How do I get Franky to SOAK?!

[RuthieHurry]

So we're having a "discussion" at my house about soaking Franky. He has two water dishes in his tort table, and makes use of them, soaking himself several times a day. When I try to soak him, he treats it like a fate worse than death. I place enough warm water in a container to cover his bottom half. The problem is, he spends most of his time trying to get the heck out of his water, so it doesn't seem like the water is deep enough. If I fill it with enough water to cover the important bits while he's standing up and walking, it covers his head when he decided to sit down. Then he gets water in his little nose, and that makes me nervous. So every day it's back and forth. And back. And forth. Anyone have this problem, and how do I fix it so that he's soaking the RIGHT way?

 

[SulcataSquirt]

Hi i would just find a happy medium between those two water levels and use one. Keep the heat up on the water and she should be fine. Sulcatas actully drink water throught their nostrils. So she should be fine. keep keep an eye on her and make sure shes drinking and not just scared and sticking her head under the water when your walking up.

 

[tyler0912]

i have the same problem about the escaping but i work with it if i leve him he will calm down and then i go in for the kill or for the first 10 mins he put up with it but then gets bored so i just scrub his shell...... then fill it with a bit of water and leave him to do what he want because i know he cant drown or escape so i sit and watch...this probably will not help you....sorry....

 

[dmmj]

I would say if he is soaking himself then don't force him to soak. Sulcatas that don't want to soak, won't.

 

[cemmons12]

I agree with Captian Awesome for sure! When Cooper dont want to soak, he will just fight me to get out of his bath bowl.... Some days he is fine with it, and some days he hates it! Silly Sully!

 

[cknfrmr]

I had the same problem so i just started misting it down several times a day. It helps keep the tortoise calmer and also adds water to keep the humitiy up. Matter of fact i bought a new never used hand pump pressure sprayer from Home Depot. Best 10 bucks I ever spent. My tortoise seems to love the fine mist it puts off. It still likes to do the tortoise thing in the clean water as soon as i put the dish in the encloser. Hope this helps.

 

[RuthieHurry]

Thanks for all your great advice! I found a happy medium, put him in a warm bath this morning and walked out of the room. When I walked back in, he was all sprawled out in his water, happy as a clam! I think maybe my peace of mind translated to Franky, and he felt he could enjoy himself in the tub!

 

[Livingstone]

They are also creatures of habit, keep doing what you are doing and one day you'll notice that franky is just chillin calmly in his soaking tub. Livingstone did laps for about 5 months, then after that she either gave up, or realized it wasn't so bad. Now in the AM when talk to her and say "bath time" she looks up and sometimes walks over... Might be because food follows bath and she's always eager for mazuri porridge.