Do you soak your healthy adult tortoises regularly?

[pdrobber]

I can understand warm soaking of hatchlings/babies, sickly or very dry tortoises (of all ages), torts coming out of hibernation or newly acquired tortoises.

However, I'm not sure I want to get into a regular thing of soaking my healthy Russian subadults/adults.

Might it be quite stressful for them? Being picked up, moved, feeling out of place, being in the water with no way out...Yes, it might make cleaning the enclosure easier since they'll pass stool and urine/urates in the water. It also might be a good opportunity for owners to monitor urates/poop, and get the carapace wet in place of a misting, but does this benefit outweigh the cost of whatever stressing/scaring of the tortoise may be occurring?

Is the defecation/urination a result of being scared/stressed or is it a result of being in warm water, similar to the sensation other animals, even people get when in a body of water? (oo I'm in a source of water, I can excrete this waste and fill up on fresh stuff, even though they might not actually drink during a soak and it might not actually be fresh/safe drinking water)

Would a tortoise be more balanced/healthy/hydrated/happy if it is handled minimally and allowed to drink/defecate/urinate at its own will rather than being encouraged by soaking?

I personally found that when I soaked one of my tortoises regularly, urates were still gritty. She was too scared, wouldn't stop flailing (some might say which is a good form of exercise), and probably didn't even calm down enough to consider drinking. Urates became smooth only after I provided a water bowl that allowed drinking to occur when the tortoise felt comfortable to do so.

I believe it has been debated whether or not and up to what part of the digestive tract nutrient absorption takes place...would soaking and scaring, essentially forcing defecation interfere with this process? Also, might sound funny/weird but are there any benefits of tortoises eating their poop? This is something else that doesn't take place if excrement comes out during soaks rather than in enclosure.

Please share your thoughts if you are reading this. Everyone appreciates when their threads are acknowledged and receive replies. Thanks in advance.

 

[ascott]

In response to your thread question;

Yes, how do you think they stay healthy silly

My CDTs do not do their business in their soak...two of my four hate it so I replace the soak bowl with pallets filled by the sprinkler....the other two play in the sprinkler and also love soaks....each tortoise I care for have shallow soaking dishes in their yards and readily climb on in and soak and sleep in them....

The RFs now..they do their business in the soak and then I empty our the mess...rinse the container plop em back in for awhile and they are good to go...

I will forever be sold on soaking any tortoise of any age...my old man tortoise while in the care of my old boss became solidly impacted with sand...stopped eating drinking moving and was essentially on deaths door...and worst of all he lost his fight...so he piggie backed on my hope and will and I soaked him twice a day for 5-6 weeks in which time he cleared his body of all the sand...once he did he has the best appetite of all my tortoise...he could give a Willie a run for their money on food consumption and I let him eat until he is full nowadays....he also is my best soaker...he can soak for hours if I let him...he drinks relaxes then sleeps in his soaks...even when he self soaks in his yard dish.....

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Sorry...using my dumb smart phone..the word "Willie" should be " sullie "....lol

 

[dmmj]

I don't soak healthy adults, my russians drink and soak themselves, they hate to soak when I want them to.

 

[terryo]

I don't soak anyone who's healthy and eating well. Most hatchlings (box turtles) I feed in a little bit of water, so that's their soak. I never soaked my CH's.

 

[Laura]

no.. cant lift them... but they always have water available to them.

 

[Terry Allan Hall]

Soak mine 2-3X a week, during the winter...during the warm part of the year, they have a large water dish in their enclosure they avail themselves of pretty much daily, usually around 3pm til 5pm.

Doesn't seem to stress them at all.

 

[Jacqui]

No I don't as long as they are healthy, eating, moving around, and such. I tend to have a hands off approach with my tortoises. I try to give them as much of a natural situation as I can in such a contained and limited space. Then I let them do their own things. Food is not left on a plate all nicely cut up. Instead whole plant material is left spread out in different spots every day for them to find. Water is there for them to soak as they desire.

Heck, normally I don't even soak them or give them bathes when I am going to take their pictures.

