How warm?

[nicky-mollie]

can any one tell me how warm my hermanns bath has to be? think im doing something wrong, i use a shallow dish and place it by her lamp, from what i hear she should bathe for about 15 mins but no sooner i put her in she seems to want to come back out!

 

[Crazy1]

Some torts just don't like to soak. (I have Greeks not Hermanns) That is why they are often called forced soaks. The water should come to her bridge (where her bottom shell reaches the top shell. so she can easily hold her head out of the water) the water should be baby water warm. Tepid. If you have any questions you can take a temp reading and match the water to the enclosure temp. But if your Hermanns is small they may feel vunerable and that is why it is trying to get out. I solved this in one of my hatchlings by just placing a fake plant so it was over it while it soaked. It made it feel safe and hidden. Hope this helped some.

 

[nicky-mollie]

Some torts just don't like to soak. (I have Greeks not Hermanns) That is why they are often called forced soaks. The water should come to her bridge (where her bottom shell reaches the top shell. so she can easily hold her head out of the water) the water should be baby water warm. Tepid. If you have any questions you can take a temp reading and match the water to the enclosure temp. But if your Hermanns is small they may feel vunerable and that is why it is trying to get out. I solved this in one of my hatchlings by just placing a fake plant so it was over it while it soaked. It made it feel safe and hidden. Hope this helped some.

thankyou crazy1, i will do that with the plants as she is rather shy is it nessesary for her to stay in there long? do they need all that time to hydrate?

 

[GBtortoises]

When indoors for the colder months I soak each and every one of my tortoises 2-3 times weekly. My house is dry in the winter with the heat on and the lights in the tortoise room on so I want to ensure that they stay well hydrated. I also mist them twice daily. Outdoors they have water available at all times and drink when they want to. In both situations I have some tortoises that I have never seen drink and others that will drink everytime and often sit in the water and just soak for a long period of time. Each tortoise has it's own preference but the important thing is that you should always afford them the opportunity to drink if they want to. I take them out when any of the following happens: a) they become restless, start pacing and trying to climb out, b) immediately after they have defecated or urinated in their drinking water, or c) after about 20 minutes of me standing there tapping my foot on the floor with my hands on my hips tired of waiting for them to make the first move!

 

[tortoisenerd]

I will take my tortoise's water dish in him enclosure and fill it up with warmer water than it typically is, then place him inside it. Then, he can get out when he wants. It is my view that we can encourage them to drink, but making them soak likely isn't going to have much benefit if they don't want to drink (although some will say they absorb water through the cloaca, I have also heard of dehydrated tortoises who were soaked often). Sometimes my tort will climb out right away, and other times he will stay and soak. By having him soak in the enclosure I find him much happier with the soaking time and it doesn't scare him (he is very comfortable in his water dish). This is the best solution I have found so far for us, but every tortoise is different. Ever since I got him the bowl with the stairs and placed it near his heat, he goes in much more frequently as it is easily accessible and warm. I do believe that a tortoise kept indoors under hot lights does need more attention to hydration. I will also wet his greens and feed some foods that have higher water content (like crunchy lettuce and squash baby food which has water added). I think if it is stressful for a tortoise to be soaked, they are less likely to want to take a drink, which is the most beneficial part of soaking for them as then they will expel their current supply in the form or urine and urates.

 

[Ozric]

I believed in the idea that the tortoise will drink through the cloaca until a couple of months ago, when I heard that there is no real evidence of it. It wouldn't make a lot of sense for an animal to absorb water into its system that it had polluted with its own wastes. But I guess nobody knows for sure.

I still believe in soaking (or bathing as we tend to call it in the UK) though. Its an extra opporuntity to drink and the discharge of wastes into the water helps me keep the enclosure clean.