Reptile & Amphibian Forums

A friend of mine has a funny situation here. I wonder if it is caused by a tortoise.
It seems he got a pet tortoise for his kids a little over a month back. Seems like after that
they have noticed urine wet spots on their beds, floor, waste paper baskets etc.
They do not have the tortoise in a cage or pen, it is free to roam the house.
Is it possible that the tortoise is responsible for the pee. And how much would a little tortoise pee?
For some reason they seem to think it is not the tortoise but I belive he is the culprit.
Any elightenment about the tortoise elimination process would be much appreciated.

Thanks.

torts can actually pee quite a lot, even more so if stressed. if the tortoise is being played with/picked up too much or too often by the kids, that will certainly increase the accident rate. the family should allow the animal to acclimate and not handle it too often right off the bat, and the kids shoul dbe instructed to be quiet and gentle with it (and always wash up afterwards). many tortoises eventually develop surprisingly outgoing personalities if given time and patience.

tortoises really don't do well unless they have a proper enclosure. i'd recommend that your friend do research on the species and see what kind of environment it would best thrive in, paying attention to things such as humidity and lighting requirements.

a free-roaming tortoise, especially a smaller one, could get hurt in a lot of ways... stepped on, or it could pick up and swallow something it shouldn't. any time it's allowed to roam around outside its enclosure should be supervised and in a tortoise-safe environment.

maybe this isn't too long and rambling of a resonse!

I completely agree with what you've said. The floor of a house is not a good place for a tortoise. If it's weeing alot it could also be frightened (tortoises will wee when frightened suddenly, and then they're in danger of getting dehydrated if the lost fluid isn't replaced). The other point is if the tort is wandering around the house all day then it's not getting UVB).

Nina

n/p