hi, i have recently been bought a horsfield tortoise. we were told that she is 3 years old. i think she is doing well, very active and has a good apetite but i have noticed that whe she has a wee it has white lumps in it and on some occasions it has been a bit slimy. can you offer any advce or possible reasons for this.

Hi Tobiesmum, The urates are or should be like toothpaste. This is normal and is the biproducts of food that they cannot digest (like protein). If it is lumpy or gritty then bath more often as this is an early sign of dehydration. Bathes should be of warm water and come up to under the tortoises chin, if they can stay in there for about 20mins then this is great, do it twice per day if urates are gritty. If you click on The Tortoise on the left hand menu then a list of care sheets will come up, have a read of the Horsfield one as they offer a great deal of practical advise. There will be lots of questions initially so don't be shy in asking.

Enjoy

Elaine

thanks for the quick response. daisy is housed indoors at the mo in an indoor guinea pig cage, i have two cats so an open top would not be safe, she has a 5% uv strip and a 60w reflector, she is fed on a mix of lambs lettuce, radichio and dandelines sprinkeled with nutrobal is this ok. i have only had for 3 weeks so am still learning. substrate is 50/50 play sand and john innes no3 

Hi Tobiesmum to the site from me too!

The indoor guinea pig cage is fine, I have some of my smaller one in one too, they are easy to take outside too when the sun shines (thats if its easy to unhook the lights!!). The food you mention is fine, soon you will be able to drop the lettuce as there will be plenty of weeds about.  It looks like you have done your research and have it spot on! Well done.  Any more questions just fire away!

Vivienne

Hi Tobiesmum,

Sounds like you've got a good set-up. I use one of the indoor guinea pig cages too. And the trays are so deep that you can even build a ramp up to a second level to give them more exercise.
Your UVB strip should last six months, and then you will need to change it, but when you do, I would opt for a 10.0 tube instead of another 5.0. The Reptisun 10 is good and the Reptiglo 10 is OK too. The long tubes are better than the compact ones.
The white stuff, as Elaine says, is urates and it should be either watery or slimy like toothpaste, so if gritty or sandy then take her advice about extra baths. You can also feed the leaves really wet so she gets extra water that way.
Your substrate mix is fine, but it is actually better to use topsoil (you can buy bags at any garden centre or B&Q) rather than John Innes no 3, as that has fertilizers added to it. If you want to use a John Innes instead of topsoil, then John Innes no. 1 has the fewest additives. If you spray the substrate every couple of days and mix it up well, it will be firmer and allow her to dig into it better. But it should be only slightly damp, not wet.
It would be lovely to see a photo of Daisy -- you could post one here!

Cheers,
Nina

hi thanks for the advice, its really helpful. i like the idea of putting in another level as daisy does like to expore and is a good climber but i had read somewhere that if they can see out they want out. am just worried that she will try to climb the bars and fall and hurt herself. any ideas??

Hello Tobiesmum,  Welcome to the TPG...  I am fairly new as well having adopted the most beautiful little tort. two weeks' ago.   I knew a little about Torts.as I cared for them before, but it's surprising how much you forget over the years. !!    I hope you have a great time reading through all the pages of TPG ...  I do.     Anyway...  here's hoping you enjoy your new Tortoise.    best wishes.. Marilyn. x