Too much kale? neon yellow urates !

[newCH]

Hello,
I had to share with you because about 2 weeks ago I had made a chopped up base of curly kale
& arugulla for Sheldon. I gave it for about 10 days with a topping of fruit or veggies.
I had been keeping him outside during the days with our afternoons reaching into the low 90's.
He loved the kale. He had never had it before. Then one day after work I saw this in his enclosure....

First, I thought it looked like pollen. I looked above & below the enclosure to see if it came from an
outside source. It was only inside. I inspected Sheldon from top to bottom & there was no yellow
on him at all. Then I had to touch it to see exactly what it was. It was like touching paint that had
slightly dried on the surface. The interior portion was smooth, not grity. So that lead me to believe
Sheldon had passed urates. ( I considered that maybe he had thrown up, but had no idea what that would
have looked like !)
My work schedule was about to change & with passing afternoon showers I had been planning on keeping
Sheldon in for awhile anyways. Now I could observe him better anyways. Last month he weighted 5.25 oz
with an SCL of 3.5 inches.
I searched the internet & really could not find anything like this. Possibly that his urates turned yellow
from Riboflavin B2.
I immediately stopped serving kale & returned to spring mix with different fruit/veggie toppings.
The yellow urates never did happen again. I have not seen any visible urates since. He poops fine.
Oddly enough, he poops the size of one of his rear legs. He loves his humid hide. So much so

that I was concerned he might not be getting enough UV. But his shell looks good & he seems very
happy. So it has been about 2 weeks since & he seems fine. Do you think it is lesson learned, Don't feed
kale so much.....? Thanks for reading.

 

[SarahChelonoidis]

That looks like a fungus or slime mold far more than it does urates. The timing with the kale might be coincidental.

 

[newCH]

Didn't consider any if those ideas. I scooped out about two inches of the cypress mulch & after that nothing yellow has returned. Hmmmm.......

 

[WillTort2]

With my Russians, if I feed dandelion too often they will develop a pinkish color to their urates. I try not to feed any one thing more than three times a week; the only exception this summer has been mulberry leaves. They remain a stable of their diet about every other day.

I'm thinking it could be the urates, try looking at the bright yellow in different types of light, sunlight, shade, and various interior lights.

 

[Lyn W]

That's an awful lot for urates isn't it?
When my 2/3 year old leopard passes urates it's only once in a while and is a tiny amount of a creamy/white blob.
I could be wrong but tend to agree with Sarah that it could be some sort of fungus - maybe what is pleasantly called 'dog vomit' fungus!
Do you feed him any of the weeds etc listed on his caresheet as well as the shop bought stuff?.

 

[dmmj]

I know dandelions can tint them pink. Pretty sure kale does not. Did they repeat? Are you sure thar came out of him?

 

[spud's_mum]

I agree
I think it looks like dog vomit fungus
See here's a pic of it off the internet (sorry its blurry):

 

[newCH]

Wow, that pic does look like it ! And yes, now that I think about it, that would have been ALOT of stuff
to come out of little 5 oz Sheldon !
Is it dangerous to Sheldon if it comes back & he walks thru it or tries to eat it ?
I just read real quick on the internet that the rain might have had something to do with the fungus growing.
I dont get to feed him weeds, my husband loves to use Scotts weed & feed. Sheldon's outdoor enclosure
is raised off the ground with cypress mulch with a bit of orchid bark & Cocosoft chips.. Thanks so much for all your help you guys are awesome !

 

[Lyn W]

I don't really know much about that fungus but I would think the spores from it could be inhaled/ingested when he walks through it and possibly cause some sort of illness so I would err on the side of caution and change all the substrate, clean his enclosure and try to find out why it grows there.

I don't have many weeds growing in my garden either so I collect mine from areas I know are chemical free, but maybe your tort doesn't need them.
Hope you solve the mystery.

 

[newCH]

Thanks, I will change all the substrate before he goes back out.

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

It looks like slime mould to me, too.
One of the members here had some in his garden a while back.
Some are said to be edible (for people), but for torts, who knows?
Fascinating organisms.

 

[newCH]

Thinking about it now, it wasnt there in the morning, so it really popped up quickly.

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

Slime moulds do appear very quickly and what's more are capable of moving about!