Will VANILLA BEAN be alright?

[immayo]

Just a min ago when I was giving my reds a soak I noticed Vanilla Bean had some pepper seed shaped things in her stool. After thinking about it, I realized I haven't given them anything with seeds so I examined them. They are hard like stones. Are they urates? I've never seen this from my yearling so I am not sure what to think or do. Please help!

 

[ascott]

Are they solid, like small pebbles perhaps to her liking?

 

[Arnold_rules]

Just a min ago when I was giving my reds a soak I noticed Vanilla Bean had some pepper seed shaped things in her stool. After thinking about it, I realized I haven't given them anything with seeds so I examined them. They are hard like stones. Are they urates? I've never seen this from my yearling so I am not sure what to think or do. Please help!

Not trying to panic you, but they could be small bladder stones. And to answer your question, yes they are calcified urates. I am not a animal doc, but I play one on TV and stayed at a Comfort Inn Just continue watching the stool and see if she passes any more. My CDT had a large stone, imagine the size of a large baseball, and his vet had a herb from South America that was supposed to prevent bladder stones. PM me and I will give you his name, although you may know since you are in Gilbert.

 

[Levi the Leopard]

What has JD said about these?

Hope the lil' bean will be ok.

BTW great picture for reference. You did very well giving a clear shot with a ruler for size comparison. Just wanted you to know that I think you did good

 

[N2TORTS]

Whit' ... not sure exactly what those are....they could be oxalates
but hard to determine from the picture. Has Bean been kept well hydrated? Do you feed her lots of kale by chance? to much protein can also cause them ...I found an old thread that sheds some light on ......"Oxalates"
How do her eyes look? ......as well as her behavior, diet , overall condition?....... If you see any changes in her don’t hesitate to go have her checked out if something looks off balance.


http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-37761.html

JD~

 

[immayo]

She looks normal to me and is acting fine. I am going to try soaking them all more often. I just got done feeding them a head of green leaf and before that I was feeding them endive and dandelion greens. I have also been throwing in different fruits lately like: mango, cactus fruit, honeydew and cherries once. I also give Mazuri once a week... if this continues I will take her to a tortoise vet. I was just wondering what is going on and how dangerous this is.

I hope she'll be alright.
Luckily I haven't seen this from the others.

 

[N2TORTS]

She looks normal to me and is acting fine. I am going to try soaking them all more often. I just got done feeding them a head of green leaf and before that I was feeding them endive and dandelion greens. I have also been throwing in different fruits lately like: mango, cactus fruit, honeydew and cherries once. I also give Mazuri once a week... if this continues I will take her to a tortoise vet. I was just wondering what is going on and how dangerous this is.

I hope she'll be alright.
Luckily I haven't seen this from the others.

Hummmm cherries? ...... sorta looks like a partial mangled digested cherry pit ...( even if the can says seedless)

or a darn button ....how your sleeves holding up ?

 

[immayo]

I made sure to take the pits out before I fed them. Idk these "stones" look weird. They both have the same weird shape to them.

 

[N2TORTS]

I made sure to take the pits out before I fed them. Idk these "stones" look weird. They both have the same weird shape to them.

yes they do ......nip a piece off if your saving them for the Vet. But the piece you took off ... burn it with a lighter ....what does it smell like ?

 

[immayo]

Well Ryan just soaked her again and she pooped out a smaller one. So I attempted to burn it. Ryan thought I was crazy and looked like I was doing crack because I had it on a spoon trying to burn it. It didn't catch on fire really but turned a little black. Idk what it's supposed to smell like. Just smelt a little poopy to me. They are super hard though, I tried break it and couldn't. Maybe if I busted out a hammer...

 

[Baoh]

What else do you feed them? Not recently. Over more time.

lmfao @ the scene

 

[immayo]

Let's see...

One time she ate something in my yard I thought was clover but another forum member told me it wasn't and not to let her eat it
The other day she ate a cooked pea
I've given a little kale
Strawberry
Blueberry
Blackberry
Cooked carrot
Mushroom
Spring mix
Mango
Cactus fruit
Star fruit
Endive
Dandelion Greens
Green Leaf
Mazuri

 

[N2TORTS]

Ha Ha Baoh .... <grin> ...Ok Whit .. the reason I asked is I wanted to eliminate any type of foreign plastic material ( we all know what that smells like) . Also bone burns different , although does char. Poopy stuff will char and smell more organic . I’m simply narrowing down some of the possibilities, it's hard to tell from here and the consistent shape is very unusual ...

 

[luvpetz27]

I hope everything turns out ok Whitney!!
Good luck!!!

 

[Baoh]

Might want to eliminate the spring mix if that stone happens to end up being oxalate based.

Are you feeding any other spinach source? Pothos source? Lamb's ear? Taro? If so, cut them out.

 

[immayo]

The spring mix I use doesn't have spinach in it because I'm not supposed to eat that either. The only other food I can think of is turnip greens. ..

 

[Baoh]

The oxalic acid content in turnip greens should be comparable to that in Romaine lettuce (IIRC).

 

[immayo]

MYSTERY SOLVED!!!

So, I wasn't 100% satisfied with the oxalate answer since all of these were coming out the same size and shape in 3 out of 4 of my torts. I bought another cactus fruit and checked it this time and they are most deff. seeds from in there! Now my question is are these safe? I never saw my smallest tort poop one out but I'm hoping they wouldn't cause a blockage... Any opinions???

 

[Levi the Leopard]

glad you got your answer!!

 

[Baoh]

Wonderful conclusion. Probably not an issue. Lots of tortoises are great little (and/or big) seed dispersal agents.