To much water??

[Tony the tank]

In Oder to make sure Tony doesn't dehydrate .. I places his daily bowl of dark greens and carrots in a bowl of water... He really likes to stick his head in the. Water to grab his food... But now when he poops.. He also dumps a whole lot of water... The poops are solid but he also releases a lot of water and urates.. Urates are soft not gritty...

So can I be giving him to much water??

 

[ascott]

So, if I am visualizing this correctly?

food placed into a saucer along with water, all sharing the same space in the saucer....so when he goes to eat his food he gets water in his mouth? Yes?

If yes, I would suggest that you get two dishes, one for the food and one for the water (big enough for him to soak himself in the water one)..

I think that eating food is not an option, drinking water is not an option, HOWEVER, when to do each should present an option to him....if he is forced to get a drink every time he eats, he will do it because, well they love food....however, if it becomes a negative experience for him then he may decide to not eat, or eat only minimal.... now, this is my opinion

A well hydrated tortoise should have solid poo and when urinate should be liquid (may have a bit of the white stuff, but should be more liquid than chunk).

 

[Tony the tank]

ASCOTT. I dont do it all the time like every 2days.. His poo is solid but he also releases a lot of water before and after...Ill remove it from the equation for now...

 

[ascott]

Hi....so after reading your last post, I question if he is simply urinating and not wet poos?

I think that if he has water and also he is eating well and getting outside sun, then you are doing GREAT!!!!!.....I just shared with you that my thoughts are he should have a bit of a choice.....all is good

 

[Tom]

I use separate food and water bowls. Sometimes I spray the food with water.

I'm more concerned about feeding carrots on a daily basis. Carrots, and really any veggie, should only be fed once in a while, in my opinion.

 

[Maggie Cummings]

I will make a suggestion that you go over your menu. Read up on what Sulcata eat and stop with the carrots. I use veggies like squash and carrots as rare treats not everyday food. Feed grass and hay and dark leafy greens as regular food, and stop feeding in the water. They urinate and poop at the same time often but not every time. Your tort should be grazing but if that's not an option go cut grass somewhere. I'll provide a link with suggested food for you to read...I hope it helps...


http://africantortoise.com/

 

[Tony the tank]

ok.. Let me elaborate.. I let Tony out in the morning...He stays out weather permitting from 8am until 5pm...During that time he grazes non stop(if he's walking he's eating)..

I then bring him in and feed him some snacks.. Bok choy, carrots, romaine, plum, peaches , watermelon... These are just snacks..He gets 90% of his food from grazing...

Thoughts is this wrong??[/i]

 

[GeoTerraTestudo]

Tony, do you have a box turtle or a tortoise? If it's a box turtle, feeding in the water should come naturally for it. If it's a tortoise, it would probably rather feed on land. Just rinse the greens under warm water for a bit and then put them on a dish for the tortoise. The greens should be glistening with water, and that should provide your tortoise with plenty of moisture. If your tortoise is from an arid or semi-arid environment (a Testudo species, a leopard tortoise, or a sulcata), then its urine should be clear and liquid, but with some precipitated urates (uric acid) suspended in it. This is how many reptiles and birds get rid of nitrogen in their pee; we use urea, which is soluble and clear, while they use uric acid, which is insoluble and white. However, if your tortoise is from a moist environment (a redfoot, yellowfoot, or hingeback tortoise), then its urine is going to be clear, because they use urea instead of uric acid, rather like a mammal. The reason dry habitat tortoises use urates, while moist habitat tortoises use urea is that uric acid requires less water to be stored and voided than urea does. A redfoot has plenty of water to drink, and plenty of juicy fruits to eat, so he can just pee all the time and just get more moisture soon thereafter. In contrast, a Mediterranean tortoise has to conserve its water because it could be a long time before it gets the chance to drink again. That's why the pee of Testudo species has urates suspended in it ... but it should still be liquid pee, and not just chalky urates all by themselves.

 

[Tony the tank]

I'm sorry.. I have a tortoise(sulcata)..[/i]

 

[GeoTerraTestudo]

I'm sorry.. I have a tortoise(sulcata)..[/i]

Okay, then just feed him washed greens on land, and offer him water on the side to drink if he wants to. The water inside the plants, plush the water adhering to the leaves should give him plenty of moisture. No need to feed a tortoise in shallow water. Actually, it better not to, since they are fully terrestrial.

 

[Tony the tank]

Geoterra..Thanks for the info..I appreciate you taking the time..[/i]

 

[Maggie Cummings]

NO FRUIT! No fruit even as snacks. Their kidneys and liver cannot process sugar the way ours does. They primarily eat grasses and hay, no fruit. You are not doing a good thing for him to feed him fruit so please stop. You won't find any fruit at all on his food list. Please use the link I sent you before your tortoise gets sick from eating wrong foods...

 

[Tony the tank]

OK..Maggie no fruit... But I'm sure I read somewhere that occasional watermelon as a treat was ok... But no research I have done says fruit.. So fruit is out..

Thank you

 

[GeoTerraTestudo]

Yeah, fruit is for redfoots and yellowfoots, not sulcatas.

 

[Tom]

I think the word "occasional" is open to much interpretation. To me "occasionally" means once a month or so. If you give an adult sulcata a little bit of watermelon once a month, it won't hurt a thing. If you give a small one a whole meal of fruit, 5 times a week, it will likely not go very well. Its a quantity thing too. One strawberry to a 6" sulcata is a world of difference than one strawberry for a 80-100 pound adult.

Bottom line is, they don't NEED any, and any that they eat is taking the place of the stuff that they SHOULD be eating.