Do you cool your soaks in the summer?

[SinLA]

My normal soaking routine when Fezzik (adult Russian) was inside was to soak in the morning with the water at about 95°. Now that he’s outside all time and it’s getting quite hot out would it make more sense to soak him in a cool soak in the afternoons? he always has access to water but I’ve never seen him drink or soak on his own. If so, what water temp would you suggest?

Photo for funsies of him he enjoying his new slate hide while it’s in the shade — until it gets baked by the sun….

 

[EricW]

For my Hermann's, I decided to follow a more natural experience, at least as close as I can. My sprinkler system for their enclosed outdoor area goes off every 4-5 days (I adjust depending on time of year and conditions) which simulates summer spot showers. I have a 16" round water dish that mostly fills the water dish when it runs. The water lasts a few days in the water dish and then dries out completely for a few days. This also allows for "muddy" conditions in shaded areas and they will burrow down in the mud. The top of these areas may dry between sprinkler run times, but an inch or two down is still damp and that is where they are if they choose to be.

My tortoises will go to the dish to drink water, but they also like to drink the water droplets and small puddles made on various things from the sprinkler system. They love the "rain shower," it is fun to watch.

Now, you probably can't follow this exact regime as where I live is a bit different than where you live. We have high dew points, thus a much more muggy condition in which evapotranspiration is much lower than where you live. However, you could simulate similar. I would possibly consider a mud hole in an area that is shaded all day and possibly run a sprinkler for a short bit every other day or so. Even if just part of the enclosure.

 

[Markw84]

I feel there are 3 objectives I am after when I soak a tortoise,
1- hydration
2- ensure a time of optimum body temperature
3- exercise

In the summer when there is ample time the tortoise is at or even above optimal body temperature, I am not so careful to start with a 95° water temp in the soak and let the temp slowly drop onlly to refill when it reaches 80°. IN the summer water is not cooling in the soak! I even will soak with them in the sun and fill right out of the hose - where my well water temperature is about 70° this time of year. Since they are spending so much time in warmer/hot temperatures this time of year, this does give them a bit of a cooling, yet the sun warms them quickly. I find I do not have to worry about the water getting too hot in the sun as evaporative cooling keeps the water from even getting over 85° in my circumstances. You certainly need to watch that as it may differ where you are. I have extremely low humidity so evaporative cooling is at a max here! I still always check temperatures regularly while soaking just in case! If I am not soaking in the sun this time of year, I start the soak at about 80°.



In my outdoors enclosures I ALWAYS have water available. This time of year, I run the sprinklers every day over my Larger tortoises - for several hours letting it "rain" on them. For my Burmese Stars I have the sprinkler run for 1-2 minutes every 2 hours to keep humidity up and provide some cooling. All tortoises love the rain and thrive and do best in the monsoon season. Even our desert tortoises here in the southwest. Those are the conditions I emulate, not the times they are hiding from harsh conditions and waiting for the rains to return.

 

[wellington]

I have all adults. They live outside all summer. They always have two water dishes. They also have low areas that the water puddles. On really hot days I run the sprinkler. Whatever the water temp is coming from the hose is what they get to soak in, stand under. I have city water and never temped it.
My Russian isn't thrilled with water like my leopards are, so even though he gets the sprinkler too, I will place him in his water dish about once a week and he can sit there or get out, whatever he wants. That water is usually warmer as the days heat will have warmed it.

 

[SinLA]

Ok for those of you using sprinklers, mostly that is going to be pretty cool water because its coming from underground pipes, so I'm assuming its probably 70ish degrees.

For those just with water dishes, it sounds like its ambient temperatures or hotter if in the sun.

I don't have that kind of sprinkler system set up, I think either soaks are just "putting in water dish" but I know he'll walk out of that probably right away, though he could surprise me. I do have a couple of bubblers in the "daytime" section of his enclosure, but they are so deeply covered in weeds and growth he wouldn't use it for hydration. I probably need to cut some of the grown back anyway since he is Houdini-ing on me there, but now that its gotten hot, he's not leaving the deep shade section of his night area other than for an hour or so for sun in the morning.

In any case, seems if I have "ambient shade temp" soaks which lets say is in the 70s or 80s, and I know he'll warm up during the day, I should be OK

 

[Tom]

For my Hermann's, I decided to follow a more natural experience, at least as close as I can. My sprinkler system for their enclosed outdoor area goes off every 4-5 days (I adjust depending on time of year and conditions) which simulates summer spot showers. I have a 16" round water dish that mostly fills the water dish when it runs. The water lasts a few days in the water dish and then dries out completely for a few days. This also allows for "muddy" conditions in shaded areas and they will burrow down in the mud. The top of these areas may dry between sprinkler run times, but an inch or two down is still damp and that is where they are if they choose to be.

My tortoises will go to the dish to drink water, but they also like to drink the water droplets and small puddles made on various things from the sprinkler system. They love the "rain shower," it is fun to watch.

Now, you probably can't follow this exact regime as where I live is a bit different than where you live. We have high dew points, thus a much more muggy condition in which evapotranspiration is much lower than where you live. However, you could simulate similar. I would possibly consider a mud hole in an area that is shaded all day and possibly run a sprinkler for a short bit every other day or so. Even if just part of the enclosure.

