How Often to soak?

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sunshine_hugs

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I see tons of threads on soaking your tortoise, often seeing people soaking everyday. I'm wondering how often I should be soaking mine.

I have 4 water dishes big enough for soaking, in their enclosure...I see them in the dishes on a regular basis (I have a couple of the dishes strategically place by the hides).

So far, I just do a "forced" soak on them once a week, for 25 mins. During dry season, I was soaking 2 - 3 times a week. On the days it doesn't rain, I water their enclosure.

I do place the newest hatchlings in their water dish everyday, if I haven't seen them in there.

I'm not just soaking them once a week because I don't have time, or because I'm lazy, I just thought it was sufficient, seeing as they all seem to soak themselves. If it's something I should do everyday, I will.

Thanks!

....two of our new arrivals that I'm just holding for a friend...this is pre-soak.

 

Yvonne G

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RE: How Often?

I soak babies daily for 15-20 minutes. Once they start going outside (when they're about a year old), I place a large, shallow waterer in their habitat and let them soak themselves. If I happen to pick one up and he feels light, I'll soak that one, but usually leave the outdoor torts alone to get their own water.

I also carry a spray bottle of water around with me in the mornings when I feed all the different baby habitats, and when I put the food on the feeding tile, I'll spray it with water.
 

sunshine_hugs

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Thanks Yvonne. I think I'll bump the hatchlings up to daily soakings...and maybe continue weekly soakings for the older ones. They are all housed outside, but the tiny hatchlings are separate.
 

Tom

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Just a general note on this sort of advice:

All of us offer advice based on our own varied experiences in the environments where we live or have lived. YOU are in a much different environment than what most of us are familiar with. Please just take that into consideration with all of the advice you get.

Personally I soak hatchlings daily too, but I don't do RFs and my area is very different than yours climate wise. Humidity, rainfall, daily highs and lows, enclosure design, water bowl suitability and how much they use it, are all factors to consider. Even considering all of the above, if they drink on their own and they are already well hydrated, daily soaks will hurt nothing and offer the benefits of daily handling and desensitization, makes SURE they are hydrated, health checks and it keeps them cleaner too. I've noticed quite a few things on my tortoises during soaks that I might not have seen otherwise.
 

sunshine_hugs

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mainey34 said:
I would also suggest soaking babies daily.

Thank you. I'm definitely going to. :)


Tom said:
Just a general note on this sort of advice:

All of us offer advice based on our own varied experiences in the environments where we live or have lived. YOU are in a much different environment than what most of us are familiar with. Please just take that into consideration with all of the advice you get.

Personally I soak hatchlings daily too, but I don't do RFs and my area is very different than yours climate wise. Humidity, rainfall, daily highs and lows, enclosure design, water bowl suitability and how much they use it, are all factors to consider. Even considering all of the above, if they drink on their own and they are already well hydrated, daily soaks will hurt nothing and offer the benefits of daily handling and desensitization, makes SURE they are hydrated, health checks and it keeps them cleaner too. I've noticed quite a few things on my tortoises during soaks that I might not have seen otherwise.


Very good points. I like soaking them for the main reason that, like you stated above, it gives me the opportunity to check them over closely. As you said, it won't hurt them.

I feel like I researched the crap out of redfoots, but there are so many things I learn everyday, and so many questions I still have. Like most keepers, I just want to do what's best for my little guys...it's now just finding a routine and getting into the rhythm.

I'll be adding daily soaks, and biannual faecal samples (from another of my posts), to my list. All of this is helping me to feel prepared but not paranoid. I'm so thankful for TFO.
 
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