Hello guys,

Just wanted to let you know that Mr Brown seems much better now, if fact he was a proper live wire over the weekend, must have been the sunshine !! He hasn't passed any more white stones, and definatley has his appetite back, so thanks to all for the advise, i will keep up the baths for a few more days just to be on the safe side. .... does any one know how regularly an 20 month old herman's should wee !! I have only seen one since last Thursday, is that ok, i have been bathing him two/three times a day since stone incident last Tuesday night, I ask the nicest questions !!!

Thanks

Debi    

Hi Debi,

So glad that Mr Brown seems better now! I'm not sure how often a 20 month old should wee, but I think they wee a lot less often if they are dehydrated (as they are trying to retain the water). Sometimes my tortoise wees every day and sometimes he will go several days without weeing. If he is weeing in the bath (which he probably is) and there are no urates, then you might not notice that he has had a wee. You probably don't need to bathe several times a day now, but I would bathe every other day and after he has eaten, give him a thin slice of cucumber (which is mostly water and will help to keep him hydrated. Also give him his weeds/flowers etc really wet, so he gets extra water that way too. Sounds like you've been doing just the right thing to get him back to full health.

Nina

Hi Debi,

Its good to read Mr Brown is doing ok. As Nina says it is hard to estimate how often a 20 month old should wee but i suggest you continue to bath him daily or every other day and when you feed him you could also spray the food with water as this leaves droplets on the food. His wee will not always have the white urates in it but when it does you can tell by the texture and colour if he is dehydrated. A healthy hydrated tortoise will have a creamy white colour to its urates and not too thick whereas a tortoise that is dehydated will have off white gritty urates and in more serious cases this can have a pink tinge to it.

HTH

Ali

Thanks Ali,

He seems fine at the moment, the advise from the site is a great help, i log on every day just to learn new things so thanks to all of you who take the time to answer,

How old does a tortoise have to be to be classed as a hatchling, then as a  juvenile, it's just when i read things i'm not sure which group Mr Brown belongs to, he is two in November.

Thanks everyone. 

Ahh, the exact ages of the labels juvenile, sub-adult, and adult are a topic that has been much debated {g}, but if you consult our super-duper Glossary of Terms in the Library section of this website, the definition given for hatchling is: "The young animal, just after it leaves the egg until about six months." (Just click on Library in the left-hand column, then on Glossary, and you will find over 400 terms defined).
So I guess Mr Brown is definitely a juvenile!

Nina

Hi Debi

Im really glad you are finding the forum useful, no matter how long you have been keeping tortoises there is always something new to learn!

Regarding the hatchling/juvenile/adult question - to be honest, Im not sure if there is a hard and fast answer - personally I would call the tortoise a hatchling up to about 6 - 12  months, a juvenile from about 1 yr to about 10yrs and then an adult from then on - so personally, I would say that Mr Brown is a juvenile - but you may well have differing opinions to mine!

tpg Arlene