Do you baby food soak?
- Thread starter tortwalt
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I use Gerber veggie medley baby food or carrot baby food. They enjoy the taste a little more and it encourages them to drink some more, and it has more vitamins than regular water.
I generally use carrot as they don't get carrot in their diet with me unless it's a treat (good source of vitamin a)
I generally use carrot as they don't get carrot in their diet with me unless it's a treat (good source of vitamin a)
The reason for a baby food soak...THE ONLY REASON!!!... is if your tortoise/turtle has not been eating and is sitting there with swollen shut eyes. The reason you use baby food (or liquid bird vitamins) is for the vitamin A content, and with that in mind, you would use the baby food with the highest vitamin A content, or any of the red/orange foods like carrots (highest content), squash or sweet potatoes.
There is no need to soak your turtle or tortoise in anything other than clean water unless he hasn't been eating and is showing signs of sickness.
Daily clean water soaks for baby tortoises is fine.
There is no need to soak your turtle or tortoise in anything other than clean water unless he hasn't been eating and is showing signs of sickness.
Daily clean water soaks for baby tortoises is fine.
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I only do it every other week, not part of a daily routine.
TiyahLove said:
But as already stated there is only one reason to do this. Too much vitamin A is not good either. A proper diet, hydration, heat and humidity along with exercise is all that is needed for a healthy tortoise or turtle.
I could nitpick and find a few other reasons why you might do a baby food soak for the sake of argument, but other than that I agree with Yvonne. No need to soak a normal healthy tortoise in anything other than plain clean water.
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I agree that if the tortoise has a totally healthy history then plain water is all that is needed.
But if they are sick or have a history of getting sick then baby food soaks are good for recovery and prevention of regression.
Recently ,My young p.pardalis recovered from a URI by doing the baby food soaks twice a day only to see her regress right back a week after I stopped the daily carrot food soaks. I started her back on the soaks 3 days ago and she is starting to respond favorably again.
So when she fully recovers this time I think I will do a baby food soak every few days for quite some time to hopefully help prevent any future regression.
But if they are sick or have a history of getting sick then baby food soaks are good for recovery and prevention of regression.
Recently ,My young p.pardalis recovered from a URI by doing the baby food soaks twice a day only to see her regress right back a week after I stopped the daily carrot food soaks. I started her back on the soaks 3 days ago and she is starting to respond favorably again.
So when she fully recovers this time I think I will do a baby food soak every few days for quite some time to hopefully help prevent any future regression.
There have been 2 occasions that I have used the baby food soaks.
The first was with a baby cooter that was given to me from the middle of a local parking lot. His shell was scuffed from being upside down on the pavement. He initially seemed to thrive and gain weight; but during the third month, he stopped eating and at that point I tried the baby food soaks. They may have helped a little but about a month later he died.
The second time was just 2 weeks ago when one of my female Russians had stopped eating. While her weight was still in a normal range, I decided to take preventive action with a couple of baby food soaks. The good news is she has responded nicely and is now eating every day and gaining weight. But, I also upgraded her lighting by adding a Repti-Glo 10.0 UVB tube light to her enclosure. I had read someone's post on the site about the output of the UVB spotlights loosing UV output after about 90 days. So, that led me to suspect that she may be needing additional UV exposure. (Her outside time had been very limited due to the fact that my neighborhood has had a rash of thefts, the eight consecutive days of rain in October, and her shy nature causes her to hide during most of her outdoor time.)
So, in conclusion, the organic Wild Harvest squash baby food just may have helped with her return to eating.
When you notice that one of your torts is not behaving in a healthy manner, check everything that you're doing and take whatever steps you can to improve the situation.
The first was with a baby cooter that was given to me from the middle of a local parking lot. His shell was scuffed from being upside down on the pavement. He initially seemed to thrive and gain weight; but during the third month, he stopped eating and at that point I tried the baby food soaks. They may have helped a little but about a month later he died.
The second time was just 2 weeks ago when one of my female Russians had stopped eating. While her weight was still in a normal range, I decided to take preventive action with a couple of baby food soaks. The good news is she has responded nicely and is now eating every day and gaining weight. But, I also upgraded her lighting by adding a Repti-Glo 10.0 UVB tube light to her enclosure. I had read someone's post on the site about the output of the UVB spotlights loosing UV output after about 90 days. So, that led me to suspect that she may be needing additional UV exposure. (Her outside time had been very limited due to the fact that my neighborhood has had a rash of thefts, the eight consecutive days of rain in October, and her shy nature causes her to hide during most of her outdoor time.)
So, in conclusion, the organic Wild Harvest squash baby food just may have helped with her return to eating.
When you notice that one of your torts is not behaving in a healthy manner, check everything that you're doing and take whatever steps you can to improve the situation.
