Dirty hay water=Tortoise tea? Or stupid idea?

[TechnoCheese]

So I normally don’t soak Curtis’s orchard grass hay before I feed it, because he doesn’t seem to mind and eats it just fine anyway. I usually just mist it a bit. But tonight, since I probably won’t have time to feed him a proper meal in the morning before school tomorrow, I decided to fill a Tupperware container with water and soak the hay overnight so I can just dump it in his enclosure tomorrow morning.

While I was stuffing grass into the water, I decided to cut up all of the pieces, just for fun. By the time I was done cutting, I noticed that the water kinda looked like tea and smelled sweet, so when my curiosity got the better of me I tasted it. It kinda tastes like watered down sweet tea, lol.

While I don’t think it would make a very good “tea” for human consumption, would it have any health benefits at all for tortoises? Could soaking a tortoise in it have any good effects? Maybe a sick one?
Would it be too sugary? Whatever’s in the water was already in the hay, so I would think there wouldn’t be any ill effects?
Maybe soak some pellets in it if they refuse to eat them?

Or are these just stupid questions?

Tomorrow after school, I might try filling a small dish with it to see if he’ll take a sip. It would be kinda funny if we could make our tortoises a sort of “tea”, lol.

 

[TechnoCheese]

 

[wellington]

I can't believe you tasted it. I have soaked the same hay and though the water was gross. I wouldn't use it mainly because it's partly dusty dirty. I wouldn't think it would be harmful though.
Now any mazuri soak water I don't waste.

 

[Tom]

I agree with Barb. I think a lot of that coloration in the water is dust and dirt.

I also wouldn't soak the hay over night and then leave it in a warm enclosure for hours. I'd be worried about mold, mildew, fungus or bacteria growing in an environment like that. A half hour of hay soaking should be enough, and an hour is plenty.

I wouldn't soak a tortoise in it, but maybe I'm wrong. Maybe the tannic acid would be good for them somehow. Not an experiment I'll be conducting.

 

[TechnoCheese]

I agree with Barb. I think a lot of that coloration in the water is dust and dirt.

I also wouldn't soak the hay over night and then leave it in a warm enclosure for hours. I'd be worried about mold, mildew, fungus or bacteria growing in an environment like that. A half hour of hay soaking should be enough, and an hour is plenty.

I wouldn't soak a tortoise in it, but maybe I'm wrong. Maybe the tannic acid would be good for them somehow. Not an experiment I'll be conducting.

Good to know, thank you!
I have no reason to try and soak Curtis in it, but I think I’ll try giving him a shallow dish of it tomorrow, just to see if he’ll try it. I doubt anything will happen, but I have nothing better to do, lol.

 

[TechnoCheese]

Here’s what it looks like strained-
Man, really didn’t think hay water could get this dark! I decided to be nasty again and taste it, and it still smells and tastes like watered down sweet tea(not that I’ve had much sweet tea, but I think it’s kind of like what it tastes like?). The dark coloration isn’t just dirt, is it? I would imagine most of it is just the tannins leaching into the water?