Wake to Soak?

Cicitina

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 8, 2020
Messages
266
Location (City and/or State)
Ontario, Canada
Now that lockdown has been lifted in Ontario and I’ve returned to work my schedule has changed and I find that I’m leaving for work when my tort is first waking up and by the time I am home he has gone to bed.
I’m worried he’s going to suffer from this change in routine as I can’t give him his soaks when he’s gone to bed.
Would it be bad to wake him for his soaks and let him go back to bed after?
 

harrythetortoise

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 3, 2020
Messages
455
Location (City and/or State)
Virginia
Now that lockdown has been lifted in Ontario and I’ve returned to work my schedule has changed and I find that I’m leaving for work when my tort is first waking up and by the time I am home he has gone to bed.
I’m worried he’s going to suffer from this change in routine as I can’t give him his soaks when he’s gone to bed.
Would it be bad to wake him for his soaks and let him go back to bed after?
Are you able to do it in the morning?
 

harrythetortoise

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 3, 2020
Messages
455
Location (City and/or State)
Virginia
I don’t have time in the mornings and he only starts waking up and comes out of his hide as I’m leaving for work
I had similar problem before, and one time I was late for work waiting for him to wake up to soak him.
What I did was I had the timer set to have the lights turn on around 6:40 am (20 mins earlier than usual) so by the time I wake up and get ready, he's already up and out of the hide.
 

Cicitina

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 8, 2020
Messages
266
Location (City and/or State)
Ontario, Canada
I would get up 15 minutes earlier and wake him and put him in to soak. Waking him won't hurt him at all

I don’t usually like doing his soaks early because he absolutely hates it and gets grumpy after and immediately goes into his hide after and stays there until the next day no matter what time it is. I preferred doing it in the evening so he wouldn’t waste his day hiding after
 

Maggie3fan

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Jun 30, 2018
Messages
8,046
Location (City and/or State)
PacificNorthWest
I don’t usually like doing his soaks early because he absolutely hates it and gets grumpy after and immediately goes into his hide after and stays there until the next day no matter what time it is. I preferred doing it in the evening so he wouldn’t waste his day hiding after
I just keep my tortoises a little differently. Mine need to bend to MY schedule, they are not allowed to pout or act grumpy. They are tortoises for petes sake. Grumpy? Who is the boss here?
 

Cicitina

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 8, 2020
Messages
266
Location (City and/or State)
Ontario, Canada
I just keep my tortoises a little differently. Mine need to bend to MY schedule, they are not allowed to pout or act grumpy. They are tortoises for petes sake. Grumpy? Who is the boss here?

I swear mine sulks and hides after anything he doesn’t enjoy ? baths and medication time would send him straight to bed. Sometimes if hes especially displeased he’ll not only put himself to bed early but build up the entrance to his hide as if he’s locking you out
 

Krista S

Well-Known Member
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Aug 4, 2019
Messages
1,364
Location (City and/or State)
Saskatchewan
I swear mine sulks and hides after anything he doesn’t enjoy ? baths and medication time would send him straight to bed. Sometimes if hes especially displeased he’ll not only put himself to bed early but build up the entrance to his hide as if he’s locking you out
I hear you! I’ve got a pouty boy too. I just love their personalities. I don’t see there being an issue if you have to wake him up when you get home. I do my soaking routine after work too. During the summer months he’s still awake when I get home from work, but this time of year he’s burrowed already. To me, soaking him is important enough to wake him. I dig him up like a potato and then try to give him a few minutes to wake up before starting the soak.
 

Cicitina

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 8, 2020
Messages
266
Location (City and/or State)
Ontario, Canada
I hear you! I’ve got a pouty boy too. I just love their personalities. I don’t see there being an issue if you have to wake him up when you get home. I do my soaking routine after work too. During the summer months he’s still awake when I get home from work, but this time of year he’s burrowed already. To me, soaking him is important enough to wake him. I dig him up like a potato and then try to give him a few minutes to wake up before starting the soak.

Dig him up like a potato ? mine doesn’t usually bury himself just wedges himself in the most inconvenient corners out of reach and makes me have to drag him out
 

Snoopy’s mom

Well-Known Member
Tortoise Club
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
May 28, 2020
Messages
1,491
Location (City and/or State)
Honolulu
I swear mine sulks and hides after anything he doesn’t enjoy ? baths and medication time would send him straight to bed. Sometimes if hes especially displeased he’ll not only put himself to bed early but build up the entrance to his hide as if he’s locking you out
Ohmigosh mine does that too! Like a teenager slamming the door.
 

Maggie3fan

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Jun 30, 2018
Messages
8,046
Location (City and/or State)
PacificNorthWest
I hear you! I’ve got a pouty boy too. I just love their personalities. I don’t see there being an issue if you have to wake him up when you get home. I do my soaking routine after work too. During the summer months he’s still awake when I get home from work, but this time of year he’s burrowed already. To me, soaking him is important enough to wake him. I dig him up like a potato and then try to give him a few minutes to wake up before starting the soak.
I think it's more important to soak in the morning. I'm not saying you have to, but now that it's winter I have box turtles in the house that need soaking and I have noticed if I soak them in the morning they are active and stay awake and do turtlie stuff, soak them at night I don't see them actually drink and they go right to bed. That's my experience. I was taught scheduling is important, if you do the same thing the same way every day they know what to expect. It's easier to keep them eating that way, soak, eat, play. No soak eat hide. Exercise is important for building muscles and aiding in digestion. Just how I was taught
100_3492.JPG
 

Krista S

Well-Known Member
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Aug 4, 2019
Messages
1,364
Location (City and/or State)
Saskatchewan
I think it's more important to soak in the morning. I'm not saying you have to, but now that it's winter I have box turtles in the house that need soaking and I have noticed if I soak them in the morning they are active and stay awake and do turtlie stuff, soak them at night I don't see them actually drink and they go right to bed. That's my experience. I was taught scheduling is important, if you do the same thing the same way every day they know what to expect. It's easier to keep them eating that way, soak, eat, play. No soak eat hide. Exercise is important for building muscles and aiding in digestion. Just how I was taught
View attachment 318733
Thanks for your insight on this. I love to hear how other people do things, so I appreciate you sharing your thoughts. When I got my tortoise (Hermann’s) from the breeder she always did her soaking late afternoon, so I just continued on with that. There’s been maybe a handful of days in his almost 2 years of life where he’s been soaked in the morning, otherwise he’s had the same schedule and seems to thrive on it. I don’t know if he’s just used to his routine, but the times where I did try soak him earlier in the day, he just went straight to burrow afterwards and slept the day away, even in the summer time. It’s been awhile since I tried changing his routine/schedule, so maybe I should give it a try again now that he’s a bit older and much bigger. I‘ve read many times on the forum that once they reach 1 year you don’t need to soak them every single day anymore, but I haven’t been comfortable easing back on the soaks quite yet. Also, that is one of the cutest box turtle pics I’ve ever seen! So cute!
 
Top