A little while ago one of my male russian tortoises had a pink tinge to his urates (everything else was normal). He was active, moving around and eating. The pink lasted for a couple days and darkened into almost red. I thought about contacting the vet, but then it went away and everything has been normal since. Two days ago a different male russian had the same thing, and today his urate was pretty red. He's been active and moving around, altho last week he was sleeping in and not eating as much (it's getting cooler, so I assumed he was starting to "hibernate" even tho I keep them inside), he's been fine these past few days however.
Could this be a sign of dehydration? I dont keep water in their cages but I give them baths about every other week, and I spray down their food with water before feeding. I keep them on a dirt/sand mixture that I keep moist, with a pile of timothy hay on one end. I've read all the tortoise faq's and care sheets that I could find, and I believe they are getting everything they need to stay healthy. I also have many different supplements (vitamins, calcium, dried weeds, etc.) that I add to their food regularly.
Anyone know what this means? Should I take them to the vet, or is it a "simple" problem of more frequent baths or a certain vitamin I may need to add? Thanks for any help!
that I ordered off a reptile supply website. This would be the only "treatment" they would be receiving - could this cause anything?
