Optimizing the daily soak

[ATHiker17]

Insomnia has led me down a rabbit hole this morning. I've been reading many of the articles on the Tortoise Trust website and that has led to some questions regarding humidity and proper husbandry. I tend to agree with a statement I read from Tom on the subject regarding the attempted mimicking of nature not necessarily being in the best interest for a hatchling, given their abysmal survival rate in the wild. So we provide a humid hide and let them choose to use it or not. My newly acquired 4.5 month old Russian voluntarily crawls into his hide every evening around 5pm and proceeds to bury himself. A hygrometer sensor mounted immediately over his head shows an increase in humidity overnight as temps drop. By morning it's around 68f and 87% humidity. That brings me to the question of optimizing the time of day for soaking. I always soak for 20-30 minutes after he comes out in the morning. But is that the best time to do it? At that time he just spent many hours in the highest humidity he experiences all day. Wouldn't his soak be more effective if it was done in the late afternoon when he's been in a 45-50% humidity level at the hot end of his enclosure for much of the day? I'm almost certainly overthinking this, but insomnia and my Asperger's does that...

 

[The_Four_Toed_Edward]

For me, I have thought about the timing mostly in terms of basking. I want to make sure that my tortoise gets dry and warm after the soak, which is why I try to not soak him too close to his "bedtime".

 

[TammyJ]

I think your baby needs to be consistently warmer especially at night.
Is his enclosure closed?
His daily soak should also be consistently warm, whatever time you decide to do it.
@Tom

 

[ATHiker17]

I think your baby needs to be consistently warmer especially at night.
Is his enclosure closed?
His daily soak should also be consistently warm, whatever time you decide to do it.
@Tom

Respectfully I disagree about nighttime temperatures in T. Horefeldi. Temps into the mid to upper 60s for juveniles are fine as long as they get plenty of heat during the day. His daytime basking temp is 91-97⁰ and the ambient gradient is 87⁰ down to 72⁰.

 

[wellington]

Respectfully I disagree about nighttime temperatures in T. Horefeldi. Temps into the mid to upper 60s for juveniles are fine as long as they get plenty of heat during the day. His daytime basking temp is 91-97⁰ and the ambient gradient is 87⁰ down to 72⁰.

You are correct, the Mediterranean species can take it cooler at night than most.

 

[Tom]

Insomnia has led me down a rabbit hole this morning. I've been reading many of the articles on the Tortoise Trust website and that has led to some questions regarding humidity and proper husbandry. I tend to agree with a statement I read from Tom on the subject regarding the attempted mimicking of nature not necessarily being in the best interest for a hatchling, given their abysmal survival rate in the wild. So we provide a humid hide and let them choose to use it or not. My newly acquired 4.5 month old Russian voluntarily crawls into his hide every evening around 5pm and proceeds to bury himself. A hygrometer sensor mounted immediately over his head shows an increase in humidity overnight as temps drop. By morning it's around 68f and 87% humidity. That brings me to the question of optimizing the time of day for soaking. I always soak for 20-30 minutes after he comes out in the morning. But is that the best time to do it? At that time he just spent many hours in the highest humidity he experiences all day. Wouldn't his soak be more effective if it was done in the late afternoon when he's been in a 45-50% humidity level at the hot end of his enclosure for much of the day? I'm almost certainly overthinking this, but insomnia and my Asperger's does that...

I don't think it matters. I soak when it is convenient because my schedule is erratic and ever-changing.

Why do we soak? To keep them hydrated, to encourage any urates that may have formed and collected to pass, and to keep the GI tract moving. We can debate what time is optimal, and I don't disagree with your logic, but a baby tortoise getting soaked daily, at any time of day, is going to be well hydrated and our goals will be accomplished.