bathing / cleaning

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pinkydinkydoo

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hi everyone, just a quick question. How often should a hermann be bathed and cleaned. someone suggested using a soft toothbrush and luke warm water. i dont want to risk my hermann's health.
-anneka-
 

Watermelon

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I was told that for a Hermann under 1 year old it should be every day for up to 20 minutes. Older than that every other day or less.

I dont use a toothbrush, I use a sponge and squeeze out the water onto her shell. I don't wipe at all with anything.

Also when I bath her the water isn't higher than her chin and yes lukewarm water.
 

missmoofi

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Watermelon said:
I was told that for a Hermann under 1 year old it should be every day for up to 20 minutes. Older than that every other day or less.

I dont use a toothbrush, I use a sponge and squeeze out the water onto her shell. I don't wipe at all with anything.

Also when I bath her the water isn't higher than her chin and yes lukewarm water.

my Hermann LuLu has buried herself, would it be OK to get her out to bathe her, I dont like to think I would be disturbing her ??
 

Watermelon

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Ha I havent seen my Hermann do that yet! I take it Lulu is asleep? I usually wait an hour after Phoebe has woken before I bathe her so shes properly woken up.
 

missmoofi

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Watermelon said:
Ha I havent seen my Hermann do that yet! I take it Lulu is asleep? I usually wait an hour after Phoebe has woken before I bathe her so shes properly woken up.

well I dont know, I can only see the top of her shell, she's new to us (4days) so I thought it was a 'settling' in thing....Ive asked elsewhere if I should be worried, we live in Spain so she shouldnt be hibernating and she hasnt come out of the hole as yet, I know she's alive as she's wiggled now and then...but Im worried as she hasnt eaten anything Ive left but there is stuff in the garden she can eat and I have left fresh water every day of course..any thoughts ?
 

Isa

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There is a "bath" in each of my tortoises enclosures. It is very important to have a "water dish" in a tortoise enclosure because we have to let them the possibility to drink when they want. I put my tortoises everyday in their luwarm shallow bath, they can get out and come back whenever they want.
 

dmarcus

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For my hatchling sulcata, I will use a soft tooth brush to give him a good cleaning maybe once a week with his daily soaks. I do that to get any built up mud or poop off the bottom of his shell.
 

Madkins007

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The main reasons to clean a tortoise are to:
- Prevent plastron rots and skin issues
- Make them pretty for pictures
- and that is about it.

I would suggest that if you need to clean them more than once a month or so, that your substrate is possibly not the best choice- too muddy or too much clay soil, too wet, etc. You may want to work in some more sand and organic material.
 

ascott

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Wow...that is funny stuff....I have all male grown Ca Desert Tortoise and I know they are healthy when they are all dusty and dirty...sometimes they make like piglets and wallow in a mud puddle from time to time...so funny is the difference between species, huh.... :p
 
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