They die in nature of things like famine, disease, predation and dehydration. I don't think emulating nature is a good plan. I think emulating the good parts of the wild and omitting the bad parts, like sporadic water availability, is a better way to go.

There is no health benefit to depriving your tortoise of water part of the time. In most care situations, especially in competent hands like yours, tortoises can survive water deprivation, but it isn't good for them and some of the people reading that don't have your knowledge, experience and ability level may read your words and decide that they'd like to do it that way too.

All captive tortoises should have water available at all times. Recommending anything less is likely to result in one disaster or another.

 

[Tom]

My normal soaking routine when Fezzik (adult Russian) was inside was to soak in the morning with the water at about 95°. Now that he’s outside all time and it’s getting quite hot out would it make more sense to soak him in a cool soak in the afternoons? he always has access to water but I’ve never seen him drink or soak on his own. If so, what water temp would you suggest?

Photo for funsies of him he enjoying his new slate hide while it’s in the shade — until it gets baked by the sun….

I don't like to soak them in cool water regardless of the outside temp. They need to maintain their warm body temp whether it is cold or hot outside. I worry a lot less about just how warm the water is on a 100 degree summer day, but it still isn't cool.

My water storage tank is above ground, so it maintains the average temp between daytime high and night time low year round. Its very consistent. In winter when the daytime high is 70 and the night time low is 30, the water will always be right around 50. The ground temp too. In summer when the daytime high is 100 and the night time low is 60, the water temp is 80. For outdoor soaking, I don't warm water any more when its 100 outside and the well water is coming out at 80. In spring and fall, I let the sun warm the well water before soaking when temps are usually in the 80s. In winter, I use heated water for soaks.

I suppose this means my answer varies with the season and the weather, but I don't ever try to soak with cool water, unless there was some issue with a tortoise over heating.

Water temps from sprinklers will vary tremendously. Cool water will warm quickly in hot air and sunshine as it is sprayed. Hot water from a hose will cool significantly in a fine spray at distance due to evaporative cooling. In drier areas like the Southwest there is more evaporative cooling like what Mark spoke about. I once washed a dog at 4 in the morning in Louisiana in late June and left my wet towel draped on a fence, and then went back to the hotel for some sleep. That evening I returned and the towel had been sitting in full hot sun all day and it was still wet. There were no sprinklers there and it did not rain. The air was just so thick with humidity, that the water could not evaporate.

 

[Gillian M]

I have noticed that my Greek tort likes the water relatively warm, no matter how hot it is outside. The Kingdom is effected by a heatwave. Temperature reached 38 degrees C (100.4 degrees F). I soak Oli each and every day. Now, when the water temperature cools down, he begins to struggle, meaning the water is not warm enough. Therefore, I replace it immediately. He then calms down and enjoys it, so as to say.

 

[dsglass]

I'm in the high desert, this time of year the water coming out of the hose is scalding hot - I fill his water/soaking dishes (and water the garden, and mist his burrow and the big shade trees) from a few feet away so that the air cools the water to comfortably warm. The last couple of days have been really hot, limiting his walking-around-the-garden-outside-his-burrow time; whenever I soak him he goes right back into his burrow and tosses some dirt over his shell to "fix" it until he looks like a dusty rock again, and so in order not to cut his outdoor time short I've just been misting him with the hose... Today is a bit cooler (and the humidity is up), will try to catch him when he's out for his early evening stroll for a nice soak. (i've only had him for two weeks; don't know if/how frequently he was soaked before, but he doesn't seem to have a lot of patience for it... hoping that over time he'll start to enjoy it!)

 

[SinLA]

I'm in the high desert, this time of year the water coming out of the hose is scalding hot - I fill his water/soaking dishes (and water the garden, and mist his burrow and the big shade trees) from a few feet away so that the air cools the water to comfortably warm. The last couple of days have been really hot, limiting his walking-around-the-garden-outside-his-burrow time; whenever I soak him he goes right back into his burrow and tosses some dirt over his shell to "fix" it until he looks like a dusty rock again, and so in order not to cut his outdoor time short I've just been misting him with the hose... Today is a bit cooler (and the humidity is up), will try to catch him when he's out for his early evening stroll for a nice soak. (i've only had him for two weeks; don't know if/how frequently he was soaked before, but he doesn't seem to have a lot of patience for it... hoping that over time he'll start to enjoy it!)

what kind of tortoise?

 

[dsglass]

what kind of tortoise?

Oops, sorry - Rango is a desert tortoise.

 

[Sleppo]

In the last 10 years I have only seen one of my Russians drink once. They have access to water at all times and I soak only once or twice a month. When i soak them while they are living outside I just let the water sit in the sun for an hour or 2 then put them in it.

 

[SinLA]

In the last 10 years I have only seen one of my Russians drink once. They have access to water at all times and I soak only once or twice a month. When i soak them while they are living outside I just let the water sit in the sun for an hour or 2 then put them in it.

Oh - i'd never do that without testing the temp first, I'd be afraid of tortoise soup, but i'm sure it varies based on where you are