I thought I would post a picture of bath time today for my baby tortoises I currently still have. We all talk about the importance of hydration, and the bath is a great way to help ensure daily exposure to a soaking to help moisturize the skin and shell. Another very important aspect to me of the bath time is what I often refer to as the tortoise treadmill. In our enclosures, young tortoises often do not get the exercise they would in an outdoor environment. The hatching process, and more importantly the process of digging out of a hard-packed nest is forced exercise a baby tortoise gets fairly early in life that can be an extremely physically exhaustive process. They do not get that in our incubators and I believer they may well be some extremely important benefit to stressing the muscles and tissues in early development. If you watch a baby/young tortoise in a fairly "natural" environment, it spends a good deal of time choosing to push through tall grass and weeds as opposed to walking in the open. Again, exercise benefit as well as predator protection.
Bath time is when I like to see baby tortoises getting vigorous exercise as well. Many photos I see of tortoises being soaked are in pretty small, vertical sided tubs. I like to use a tub much larger than the tortoise for room to move around. I use a tub with sloping sides as they will then naturally try to climb the sides, but can get no traction - and you have the tortoise treadmill. I use water that is a bit over 1/2 the height of the tortoise. It must stretch it's head out to be able to breathe and is slightly buoyant. This is deeper than I see most people talking about, but it works very well for me and produces great totoises. I start with water almost 100° and replace when it cools to the low 80°s. The deeper water and larger tub means the water holds temperature longer as well. I want to facilitate keeping an optimal core body temperature. The bath lasts 30-60 minutes. They get used to bath time quite quickly and often seem to enjoy stretching out and soaking for 10-20 minutes. After that they become much more active and the tortoise treadmill starts. i like to see at least 10 - 20 minutes of exercise! So a bath of less than 30 minutes is of much less value in my opinion.
Here's a couple of shots of today's bathtime for the 2019 hatchlings I am keeping, and some I still have and have not sold, or am holding back-
Here's a video to show the movement and exercise I love to see:
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0?ui...780201&th=16f30df4bd092be9&view=att&disp=safe
Bath time is when I like to see baby tortoises getting vigorous exercise as well. Many photos I see of tortoises being soaked are in pretty small, vertical sided tubs. I like to use a tub much larger than the tortoise for room to move around. I use a tub with sloping sides as they will then naturally try to climb the sides, but can get no traction - and you have the tortoise treadmill. I use water that is a bit over 1/2 the height of the tortoise. It must stretch it's head out to be able to breathe and is slightly buoyant. This is deeper than I see most people talking about, but it works very well for me and produces great totoises. I start with water almost 100° and replace when it cools to the low 80°s. The deeper water and larger tub means the water holds temperature longer as well. I want to facilitate keeping an optimal core body temperature. The bath lasts 30-60 minutes. They get used to bath time quite quickly and often seem to enjoy stretching out and soaking for 10-20 minutes. After that they become much more active and the tortoise treadmill starts. i like to see at least 10 - 20 minutes of exercise! So a bath of less than 30 minutes is of much less value in my opinion.
Here's a couple of shots of today's bathtime for the 2019 hatchlings I am keeping, and some I still have and have not sold, or am holding back-
Here's a video to show the movement and exercise I love to see:
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0?ui...780201&th=16f30df4bd092be9&view=att&disp=safe
