To me, the beading of water would be an indicator of an inability to absorb water. Hydration is the saturation of water, (hydro) not of fats oils or wax, regardless of these three items absorption rates. I would hazard a guess that natural, organically sourced, raw, bees wax would also be absorbed into the keratin in the warm environments we provide our tortoises. Would this then be an indicator of hydration? Of course not.I keep reading the updates on this thread. Thinking I don't need to comment anymore , just wait and see what results are over time. And that is really what I will do ,
But your comment about absorption is interesting. I know keratin is porous, but it would surprise me if absorption increased the more often applied I have no idea why this might be so. Anyone hazard a guess ?
And if this is in fact happening , what are the potential effects on the tortoise ?
EVCO is soluble fat , among other things. I assume it is absorbed in my skin when applied. It doesn't evaporate easily or quickly.
As I stated before. The first time I tried it , 2 weeks later water still beaded up on their shells, in ways it did not before application.
Is it possible frequent application is making the keratin more permeable ?
And if so , does this have a potential downside ? Wow , I really don't have the science for that question.