Russian Tortoise's waste is powdery

CountingMareep713

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Whenever my RT goes to the bathroom, it is always dry and powdery looking. It's white and it will either clump together with the substrate or it will be loose and have almost no consistency. I don't know if this is normal or if I should be worried. I've had him for 4 days, and he eats a varied diet so far consisting of collard greens, Green peppers, spinach, dandelion greens and cilantro. All of what I feed is organic and washed, and I give him different combinations every morning.
 

Tom

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Many times they are not well hydrated at their place of origin. Soak daily in warm water in a tall sided opaque tub for 30-40 minutes. Keep the water warm during the duration of the soak by replacing it or by putting the soaking tub somewhere warm.

Don't worry about the tortoise scrambling around in the soak water. Its good exercise. The water should come about 1/3 to 1/2 way up the tortoises shell when its laying flat on the bottom of the tub.

Here is all the care info:
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/
 

TechnoCheese

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Whenever my RT goes to the bathroom, it is always dry and powdery looking. It's white and it will either clump together with the substrate or it will be loose and have almost no consistency. I don't know if this is normal or if I should be worried. I've had him for 4 days, and he eats a varied diet so far consisting of collard greens, Green peppers, spinach, dandelion greens and cilantro. All of what I feed is organic and washed, and I give him different combinations every morning.

Those are called urates, and are normal. Are they hard and gritty, or soft and mushy?
I wouldn’t feed too much spinach, because it’s high in oxalates that interfere with calcium absorption. They’re fine every now and then in a varied diet.
 

RosemaryDW

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I know it’s not your original question but the green pepper is not something he can digest well; he should not be eating it, or at least very rarely.

There is good, basic diet information on the Russian care sheet and as you spend more time on the forum, you’ll get familiar with some of he longer food lists. For now you may need to rely on grocery store foods. Good options for tortoises are "chicories," types of lettuce that are likely to be on the far side of the more common floppy green heads of lettuce most people buy. Anything labeled as simply "chicory"is good, as are radicchio, frisee, escarole, and endive; you might even find something labeled as dandelions, although they won’t look like the kind you pick from the yard. You may find a bag of "Spring" or "Spicy" mix that is good, just check the label to be sure it has some of the chicories I just mentioned.

The leaves (just the leaves) of turnips and radishes are also good, as are carrot tops. Collards, mustard greens, bok choy, and other dark, leafy greens are okay as well. If you have any kind of Mexican/hispanic market near you, they will sell cactus, labeled "nopales." The cilantro you are already feeding is a good choice as well.
 

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