Benefits of soaking?

[MyTortoise]

I soak my tort everyday for 15mins, and I was wondering what benefits it has or if I'm soaking her too much?

 

[Yvonne G]

It all depends upon how big your tortoise is. My way of thinking goes like this: I soak baby tortoises daily until they get to be about a year old, then I soak three or four times a week. Once they move outside, after a year of age and when the weather warms up, I provide a waterer in their enclosure and I don't soak them anymore.

Other folks do it differently, and its not wrong or right.

The only thing, I think, about soaking adult tortoises, which looking at your avatar picture I think yours is, is that too much soaking causes the food to move through the digestive tract a little to quickly, and the tortoise may not be getting all the benefits of the nourishment.

Once they are big enough to get their own water, I think you should quit the forced soaks. But that's just my opinion.

 

[tortoisetime565]

I soak my hatchlings. I have three. The smallest being Phillip at 2". The others, Henry and Mudge are 3.65" roughly. I soak them for 30 mins a day right before they eat. I soak them outside also so they get sun. All my torts but Phil live outside full time BTW. Anyways. The bigger torts 5"+ have a little "well" dug that they drink from. They also get a good spray down 4-5 times a day. I notice that my hatchlings soak them self some times. They all started self soaking sooner or later. Phillip is only a few months and I've caught him self soaking.

 

[Yellow Turtle01]

Soaking is very good for your torts because it stimulates their 'lower regions' and make them to go poop. It also keeps them hydrated, and prevents pyramiding, helps them absorb nutrients and is over just good for their stress, and well being. Tortoises CAN get dried out if your soaking them too much. 2-3 times a week is just fine, and they may want to do it themselves too (good job Phillip!) I have never caught my RT soaking himself, but I'm sure he does it too!

 

[Levi the Leopard]

Benefits? Well,
I regularly see my tortoises drink water while being soaked. This means they are staying hydrated and that benefits them.
They regularly poop near the end of their soak. This means it will keep their enclosures cleaner and that benefits me

Soak time also gives me some 1 on 1 time to observe and look them over.
In my house, babies are soaked daily, juveniles living outside are soaked occasionally.

But all my tortoises have access to appropriately sized water dishes/ponds for self soaking should they choose to.

 

[wellington]

I agree with most if the above. All of mine are a little older now, two leopards and a Russian. I only soak occasionally except the one leopard I am rehabbing, I don' really "soak" her as much as I will put her in the water dish instead at least once a day to drink incase she wasn't able to do it herself. Got her from CL and doesn't walk quite right yet, so I help her along.

 

[Tom]

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.

 

[MyTortoise]

Thanks, I'll start soaking her maybe every other day

 

[Yvonne G]

One thing to remember - dehydration often leads to bladder stones in tortoises.

 

[MyTortoise]

OK thanks

 

[wiccan_chicken]

I see a hilarious vision of you trying to drag a huge sulcata into a kiddie pool, and they end up dragging you instead! XP

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.

 

[caligull]

As listed above, soakings provide many health benefits. I soak my adult tortoises about every three days for 15 -20 minutes. I visually watch them drink and they seem to really enjoy the soaks.

 

[bouaboua]

Great info. I soak my babies daily.

 

[Kitkat1989]

My hermann is 2 years old and he loves a soak. I do it every few days and iv had no problems so far.