 

[Tom]

It depends on the weather. When its "cold" here, I soak them much less. During the hot summers, where temps are around 100 every day, I soak them once a week or so. Could they survive with out it? Yes. Probably. They do drink their normal drinking water too. However, I do think it is still good for them. Some of mine seem to like it less than others, but ALL of them just get used to it. I think the small amount of potential stress that we are possibly causing is far outweighed by the health benefits. Think for a moment of the life of a wild tortoise. Constantly struggling to find food, water, shelter, mates and avoiding predation. All the while battling parasites, both internal and external. That is a pretty substantial amount of stress to deal with all day everyday. Now compare that to life in YOUR enclosure. Sure is a big difference from where I'm sitting. As a student of animal behavior and health, I have seen several studies that demonstrated health benefits from introducing SOME stress into a wild animals captive environment. Not a lot of stress all day every day, but some stress from time to time simulates the wild and really gets their "juices" flowing. Now with the majority of my torts, who are desensitized and very used to it, I don't think I am inducing a whole lotta stress by soaking them once a week or so in the summer. I would think that a wild caught Russian would experience a greater level of stress from soaking than my hand raised CBB sulcatas or leopards. Even still I think it is a worthwhile trade to possibly stress them a little in order to get the health benefits of good hydration. Like Angela, I too have seen some life threatening problems due to lack of hydration in captive tortoises. In most cases the tortoise had water available to them, but for various reasons did not partake enough.

Good topic Peter. I think opinions will run the spectrum, and its certainly possible that different torts, in different environments might have different needs. In other words, I don't think there really is a "right" or "wrong" here.

 

[pdrobber]

Thanks for the feedback. After posting, I realized I had only my Russians in mind while I wrote it. My Sulcata, Mike, rather appears to be very relaxed during his warm soaks, as long as the water doesn't get too deep, then he thinks he needs to swim, creating more waves and getting himself worked up. My redfoot does actually drink during her soaks. Maybe it's the fact that the Russians are WC, or maybe it's just their stubborn personalities that make them dislike and uncomfortable during soaks so much to not drink during them.

 

[Utah Lynn]

I soak my Russians to keep them clean. They enjoy it.

 

[Maggie Cummings]

I don't soak Bob, he has a water dish he can drink from when he needs to and in the summertime he has that big hole he can climb into. I do soak all the other tortoises or box turtles I have. I also handle them to get them used to it. I have noticed that when I take them to the Vet they don't fight the exam; they are not afraid and they keep their heads out, making it easier to get a look in their mouths etc. So my animals are basically stress free when it comes to being handled. I pretty much don't believe that handling them causes stress. I think that handling them makes them more relaxed and more used to being held. I hold them carefully supporting their body and at times I hold them against my chest. None of my animals defecate in their soaking water and if they are going to drink they do it right away when I first put them in the water. They enjoy their soaking, putting their faces under the water and closing their eyes. They float around for a while and when they are ready to get out they start splashing at the sides of the container, so I take them out and dry them off totally, rubbing them with a towel before I put them back in their habitat.

 

[Katherine]

Hmm interesting post; got me thinking! I personally do not soak my healthy adult tortoises however they all have a place to soak and a place to drink and they utilize them on their own. I found that by transitioning to a soaking "dish" they can get into and out of on their own as they got older they eventually figured it out, and soak themselves as needed. That said if I were to notice one not drinking, acting sluggish or if I had not seen them in The Dish for a few weeks the first thing I'd think to do was pop em in there. I don't see how soaking them would be anything but beneficial; I just dont see the need in my own situation. GL!

 

[Terry Allan Hall]

Hmm interesting post; got me thinking! I personally do not soak my healthy adult tortoises however they all have a place to soak and a place to drink and they utilize them on their own. I found that by transitioning to a soaking "dish" they can get into and out of on their own as they got older they eventually figured it out, and soak themselves as needed. That said if I were to notice one not drinking, acting sluggish or if I had not seen them in The Dish for a few weeks the first thing I'd think to do was pop em in there. I don't see how soaking them would be anything but beneficial; I just dont see the need in my own situation. GL!

I approach as a "can't hurt, so better safe than sorry" situation...it may not be essential, but they seem to like it well enough, and when they're outside, they're almost always in their "pond" every afternoon for a few hours, so I afford them the same option a couple times a week during "inside time".