Help With The Bath

[Kymiie]

Just wanted to ask a few questions on batheing my hermann ''crush''

Yesterday he pooped and walked right in it, and he got into a real mess, gave him a bath but he is really smelly!

Why cant I use soap?
If I do what will it do?

Also I hear you are supposed to soak them for around 20mins....

How do you keep the water warm???

as mine goes cold after 5-10 minutes so i have to take him out
Thanks!

 

[samstar]

You want to use soap? Your kidding correct?

Soak them for 10 minutes everyday or other day is fine. It's ok if the water gets slightly cooler from luke warm. What's important is that your feeding your torts well and they live in a good environment suited for them.

 

[Yvonne G]

You have to remember that YOUR body temperature is 98.6 degrees. That's pretty hot in the tortoise world. So if you put your finger into water that has been sitting for a while on the counter-top and has cooled down to room temperature, it is going to feel pretty cold to you. Room temperature isn't too cold for your tortoise to sit in for a few minutes. It isn't going to harm him to be sitting in water that's about 70-75 degrees. That's about the temp on the cool side of his habitat, right? So put your tortoise into his soak of warmish water and leave him there for 15 or 20 minutes. Unless your house is way down in the 50's, his water isn't going to get any colder than the room the water is in.

If you want to use some sort of detergent to clean your tortoise, you can use Baby Shampoo. It is formulated as to not cause burning if you get it in the eyes. There's no harm in it. But usually a gentle brushing with a soft bristle brush will remove any debris from the shell without using detergent.

Yvonne

 

[samstar]

This is something new to me, never knew we could use baby shampoo to clean our torts but I'd still stick to just water.

 

[sammi]

If I've already soaked him, I just rinse his bottom off and wipe with a paper towel. Otherwise he normally waits for his bath during the morningtime to do his business. Oh and if the water does go cold and its only been about 10 minutes, I take him out and replace the water, then put him back in for about another 10-15 mins

 

[samstar]

10-15 minutes of soaking in a day is good enough

 

[andred82vert]

back when I had russian torts, every time I soaked them, I would scrub them with a soft toothbrush just to get the caked dirt off. (they were outside torts)

 

[Shelly]

I hose mine off once in a while.

 

[dmmj]

I know we don't like to think it and look at them, but turtles are supposed to be dirty, they are dirty in the wild and they should be dirty in our care, of course I rinse mine off also so I can't really talk.

 

[reptylefreek]

I love to see my baby sully all dirty. He loves to dig so he gets real dirty. I only really rinse him good before I weigh him or if it gets caked around his butt. I agree, tortoises should be free to be dirty. Its so very natural for them.

 

[samstar]

I dont like seeing my torts dirty, it's just me

 

[Kymiie]

I dont mind dirt as dirt doesnt smell but what he did was the water in his water dish dried up and just went to put more in and when i came back he had a big poo in it then walked all in it so he was caked head o toe in poo and it was really smelly, but washed him in water and it got a bit better... was thinking about soap but have been told befor not to use it so i just wondered why.

xxxx

 

[samstar]

Put mine in the bath tub today, they pooped, I wpied them down and than I put them back in their enclosure. Guess what happens next, they poop again and that ticks me off, everytime after I clean them they poop again so next time I will not put them back into the enclusure. I'll just let them walk around my garden.

 

[marksonamor]

Turtle bath tips:
1. Rinse out the tub you will be using and put in enough that will come up to half of the length of the turtle’s leg.
2. Pick up the turtle with both hands, one placed on each side of the shell, and gently place it into the tub.
3. Fill the small plastic cup with water and begin to pour the water over your pet turtle.
4. Lift the turtle out of the tub and onto the dry bath towel. Pat the turtle dry all over, and place the turtle in a warm, dry, sunny place.
5. Wash your hands with warm water and antibacterial soap to prevent the spread of illness or disease from your pet to you.