# Turtle dehydration rate



## TortoiseRacket (Feb 22, 2019)

Hello everyone! I was thinking and I came up with this question...

...If a tortoise or turtle is soaked every day, would it dehydrate quicker if left without water and soaks, just because it was so used to not having to retain water? Just wondering...please reply!


----------



## Madkins007 (Feb 22, 2019)

One of the most basic elements of a reptile is that they have waterproof skin. Soaking may have some benefits, but they are not going to hydrate to any significant extent that way. 

Since it did not get used to hydrating in the soak, there is not a risk it will dehydrate just because they are stopped. This assumes that the other care elements are appropriate for the species (temp, humidity, diet, etc.)


----------



## Stoneman (Feb 28, 2019)

Tortoises do retain water from soaks. By drinking it. One of the largest causes of deaths in captive tortoises is dehydration. If you are looking to shortcut how much time to give them, I would shortcut elsewhere.


----------

