What kind of water should be used for soaks?

mmags

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Hi! I’m going to give my baby tortoise his first soak today. I know that I should use warm water, but should I use tap or bottled water? Thanks!
 

Sarah2020

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Tap is fine. Must be shallow and warm up to edge of lower shell and top shell. No deeper to avoid drowning. Ensure a high sided container place your tort in and let it be. It will drink and probably try to climb out but that is ok over time it will relax and know it will be safe. Try 30 mins with temp between 33 and 35 max. If you can buy a digital heat gun to test and retest water before it goes in to avoid any issues. Enjoy first soak time :tort: :)
 

wellington

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Tap is fine. Must be shallow and warm up to edge of lower shell and top shell. No deeper to avoid drowning. Ensure a high sided container place your tort in and let it be. It will drink and probably try to climb out but that is ok over time it will relax and know it will be safe. Try 30 mins with temp between 33 and 35 max. If you can buy a digital heat gun to test and retest water before it goes in to avoid any issues. Enjoy first soak time :tort: :)
This person is US, Fahrenheit.
33 35 he will freeze.
 

wellington

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Sorry i was listing celsius 33 C apparently 91.4 F :)
It's okay if you don't want to do the conversion. I don't. This is primary a US forum so I do F. If the person is from the UK, I still do F I just try to remember to out the F with the temps I'm listing.
So you could do the C if you don't want to convert.
 

Yvonne G

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Because we have so many members in other countries I always put the F when I talk temperature. 98.6°F
 

SanctuaryHills

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Even though average humidity here is 70-80% (including the heated area) I like to soak my Aldabra babies every morning. Around 30 mins. I'm aware of the temps recommended above but I can't help but think that it's just as important to not deviate too much from current ambient temperature.

For example. If the outdoor temp in the morning is 75F and inside the night box is 83F then I'll soak them on water that's around 85F.

My intention is to avoid any temp shock when putting them in the water as well as taking them out. The latter is easier as the water temp will have usually stabilized by the time I'm done soaking them.

Also. I like to soak them in different containers. Prevents them from climbing on each other plus you get the added benefit of being able to see who pooped.
 

TisMary

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My intention is to avoid any temp shock when putting them in the water as well as taking them out. The latter is easier as the water temp will have usually stabilized by the time I'm done soaking them.
I've come up with a sort of "system" for soaking my baby WH. It involves 2 round-shaped take-out dishes, a temp gun, a 1 qt. thermos, and a half gallon sherbet container (with a lid - 2 guesses what goes in there and the first one doesn't count! ?).

I fill the thermos with warm water, pour some into the first take-out dish, use the other dish to "go get Smidgen", read the temp on the water in the dish and, when it gets to 90 degrees F, put him in. Then I pour some water into the 2nd dish - when it gets to 90, I move him into that dish. I so look forward to our little "dance" every morning!

I've been using filtered water, but apparently, you're not supposed to run warm water through the filters❓ I came to this thread to see if I could use tap water instead. @wellington says above "Tap water is fine as long as it's fine for you to drink it." Technically, it's "fine" - but I hate the taste and only drink filtered water myself. Think I'll try him with tap water today and see how it goes.

Thanks all for the good discussion.
 
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