vitamin soak ratio

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pebbles mom

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I am doing a vitamin soak tonight (I'll explain later). I bought bird vitamins tonight and my question is what ratio do I use? Follow the mix instructions on the bottle? It's 1 drop to 1 oz of water. Or is there some other ratio I should be using for tortoises?
 

egyptiandan

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I use at least 2 drops per oz. :)

Danny
 

pebbles mom

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thanks - will he drink the water? Hummmm I'll be back with answer

Okay - he did really good with the soak. He didn't really drink it. He was pretty calm in there like he was just relaxing at the spa :D
Anyway ... here's the "why" ... on Saturday I noticed his pee had urates and I took a picture and a repeat on Sunday. In the back of my mind I remember reading something about it being "gritty". Long story short we did the vitamin soak ~ and I hope this was the right thing to do?? Anyone? Comments? Opinions? Scolding? LOL


urates saturday.jpgurates sunday.jpg
 
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Meg90

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If you never see urates from your tortoise, does that mean something is wrong?
 

egyptiandan

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Nothing wrong with a vitamin soak when they are little. :D

Did the urates in the bowl feel gritty?

Meg you should see urates at least once a month with an adult Testudo. If you don't see urates in the soaking water it doesn't mean they haven't done anything. Mine tend to go at feeding time and if your not watching it can get mixed into the substrate and missed.
Yes no urates in a few months for adults and quicker for hatchling can signify a problem.

Danny
 

Isa

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egyptiandan said:
Nothing wrong with a vitamin soak when they are little. :D

Did the urates in the bowl feel gritty?

Meg you should see urates at least once a month with an adult Testudo. If you don't see urates in the soaking water it doesn't mean they haven't done anything. Mine tend to go at feeding time and if your not watching it can get mixed into the substrate and missed.
Yes no urates in a few months for adults and quicker for hatchling can signify a problem.

Danny

Danny
I see urates in Herny's enclosure a couple of times a week, could this means there is a problem? I never soaked him in vitamin, should I start doing that once in a while?
 

egyptiandan

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Seeing urates is never a problem Isa. It's the consistency that could be a problem. They should look like tooth paste and not be gritty.
By the time mine get Hermy's size I don't do vitamin soaks anymore. You can over do the vitamins, so I just do it for the first year.

Danny
 

Isa

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egyptiandan said:
Seeing urates is never a problem Isa. It's the consistency that could be a problem. They should look like tooth paste and not be gritty.
By the time mine get Hermy's size I don't do vitamin soaks anymore. You can over do the vitamins, so I just do it for the first year.

Danny

Thanks Danny
Sometimes, his urates are a bit gritty, what should I do? The blood test and the urine culture made with the old vet was ok. I went to the vet and asked them to copy me all the test results they have. I checked on the internet to be able to compare Hermy's result (blood test) and the uric acid in Hermy's Blood is a bit high but is still in the normal.
 

egyptiandan

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Feed more lettuces in the winter. Most weeds have an oaxilic acid content and the oaxilic acid binds with calcium causing the gritty urates and even stones. It's good to let them flush everything out of there system once in a while.
You can go back to mostly weeds in the summer time.

Danny
 

Isa

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egyptiandan said:
Feed more lettuces in the winter. Most weeds have an oaxilic acid content and the oaxilic acid binds with calcium causing the gritty urates and even stones. It's good to let them flush everything out of there system once in a while.
You can go back to mostly weeds in the summer time.

Danny

Thank you sooo much for all the infos Danny, the 2 things I feed him the most is escarole and chicory. What kind of lettuce should I feed Hermy? Should I still give him a bit of greens everyday or should I feed him only lettuces in the winter?
 

egyptiandan

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Those are good. :) You can add Romaine to that as well as red and green leaf lettuce. Sometimes you can find baby lettuce near the spring mixes and thats good to if you can find it.

Danny
 

Isa

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egyptiandan said:
Those are good. :) You can add Romaine to that as well as red and green leaf lettuce. Sometimes you can find baby lettuce near the spring mixes and thats good to if you can find it.

Danny

Thanks Danny
Will it be bad for Hermy if I feed Him lettuce and a bit of escarole and chicory everyday, or is there one of the lettuces or greens I should only give him once in a while? Per exemple, Dandelions are very good but not everyday. Is there another type of greens I should be careful of?
 

pebbles mom

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egyptiandan said:
Nothing wrong with a vitamin soak when they are little. :D

Did the urates in the bowl feel gritty?

Danny

Not sure if it "FELT" gritty. I didn't really touch it. I just rinsed it out of the bowl. I saw more in there this morning too. Was just reviewing the thread here. Now that I think about it I wonder if this sudden change in the urates is from the diet. I just started him on dandelion greens and endive maybe a week ago or so. Right before that we had carrot tops and escarole.

So am I understanding correct ~ he could use more of a lettuce right now? To flush things out a bit?

And the vitamin soak - how often? Pebbles is 5 months old.
 

egyptiandan

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Yes more lettuces at this time of the year is right. :D

Once a week is good for the vitamin soak. :D

Danny
 

Meg90

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Hey Danny...You were right about it just getting mixed into his substrate...When I spot cleaned today I checked closely and on top of a wet spot was a white substance. It was very similar to a paste (like tooth paste) and was squishy. (Yeah, I touched it. Here's to dedication :D) I did add some romaine to his diet the last two days too...could that have helped?

What exactly should it look/feel like when not in water?
 

egyptiandan

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Thats what it should feel like :D and it probably was the lettuce that helped with passing the urates.

Danny
 

Meg90

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So how often should he be allowed to have romaine? (in addition to his spring mix)...I know its got a high water content...what do you think?
 
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