Can you overhydrate a tortoise?

[Kerryann]

Last night, I put Betty in her bath and she massively pooped five times. Henry pooped three times but neither of them released their urates. My husband said that they are releasing a lot of urates into their cages. We give them fresh water daily and most of it is gone by the next day (I always thought it was evaporation), and I spray their food with water daily. They get baths every two or three days also.

 

[tortadise]

As long as they are not getting "poofy" skin on the theirs necks and legs and you don't see any kind of water retention, then your good. It will look like your tort swelled up when that happens.

 

[Tom]

I have never heard of a tortoise being over hydrated. I have a friend who soaked and sunned his small sulcatas in a kiddie pool filled with shallow water for hours on end. He did this almost daily for 4-5 hours most days and never had a problem. I soak my hatchlings daily, and if it was hot out while they got their daily sun and exercise outdoors, I will let them soak for 45-60 minutes. I also spray their food, have a water bowl for them and spray their shells. I have not ever experienced any problems with too much water.

 

[Kerryann]

That's good to know. I was worried since they were from a dessert environment if you could give them too much water. They are both healthy little monsters.

 

[GeoTerraTestudo]

All animals (including us) can be overhydrated, leading to a condition called hyponatremia, which simply means the salts in the blood are too dilute. This leads to temporary difficulty in moving, because our nerves and muscles rely on salts to function properly. Really bad hyponatremia can lead to death, but this is very rare. Some human athletes can get hyponatremia if they worry about becoming dehydrated, and force themselves to drink more than feels right. One woman died of hypnatremia, because she was trying to break a record for the most water drunken in a day; she drank so much, that she got organ failure and died.

I mention all of this to say that, only a human would be crazy enough to drink more than he or she needs to. Tortoises are not that crazy, so in practice, no, they will not become overhydrated.