first soaking

[codyv34]

Igore received his first soaking today, and he deffinetly didnt enjoy it! the whole time he just wanted to escape, i can tell this will be a fun ritual

 

[JoesMum]

1 Make sure he can't see out -a deep box is good.
2 Bath first thing in the morning when he's not warmed up properly for fewer escape attempts.
3 Make sure the water is warm (not hot) and he's more likely to relax

I can't guarantee any of the above will work. He may be just like my son and think baths are for girls!

 

[Yvonne G]

In my experience, most Russian (Agrionemys horsfieldii) tortoises don't like to be put into a tub of water. But keep at it. The exercise he gets while trying to escape, and the soak will do him a world of good.

 

[codyv34]

i read that it will help hydrate him which makes sense for obvious reasons, but i also read that it will help him not be as stressed out, is this true because him trying to escape just makes me feel like he his stressed out

 

[JoesMum]

The most important thing about soak is hydration. Most torts will relax in the bath... It is new, so he's bound to be stressed to start with... Give him time. Getting into a routine helps reduce stress. Tort will be expecting it and knows what is going on.

A morning bath, followed by breakfast is a great start to a human day. Joe enjoys it too... it doesn't mean he won't make an escape attempt, that's his right! As Joe is soaked in the human bath, you'd have thought he'd have worked out the sides are too high by now

 

[Talka]

I got Sheldon at the start of November. It wasn't until last week when I bought him a big, roomy, black dish pan to soak in that he FINALLY relaxed and stretched out like a starfish. So, it can take a while.

 

[DreadHeadMomma]

Keep at it. The first few times I soaked my Sully he didn't seem to like it at all (I'm pretty sure he had never been soaked before I got him), and now he stretches out and falls asleep half the time. First thing when he wakes up in the morning he walks to the front of his enclosure and stares out at me until I get up and get him in the bath

 

[GeoTerraTestudo]

In my experience, most Russian (Agrionemys horsfieldii) tortoises don't like to be put into a tub of water. But keep at it. The exercise he gets while trying to escape, and the soak will do him a world of good.

Hey, how come you're not stickin' 'em in Testudo?

In my experience, a warm bath makes all the difference. My Russians tried to escape from a bath that was too cool, but seemed to relax in one that was nice and warm. I don't measure the temperature, but all I can say is, I just make it feel like a warm aquarium (low 80's F, probably), and they just sit there ... until it cools down after about 5-10 minutes, and then they start moving around again, so that's when I take them out.

EDIT: BTW - When I kept boxies and later a redfoot, it seemed like the only time they weren't moving around in the bath was when they took a moment to eliminate waste. And then they were at it again. Maybe this is because both of them come from wetter climates and like to swim a bit more, but that's just a guess.

 

[TortLuver]

Thelma loves her soaks, I put her in a big round tub, warm water, and put the lid on loosely with a towel over it and it makes like a little sauna for her, she seems to get mad when its time to come out !!!
But then she goes right to eating her morning meal.

 

[codyv34]

Now igore is starting to enjoy them much more. For the first few minutes he will try to get out, and then he just relaxes, sometimes i swear hes going to fall asleep

 

[Comrad Turtles "grandma"]

Huh- never thought about giving Comrad his bath BEFORE he eats. I do set him in dish, on my coffee table while the sun shines on him, the warm water combined with the sun beams seems to make him happy I will definitley try the bath in the morning before he starts sunning and before he eats. @ Codyv32 - I'm glad that Igore is getting more used to them

 

[lvemygirls]

We've had our Russian about 7 weeks. After some trial and error, I've found that he really does seem to love his bath when it's warm. He'll sprawl out and relax, but when the temp drops to feeling cool to the touch, he's trying to climb the sides of his tub so I've just started refilling the tub about half way through and he gets about 15 minutes of nice, warm relaxing bath. Then we dry him off, he runs around the upstairs hallway for about 10 minutes then I put him in his table and get his food.