Who else loves tortoise smiles
What A Tortoise's Stone Looks Like
- Thread starter Yvonne G
- Start date
Hey @maggie3fan I know you lost Bob many years ago, but I'm sorry. I know how much you loved him. He was a handsome dude, and a happy looking fella!
ChicanPablo
New Member
I am brand new on the forum. I don’t even own a tortoise of any kind yet. I don’t know about tortoises but in people kidney stones are caused from minerals you intake and are in your water. I grew up on well water that was called sulfur water. I couldn’t smell it or taste it but new friends could. You could run a glass of water and let it set overnight and a yellow snot looking glob would form in the glass. That was what I was told caused/causes kidney stones for the majority. So it’s not how much water but quality and purity. I live in the city now and have city water. I don’t/can’t drink it. We use it to bath and wash dishes. We don’t even give it to the dog. FYI we live close to what used to be DuPont and C8 has been in our water system.
I live in Oregon...I had a 100+ lb. Sulcata...I litteraly did everything I thought necessary to give this tortoise a good life. I adored him. But he died a horrible death with a bladder stone as big as a softball. Now 8 years have passed and as chelonian medicine gets more modern, the reason he got the stone in the first place changes...diet...no matter what I grew or bought, it simply wasn't close enuf to a natural Sulcata diet also my water is awful and he drank it...UVB..he lived in the PNW where in a good year there is still not enuf year round UVB...people in Oregon don't tan...they rust. And #3... (no Tammy, not Dale Earnhardt) number 3 is probably the worst, most unexpected and probably the real reason number 3 should be number 1...in the wild tortoises walk for miles grazing across a sparse savanna....20 miles...he didn't walk anywhere near 20 miles in my back yard. I thought I was doing the best for him...in reality, love killed him cuz I took him to Oregon and my back yard... I still have the stone, but I coudn't find a photo....
my advice to you from me...don't get a giant tortoise unless he can walk 20 miles a day or so...the stone weighed over a pound, and looked like alabaster.
Dear Maggie. Remember that you have no idea what kind of life Bob may have had if you had not taken him and given him your best - a GOOD life for 16 years!!! He may instead have had those 16 years, or more, or less, spent in horrible suffering and deprivation and sickness. You made his life worth living! Consider that. OK?
@Maggie3fan The picture at the beginning of this thread IS Bob's stone.
Guess I shoulda read from the beginning...I'm busted!!! sorry...I love seeing Bob's smile...I've never seen another Sulcata with that smile....it makes me so sad to see him
I cried when I saw that smile. Dear Lord I love my Sulcata and would be a disaster if this happened. Thank you for posting this @Yvonne G, this is VERY important info. Our guy Moe has a small yard but in the spring it will become gigantic. I have always wondered about the walking issue with all our torts. This thread is a deal sealer to me that walking is a VITAL part of Tortoises health, shoot almost all animals health.
Your loss may save countless other Sulcatas, I hope this gives some comfort. I am truly sorry for your loss and wish you peace of mind.
I use filtered water for my tortoise. Filtered with a pur water filter. Also for my rabbit and cat for drinking water. I wish I could afford to buy spring water for them like I do for myself. Our city water is so hard it leaves thick calcium deposits on everything. It ruins plumbing. I won't use it in my humidifiers or as drinking water even if it's filtered. I don't know anyone that can drink our tap city water and feel good afterwards. I won't even cook with tap water here.
Ummm ..... Just so you know, that pur water filter does nothing for hard water. Calcium and Magnesium are the main culprits for hard water, and CAN NOT be removed with a filter. The only exception to this is Reverse Osmosis filtration. You can buy a R.O. system for less than $300 that will give you and your loved ones PURE water not PUR water. If this is something you would be interested in let me know I can help you through the process.
My water is horrible so the cats and birds and I drink bottled spring water and I figure my turtle and tortoises eat their own poop, so they can drink the water...
It is very important to know WHAT is in your water, including bottled water. 99% of bottled water has minerals added for taste. What exact minerals is important. Example: a person with kidney issues would benefit from a water that has Calcium added, to bind Potassium. A bottled water that has added potassium would be BAD for a person with kidney issues. VERY important to know whats being put into our bodies.
RO water is the only bottled water besides spring that I can actually drink myself. So I agree. Ozonated really affects me because I have allergies. It makes me feel like I have a noose around my neck squeezing. I can tell that the pur water filter does nothing for the hard water. It will build up the calcium deposits on teapots etc anyway. I'm more concerned about chlorine and the other chemicals in our tap water or I would do the RO filtration for my animals too. I'm not sure that that can be done in our house because of the type of house it is. It would take so many major changes that it may be detrimental to the plumbing here. It's a National Home built in probably the 50's. 😊
