Some questions in mind

[Pure Tortoise Power]

Due to my being paranoid about my sully having swollen eyes (which wasn't the case, fortunately), I searched up the cause of it. I found somewhere saying it can be caused by soaking with tap water. Is this true? If so, what kind of water should I soak my sully with? Boiled water (cooled down ofc)? They also mentioned about lacking vitamin A. What's would be the best source for vitamin A, carrots?

I've heard that if not dried out after soaking, torts can have skin diseases. Is that true?

I believe torts getting sick is pretty much inevitable, just like a lot of other living organisms. Therefore, I must always be prepared for when this happens. What kind of medicines should I get? And what are they for? How should I use them?

Speaking of getting sick, how would we know if its sick? I only know about some obvious symptoms of mouth/shell rot. And constant opening of mouth, bubbles from the nose means they have respiratory disease. Soft shell means MBD. I want to know about more symptoms for more diseases, especially "stones", since it's better to discover the sickness as early as possible.

I think that's all I have in mind. Sharing your advice will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

By the way, if you have other health related advice, feel free to post it too. I'd like to listen.

 

[Yvonne G]

I use plain tap water for soaking and drinking. I pump my water up from the a well in the ground. It's pretty hard and leaves hard water stains on everything it sits on. So far, after over 35 years of taking care of turtles and tortoises, my hard tap water has caused no problems with my turtles and tortoises.

Here's a list of greens high in vitamin A:

Arugula

Broccoli

Collard Greens

Dandelion Greens

Kale

Mustard Greens

Romaine Lettuce

Spinach

 

[Pure Tortoise Power]

I use plain tap water for soaking and drinking. I pump my water up from the a well in the ground. It's pretty hard and leaves hard water stains on everything it sits on. So far, after over 35 years of taking care of turtles and tortoises, my hard tap water has caused no problems with my turtles and tortoises.

Here's a list of greens high in vitamin A:

Arugula

Broccoli

Collard Greens

Dandelion Greens

Kale

Mustard Greens

Romaine Lettuce

Spinach

Thanks a lot

 

[Pure Tortoise Power]

By the way, what are causes of the diseases?

 

[Tom]

Due to my being paranoid about my sully having swollen eyes (which wasn't the case, fortunately), I searched up the cause of it. I found somewhere saying it can be caused by soaking with tap water. Is this true? If so, what kind of water should I soak my sully with? Boiled water (cooled down ofc)? They also mentioned about lacking vitamin A. What's would be the best source for vitamin A, carrots?

I've heard that if not dried out after soaking, torts can have skin diseases. Is that true?

I believe torts getting sick is pretty much inevitable, just like a lot of other living organisms. Therefore, I must always be prepared for when this happens. What kind of medicines should I get? And what are they for? How should I use them?

Speaking of getting sick, how would we know if its sick? I only know about some obvious symptoms of mouth/shell rot. And constant opening of mouth, bubbles from the nose means they have respiratory disease. Soft shell means MBD. I want to know about more symptoms for more diseases, especially "stones", since it's better to discover the sickness as early as possible.

I think that's all I have in mind. Sharing your advice will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

By the way, if you have other health related advice, feel free to post it too. I'd like to listen.

You have good questions, but you are reading old out-dated, wrong info somewhere else.

If the tap water is safe for you to drink, then its safe for your tortoise.

There is lots of vitamin A available if you are feeding a good varied diet. Vitamin A deficiency won't happen if you are feeding lots of this stuff: https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/for-those-who-have-a-young-sulcata.76744/, or Mazuri, or using a vitamin supplement once or twice a week.

If a tortoise were kept soaking wet 24/7, it could develop skin issues. I soak 50-100 tortoises a day during baby hatching season and I don't dry any of them. If this were a problem, I think I would have seen it by now. No need to dry your tortoise after soaking. The moisture is good for their carapace and it will all evaporate in short order.

Lethargy and lack of appetite will be your first signs that you have problem.