Weighty matters

If urates were gold, my tortoise parents could have my vet bills covered for life!

When I said I outdid myself last night by drinking and expressing my bladder so it flushed out the urates, I was not kidding. Those urates must weigh a lot because I weigh 116 grams LESS this morning than just two days ago. Yikes! Who knew a bladder flush could add up to so much weight? (4 common ounces)

So it's obvious there's a lot of variation in my weight depending on what I've been up to. Back when I was tube feeding, a meal would equal 100 grams. And to keep things simple, so could a healthy poop. Equilibrium!

Well I'm not upset about this weight loss. Losing urates is a very good thing. Two years ago I was hauling around a bladder stone that Dr. Johnson said accounted for 1/10 of my total weight. Shudder. So I think flushing out 4 ounces of urates last night is a very good thing. I have to work hard at it because Dr. Johnson says some tortoises, especially urban tortoises, tend to make bladder stones. We don't know if it's diet, access to water or just genetics, but now that we know I have that high risk factor, we stay on top of it with soaking to promote bladder flushes and check-ups with Dr. Johnson. He can actually feel stones when they're smaller and remove them without invasive surgery. My goal, of course, is to not form another stone if I can help it. So I'm a soaking/flushing tortoise now. Who says a tortoise (of a certain age) can't learn new healthy habits? You can see what I'm trying to prevent here.

Did you know that tortoises don't drink standing water? That's why we come out if there's a chance of rain. Oh we love rainwater! We'll sip it right off the patio or when it collects in the grass. And then we store it in our special bladders that take in water from the mouth and from the cloaka. When rain comes so infrequently in the desert, it's a handy thing to be able to tank up from both ends!

The rest of the time we get water from our food and store it all until the next rain. That's why picking up a tortoise in the wild can kill them as they will flush their bladder in an attempt to protect themselves. Then the bladder is empty and they might not survive until the next rain. They don't get to soak like I do.