Pee problem

[selviester]

I have about 5 months old sulcata and for the past 2 days I have seen him peeing quite often (sometimes a lot of pee, and most of the time just one or two drops and it looks like he is struggling while releasing it)

He has been passing quite a lot of urates while peeing too, sometimes mix with the poop. I soak him every day in the morning for 20-30 minutes and he would poop and **** there, I also always have fresh water ready in enclosure though I never see him drinking. So I mist his food. He eats weeds, mustard green, hibiscus flowers and leaves, mulberry leaves, some wheatgrass, kale. Opuntia 3x times a week and Mazuri 3x a week (2 pieces each time). Sunday is grated pumpkin for snack. I also left cuttlebone there.

I have no idea what is going on. Poor guy sometimes had to pause eating and struggle to pass the urine. What should I do?

ps: that’s him yesterday. The urates look like that but it was a lot today. (Sorry about the gross pic :/)

 

[Tim Carlisle]

Excessive urates can be caused by dehydration. Humidity should be 80% at minimum in his enclosed environment. Good long warm soaks (20 - 30 minutes) per day helps a lot as well. Some recommend twice a day.

 

[selviester]

My friends think that I have been feeding him too much mustard greens and also that I should remove the cuttlebone from his enclosure. Are these true?

But yeah I soak him everyday though for 20-30 minutes and humidity is good as well.

 

[Tim Carlisle]

I use mustard greens on occasion for Ghost, but very moderately. Ghost doesn't care for them as a main staple, but will eat them if mixed in with other greens. I also use a cuttlebone and have had no problems at all with high urates. Every once in a while I see them, but that is perfectly normal.

 

[selviester]

What are the greens you feed Ghost daily? and how old is he? Im growing grass right now but I like to feed Toro with wheatgrass while waiting for my grass to grow. He also eats some weeds.

Im so confused right now. I will try to soak him twice a day.

 

[Tim Carlisle]

Ghost gets a large variety. Mostly weeds from my yard. We have a huge grocery store here called Jungle Jim's. They have the absolute largest produce section I've ever seen. If they don't have it, it doesn't exist. I love experimenting. I mix the store bought with yards weeds.

 

[Tim Carlisle]

Here's a few google pics of the store. U can get lost in this place.

https://www.google.com/search?sourc...CWZ1dLOFsLHqR48d8xQSsRwiNVVc9M&viewerState=ga

 

[selviester]

Oh my lord that place seems endless! You guys are so lucky... where we live everything is limited! Sometimes it is a challenge to find various diet.

I dont want to feed him one type of veggie every day. So I need to be creative.

 

[Tim Carlisle]

Oh my lord that place seems endless! You guys are so lucky... where we live everything is limited! Sometimes it is a challenge to find various diet.

I dont want to feed him one type of veggie every day. So I need to be creative.

It's fun to be creative... and necessary! Check out the "Tortoise Chef" section of this forum for some fun and interesting ideas.

https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/the-tortoise-chef.153728/

 

[selviester]

Thanks a lot! These surely give me ideas.
I appreciate you responding to my thread lol...

I usually feed him 3x a day - not in big portions though, just enough and he is happy with this meal arrangements. So I need to be creative with the menu. I at least must have 3 different types of veggies. Last time I mixed hibiscus leaves, mustard greens, romaine, wheatgrass and hibiscus flower. He loved it. I cant seem to make him like carrot though

 

[Ray--Opo]

The carrot might be the way your presenting it. I tried cutting thin,chopped fine and finally a hand held food grater with the smaller hole was the ticket. But Opo has me conforming to his food preparation. Like dandelion Opo wont eat whole. I have to break it up into nickle size bites. Same with other broadleaf greens. I guess I could tough love Opo but it keeps me busy. Lol

 

[selviester]

I tried thin slicing it and mix with his greens and still he wont eat it. So i havent tried other trick yet.

But yeah like you said, they sure love to keep us busy huh? Btw love the name Opo! So cute! And in Javanese language, Opo means “what?”