paper_boy

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RE: My tortoise pooped out some white stuff

Mine urinated some white stuff. but after reading everyones comments, it seems to be normal. can anyone confirm?
 

pdrobber

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RE: My tortoise pooped out some white stuff

very normal. just want it to be smooth and pasty not gritty
 

Jason M

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RE: My tortoise pooped out some white stuff

What about if it is more like white jelly.....what does that mean.
By the way very good thread and very informative
I have horsfields
 

laramie

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RE: My tortoise pooped out some white stuff

Hi Yvonne,
I was wondering,is it normal for torts to do this every once in a while? I have noticed that Wilbur has done this a few times.
 

JoesMum

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RE: My tortoise pooped out some white stuff

The occasional white smooth/jelly like poop is not a concern. Large quantities of it, more than 2 or 3 times week or a gritty texture need further investigation into health and diet.
 

laramie

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RE: My tortoise pooped out some white stuff

JoesMum said:
The occasional white smooth/jelly like poop is not a concern. Large quantities of it, more than 2 or 3 times week or a gritty texture need further investigation into health and diet.

Thanks JoesMum :D
 
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