How Many Soaks?

[Gillian M]

Hello everyone. I live in Jordan, where Summer is extremely hot and dry. For example today, temperature reached 35 degrees C. And yet another rise in temperature is expected tomorrow.

In these cases how many times a day should I soak Oli? Would two soaks be enough? We all know that torts have to be soaked daily, and that they need humidity, however, my question is: would three soaks during 24 hours be too many?

Answers/advise would be highly appreciated.

Thank you.

 

[Pearly]

Hello everyone. I live in Jordan, where Summer is extremely hot and dry. For example today, temperature reached 35 degrees C. And yet another rise in temperature is expected tomorrow.

In these cases how many times a day should I soak Oli? Would two soaks be enough? We all know that torts have to be soaked daily, and that they need humidity, however, my question is: would three soaks during 24 hours be too many?

Answers/advise would be highly appreciated.

Thank you.

Gillian as you know I myself have just started getting my feet wet with this tort keeping stuff, but from what I can tell by my own 11 months of hands on plus countless hours of reading and networking I know that whenever conditions are suboptimal-we soak! When they are not well-we soak. When we worry about anything-we soak, so to me: the more-the merrier. In high temps they get dehydrated faster so soaking will be essential. If you have the time give him 15-20 min bath even 2-3x day. It won't hurt anything, and will only give him opportunity to get more hydrated

 

[Gillian M]

Gillian as you know I myself have just started getting my feet wet with this tort keeping stuff, but from what I can tell by my own 11 months of hands on plus countless hours of reading and networking I know that whenever conditions are suboptimal-we soak! When they are not well-we soak. When we worry about anything-we soak, so to me: the more-the merrier. In high temps they get dehydrated faster so soaking will be essential. If you have the time give him 15-20 min bath even 2-3x day. It won't hurt anything, and will only give him opportunity to get more hydrated

Thanks SO MUCH your help as well as your prompt reply. Appreciate both.

I give Oli at least two soaks in this hot and dry weather, so as to avoid dehydration. I was just wondering: "When soaks are too few a torts may suffer dehydration, pyramiding may begin etc. Wouldn't too many soaks harm a tort?" Know what I mean?

 

[Pearly]

Thanks SO MUCH your help as well as your prompt reply. Appreciate both.

I give Oli at least two soaks in this hot and dry weather, so as to avoid dehydration. I was just wondering: "When soaks are too few a torts may suffer dehydration, pyramiding may begin etc. Wouldn't too many soaks harm a tort?" Know what I mean?

Nah! provided that we don't leave them in water for hours at the time

 

[Kori5]

I soak Kori once a day or once every other day and water his greens. He has a saucer so he can soak himself if he wants to. But our temps still aren't crazy as yours .

 

[Gillian M]

Nah! provided that we don't leave them in water for hours at the time

Tanks a lot your help, Pearly!

 

[Gillian M]

I soak Kori once a day or once every other day and water his greens. He has a saucer so he can soak himself if he wants to. But our temps still aren't crazy as yours .

Thanks a lot your answer.

I do not think one soak is enough for the climate here. dry and BOILING hot Summer, dry and FREEZING cold Winter. (No Autumn, no Spring which is too bad).

 

[WithLisa]

I guess it depends on the tort. I never soak mine because it dehydrates them even more.
But in a correct environment they don't mind such temperatures anyway. They often prefer to stay in their extremely hot cold frame and hide under plants than go outside on warm days.

 

[Pawciorc]

Depends what species and subspecies your tort is. Mine come from north Africa where climate is hot and dry. I keep them in Malta, where climate is similar, and in the summer even very hot, it is very humid. I grow them from hatchlings and do not soak more than 1-2 times a week. They are 1,5 years old now and seem doing perfectly. I water their enclosure every morning, and always make sure they got fresh water available. And they stay from April till December on my roof in a closed enclosure. They never showed any symptoms of dedydration or overheating. Part of their enclosure is roofed and provides shade.

 

[Speedy-1]

I soak Speedy every day for an hour . He is outside now and it is already 90 F and supposed to reach 102 F !

He has a large tray of water in a shady spot , and I go out and spray him with water every so often !

 

[Gillian M]

Thanks your answers folks. Appreciate your help.

Oli is a Greek tort. I've had him for over five years. Pawciorc, you mentioned soaking your torts once or twice a week. Notice that in Malta it is HUMID whilst here the climate is DRY, VERY, DRY. I too, spray Oli's enclosure once or twice a day.

WithLisa, the climate of Austria is something totally different from that of Jordan (desert climate). I'm not surprised you do not soak your tort.

Speedy-1, I do not think one soak is enough for Oli.

Once again thank you all for your help!

 

[Speedy-1]

I live on the edge of the the Sonoran Desert, covering 120000 square miles, is the hottest of our North American deserts.

That is what works well for me under similar conditions to yours , but soaking Ollie more often if you choose to do so certainly cant hurt !

 

[Gillian M]

I live on the edge of the the Sonoran Desert, covering 120000 square miles, is the hottest of our North American deserts.

That is what works well for me under similar conditions to yours , but soaking Ollie more often if you choose to do so certainly cant hurt !

That's what I wanted to get to: many soaks would not harm a tort.

(By the way, his name is"Oli" not "Ollie.")

 

[Speedy-1]

Oops ! My apologies to Oli !

It has reached 97 F now !

 

[Linhdan Nguyen]

I guess it depends on the tort. I never soak mine because it dehydrates them even more.
But in a correct environment they don't mind such temperatures anyway. They often prefer to stay in their extremely hot cold frame and hide under plants than go outside on warm days.

I've never heard that soaking tortoises can dehydrate them even more. Could you explain this? Im still new and still learning so I'm curious.

 

[Gillian M]

I've never heard that soaking tortoises can dehydrate them even more. Could you explain this? Im still new and still learning so I'm curious.

A bright question!

 

[Gillian M]

Oops ! My apologies to Oli !

It has reached 97 F now !

No need to apologize Speedy-1.

 

[Speedy-1]

I've never heard that soaking tortoises can dehydrate them even more. Could you explain this? Im still new and still learning so I'm curious.

I cannot understand that either

We are under a "severe heat" heat alert at the present time , and the first bit of advice they give is to be sure and drink PLENTY of water to avoid dehydration !

 

[Anyfoot]

I guess it depends on the tort. I never soak mine because it dehydrates them even more.
But in a correct environment they don't mind such temperatures anyway. They often prefer to stay in their extremely hot cold frame and hide under plants than go outside on warm days.

@WithLisa can you explain this comment please. The only thing I can think of is they lose more fluid through urinating than they absorb through the soak. What species do you have?

 

[Gillian M]

@WithLisa can you explain this comment please. The only thing I can think of is they lose more fluid through urinating than they absorb through the soak. What species do you have?

I am wondering what she meant, too.