Drinking Water

[Mark S]

Hi,

I have two tortoises (Greek and Eastern Hermanns), and both are fully grown. Unfortunately I have never been able to get either of them to drink water. I supplement their diets with lettuce and cucumber to help keep them hydrated, but would like to try and get them to drink water as well. Both animals have been in my family for 50+ years and have been passed down to me. Prior to my taking care of them they were looked after but care was not optimal. Having lived so long and having not drunk any actual water that I'm aware of, could it be possible that they won't take to drinking it even if I provide it for them in the correct way? Any suggestions welcome. Thanks for your help.

Mark

 

[Markw84]

Do you soak your tortoises and have drinking water available 24/7? All my tortoises will drink, but many times I will not see it. When you bathe them, do they release water (pee)? Mine almost always do that telling me they are well hydrated. Since the water they release can be almost totally clear, you have to watch for it.

 

[wellington]

Be sure you have a low sided dish. We like using clay saucers the kind that goes under flower pots. Bury it so the rim is level with the substrate. If you have an outdoor area, try building a shallow pool for them to drink out of. Make both pool and dish big enough they can get themselves into it and still stretch their head out to drink.

 

[RosemaryDW]

Welcome!

Are your tortoises living outdoors? My Russian has only ever actively drunk in my presence after coming out of hibernation; she occasionally licks water off plants. She never used her water saucer; after a year we put it away and just stick with a weekly soaking (where she also never drinks anything.)

Better access to water is always a good idea, just thinking a fifty year old tortoise must be fairly healthy.

 

[Mark S]

.

 

[Mark S]

Do you soak your tortoises and have drinking water available 24/7? All my tortoises will drink, but many times I will not see it. When you bathe them, do they release water (pee)? Mine almost always do that telling me they are well hydrated. Since the water they release can be almost totally clear, you have to watch for it.

I soak them in hot weather and post hibernation. I can't say that I've ever noticed them urinating when being soaked, though; I'll look out for it in future. Their urate is pure white (a bit like toothpaste), which, I believe, indicates that they are hydrated.

 

[Mark S]

Be sure you have a low sided dish. We like using clay saucers the kind that goes under flower pots. Bury it so the rim is level with the substrate. If you have an outdoor area, try building a shallow pool for them to drink out of. Make both pool and dish big enough they can get themselves into it and still stretch their head out to drink.

Thanks for the advice. Mine are both outdoors. Unfortunately, I'm not sure that my parents will allow me to build a small pool, but I'll think of something.

 

[Mark S]

Welcome!

Are your tortoises living outdoors? My Russian has only ever actively drunk in my presence after coming out of hibernation; she occasionally licks water off plants. She never used her water saucer; after a year we put it away and just stick with a weekly soaking (where she also never drinks anything.)

Better access to water is always a good idea, just thinking a fifty year old tortoise must be fairly healthy.

Yes, they are both outdoors.
That's my thinking too - my great-grandmother found them in the 50s or 60s, and they're still strolling about today, so they must be fairly healthy.

 

[wellington]

Thanks for the advice. Mine are both outdoors. Unfortunately, I'm not sure that my parents will allow me to build a small pool, but I'll think of something.

It's not really a pool as much as a shallow hole lined with cement or even pond liner. @ZEROPILOT does what I'm talking about, maybe he can post a pic of his. Even a very large clay saucer buried into the ground would do. Just so it's more user friendly for them to walk in and out of to self soak and drink

 

[ZEROPILOT]

These are my three "pools"
The small one is simply a depression lined with mortar mix. It's for babies in a secure outdoor pen.
The other two were made with pavers shaped into a pool of the correct depth and then also covered in mortar mix.
I sweep them out with a broom and fill them back up via PVC pipes I've run that hang right above them.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

I've also used gigantic aluminum cooking sheets.
But I was concerned about them heating the water.

 

[RosemaryDW]

Yes, a plant saucer buried into the ground was what we used. Easy and cheap! But I've never thought about whether you could easily find one large enough for a Greek.

Very accessible! But it ended up being used entirely as a bird bath--we have cats--and we removed it.

 

[Mark S]

These are my three "pools"
The small one is simply a depression lined with mortar mix. It's for babies in a secure outdoor pen.
The other two were made with pavers shaped into a pool of the correct depth and then also covered in mortar mix.
I sweep them out with a broom and fill them back up via PVC pipes I've run that hang right above them.

Great. Thanks for the advice.