# Bath Time!



## Darrell1738 (Feb 8, 2017)

Mahoney was enjoying a warm bath this morning! He seems to love water! Everytime I soak him (once a day) he just splashes around, and even sprawls his legs out to "lay" in the water!


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## Gillian M (Feb 8, 2017)

Darrell1738 said:


> Mahoney was enjoying a warm bath this morning! He seems to love water! Everytime I soak him (once a day) he just splashes around, and even sprawls his legs out to "lay" in the water!
> View attachment 199294
> View attachment 199295


Great to hear that! Keep up the good work Mahoney!


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## TammyJ (Feb 8, 2017)

Lovely!


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## Patty P (Feb 10, 2017)

He is doing the tortoise stroke!


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## Darrell1738 (Feb 11, 2017)

Patty P said:


> He is doing the tortoise stroke!


That's gonna have to become a real swim style


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## Tidgy's Dad (Feb 11, 2017)

No, it's the Tortypaddle.


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## Crazy Tortoise (Feb 17, 2017)

Do you use Tap or bottle?


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## JoesMum (Feb 17, 2017)

Crazy Tortoise said:


> Do you use Tap or bottle?


If your water is safe for you to drink then it is safe for your tortoise. Don't use bottled water unless you really have to


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## Lyn W (Feb 17, 2017)

Darrell1738 said:


> Mahoney was enjoying a warm bath this morning! He seems to love water! Everytime I soak him (once a day) he just splashes around, and even sprawls his legs out to "lay" in the water!
> View attachment 199294
> View attachment 199295


I love it when they stretch those little legs out and looked so relaxed.


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## Darrell1738 (Feb 17, 2017)

Crazy Tortoise said:


> Do you use Tap or bottle?


I use tap water, we have a water filter on our sink that removes chlorine.


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## Patty P (Feb 18, 2017)

My tap water is very hard and heavily chlorinated so I use distilled water.


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## Ramirezm2 (Feb 18, 2017)

Seems like a happy tortoise! The enclosure is very cool!


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## Darrell1738 (Feb 18, 2017)

Patty P said:


> My tap water is very hard and heavily chlorinated so I use distilled water.





We have this filter built in under our kitchen sink. I know the petstore I work at sells something similar called a r.o. Buddy. $60 for a filter that will do 50 gallons a day! Ours is overkill, but it comes in handy!


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## Patty P (Feb 19, 2017)

That is a fine system! I wish that would fit under my sink. My kitchen is quite old and rustic (to put it nicely).


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## Oxalis (Feb 19, 2017)

Darrell1738 said:


> and even sprawls his legs out to "lay" in the water!


My Russian will do that for approximately 1.3 seconds and then it's time to get out of the water or everybody gets it!!  I never thought to put him under his heat lamp in the water... perhaps he might enjoy that more...

Lovely plants in your tort enclosure!!


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## Darrell1738 (Feb 20, 2017)

Oxalis said:


> My Russian will do that for approximately 1.3 seconds and then it's time to get out of the water or everybody gets it!!  I never thought to put him under his heat lamp in the water... perhaps he might enjoy that more...
> 
> Lovely plants in your tort enclosure!!


Thank you! I've been trying to grow a few different types of cacti, but to no avail yet! Maybe your Russian would like to be under the heat lamp! I don't have any experience w Russians. But I put sweet Mahoney in there that morning, bc it was only 62 degrees in my house, and I didn't want him to catch a chill! (His cages hot spot is at 110 and the rest stays in the mid to low 80's).


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## Darrell1738 (Feb 20, 2017)

Oxalis said:


> My Russian will do that for approximately 1.3 seconds and then it's time to get out of the water or everybody gets it!!  I never thought to put him under his heat lamp in the water... perhaps he might enjoy that more...
> 
> Lovely plants in your tort enclosure!!


I also use warmer water, just so it's not an arctic plunge!


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## Cowboy_Ken (Feb 20, 2017)

Darrell1738 said:


> I also use warmer water, just so it's not an arctic plunge!


 Good idea with WARM water soaks. It is very important that the soaking water be at the least as warm as the warm side of his enclosure. I use a digital thermometer with the probe in the water and regularly monitor the temps. 
If the water gets too low, I scoop some out and replace it with fresher, warmer water.


