Renal disease is a major cause of mortality in captive tortoises.
Due to the lack of characteristic changes in blood and urine parameters diagnosis of renal disfunction by hematology and urine analysis is sometimes unreliable. In addition to that the shell impedes sonographic and radiographic imaging of the kidneys and the urinary bladder in tortoises. Therefore the purpose of our study was to investigate the applicability of urography and cystography in tortoises. The urinary bladder was injected by cystocentesis in three tortoises. By intravenous urography the kidneys were clearly visible in 5 animals.