MyTortoise
Member
- Joined
- Dec 27, 2013
- Messages
- 98
I soak my tort everyday for 15mins, and I was wondering what benefits it has or if I'm soaking her too much?
If you live in the right sort of climate... (Mine is much too dry. Very low humidity here, which can contribute to dehydration.)
If your current weather is right... (Mine is very hot and dry right now.)
If you have a suitable water bowl... (Many people don't.)
If you are 100% sure that every one of your tortoises know where the water bowl is and drink from it regularly... (I am not.)
Then you might not need to soak your adult tortoise.
If you are less than 100% sure about EVERY single one of the above, then you should soak your tortoise regularly. If you are 100% sure about all of the above and you soak your tortoise a couple of times a week anyway, it will hurt nothing.
Personally, I have 49 tortoises. I see at least one of them drink from their bowl every once in a while. I spend hours a day with them most days and I hardly ever see any of them drink. I feel that a couple of soaks a week is cheap insurance against all the maladies that can be caused by dehydration. There are a wide variety of reasons why a tortoise might choose not to drink from a perfectly good bowl of fresh water sitting right in front of it. Soaking makes SURE that your tortoise has the water it needs and it also gives you some close up time with your tortoise where any problems can be caught early. I soak hatchlings daily. I soak older torts once or twice a week depending on the weather and circumstances, in most cases.