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## Oxalis (Feb 20, 2017)

Cowboy_Ken said:


> Good idea with WARM water soaks. It is very important that the soaking water be at the least as warm as the warm side of his enclosure. I use a digital thermometer with the probe in the water and regularly monitor the temps.
> If the water gets too low, I scoop some out and replace it with fresher, warmer water.


Yes, I use warmer water too. He seems to be more "uncomfortable" as the water temperature cools, so I try not to keep him in a bath too long. I was thinking that taking him out of his regular enclosure confuses him since it's not his typical surroundings, and maybe that is the main reason he dislikes bath time.


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## Cowboy_Ken (Feb 21, 2017)

Oxalis said:


> I was thinking that taking him out of his regular enclosure is the main reason he dislikes bath time.


 I kinda cleaned up my quote of yours to offer a better, more likely explanation of why your little buddy doesn't "seem" to care for soaking time. Although it's in their best interests, and for their best health, they can be VERY stubborn in their ways. 
All that exercise they get while trying to get out, is just plain good for them. It helps keep the internals working and often times provides a much needed workout. And it gives us keepers the added bonus of getting to examine their, "crap" for any obvious internal parasites that might pass unnoticed otherwise. Yay us, right?
Trust me here. With regularity comes expectation and trust from your tortoise that it's not as bad as it may have first figured, and it will settle down with the regular soakings. 
You might try following the bath/soak with a favorite treat to provide some positive reinforcement to the whole routine. Just make sure it's a HEALTHY treat for your tortoise. 
In regard to the treat idea, I recently posted a thread that was concerning tortoises remembering the best place for productive food sources. You could place a colored, playing card sized piece of cardboard in the enclosure over the treat location and always use that same card/color/treat after soaking for maybe 3-6 months, while taking notes. Then, once you notice it going to the same location for a spell, change things up. You know, put the treat in a new location with the card moved there as well. 
Keep good notes and certainly keep us up to date with this. And most importantly stay honest with the tortoise. Don't set it down pointing towards the new treat location, and don't sabotage it by placing it away. Keep us up to date, I want to follow this idea. What do you think?




Holy C#%P that was a long winded post about soaking!!!LOL


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## Patty P (Feb 21, 2017)

Hi Cowboy Ken,
Your advice helped my tort with bath time. He gets a treat immediately after tubby time and that has made all the difference! Thanks!
Do you really have a ranch?


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## Cowboy_Ken (Feb 21, 2017)

Patty P said:


> Do you really have a ranch?


It might not be a ranch as most folks figure a ranch ought to to be, but it works for us…


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## Cowboy_Ken (Feb 21, 2017)

Ooopss, I pushed reply too quickly. Here's some others…my Bestest horse, Monster. He was bomb proof, and great for anyone on his back.


Here is my baby girl, Ava, enjoying blackberries, she misses the thorns


this is my view to the south. …


Here is another view. Maybe north, I don't remember.


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## Patty P (Feb 21, 2017)

By NY suburban sprawl standards, that looks like a farm or ranch! What beautiful animals!!! 
I will be visiting Astoria and Portland OR for the first time this June!


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## Oxalis (Feb 21, 2017)

Cowboy_Ken said:


> I kinda cleaned up my quote of yours to offer a better, more likely explanation of why your little buddy doesn't "seem" to care for soaking time. Although it's in their best interests, and for their best health, they can be VERY stubborn in their ways.
> All that exercise they get while trying to get out, is just plain good for them. It helps keep the internals working and often times provides a much needed workout. And it gives us keepers the added bonus of getting to examine their, "crap" for any obvious internal parasites that might pass unnoticed otherwise. Yay us, right?
> Trust me here. With regularity comes expectation and trust from your tortoise that it's not as bad as it may have first figured, and it will settle down with the regular soakings.
> You might try following the bath/soak with a favorite treat to provide some positive reinforcement to the whole routine. Just make sure it's a HEALTHY treat for your tortoise.
> ...


That's a great point you make about him getting exercise, especially since Russians will apparently walk miles a day in the wild. I always worry that he's not walking enough in captivity, but I can only make his enclosure so big! The only thing I was really worried about with him thrashing around in the tub was that he was getting too stressed out. I assume reptiles can get stressed like many other animals, but I don't know how that would specifically affect a Russian. I have tried to give him a treat after a bath but it's never really seemed to work. I can keep it up though.  Three to six months is a long time to experiment, so I can see how the results are more likely to be positive. On the plus side, he does love to drag dirt into his water dish and poop in there. He must love having a personal maid!


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