Proper Winter Hydration

[EppsDynasty]

I do not live in an extremely cold climate but it does freeze here. Our 25 year old sulcata is in an outdoor enclosure and is doing fantastic, eating well. very active during the day, will go inside night box to warm up regularly during the day. I am having a very hard time with hydration though, as his water freezes everyday. Even our well water comes out of the hose below 60 degrees. During the warm months he soaks in a 300 gallon cow water tote, but how do I do this in the cold? My question is how do all of you "Hydrate" in the winter?
My plan is to build a solar water heater with the 300 gallon tote. A small pump with 200+ feet of black irrigation line to warm the water and dump into the tote, then picked up by the pump and pushed through the line to warm up again. Whatcha all think? anyone else try this? How do you get warm water?

 

[Maggie3fan]

My Sulcata is only 40 pounds...she lives in a shed 20'v12' it's heated and insulated...so I put a large tote in there and use the hose to fill up to soaking level...then I just leave it alone for the night in the warm shed...in the morning the water is warm enuf to soak...ta da

 

[jaizei]

I dont think the black poly is going to warm the water significantly enough to then warm the water in the tote. I think you'd need something bigger/better to collect or concentrate the heat from the sun before trying to transfer it to the water in the tote.

Also idk how much the water would be heated while being pumped through the pipe, you'd be effectively cooling the pipe as much as heating the water since the tote would be a resouvoir of cold water.

 

[EppsDynasty]

As I am a child of the "MacGyver" era of T.V. and am on the ...... lets say the lower end of possessing monetary paper. I have had to do this to create warm water for my family to bath. There are a few things that are mandatory to "make hot" water. The irrigation line sits on a Black background to only collect heat. Second there is a BIG problem when trying to pump water over 100' in irrigation line, it really can only be achieved using gravity and "siphon" techniques.
Hers how I did it.......a small 2 psi pond pump in a 40 gallon ice chest... pump is hooked to 250' of irrigation line on the roof coiled in a 40' area to create siphon, drop, siphon, drop......the water comes into the house through a hot water heater then into the ice chest..... an extra aquarium heater was placed in the ice chest to pre heat the water before cycling (100 watt). So pre heat water if cold outside about 1/12 - 2 hours, then turn on pond pump, open a valve only a tiny bit till water starts to come out on the (40 gallon) hot water heater (not working just used for insulation/storage and siphon power). The water in the hot water heater "Pulls" the water from the pump through the 250 feet of line and then back to the hot water heater. including pre heating i could make 80 gallons of 90+ degree water in 6 ish hours. The system needed constant attention to adjust valve on hot water heater. The air in H2O would do some CRAZY stuff but as long as that air was monitored the system would continue to "SIPHON"... O and create Hot water for my wife and children to bath. I am currently running design plans for a Tortoise Solar Hot Water System through my brain at about 100 miles an hour.

 

[EppsDynasty]

I can not believe there is not SOMEONE who makes warm water in the winter using Solar. When I was a child we had a solar heated swimming pool. There was only 6 4'x20' panels, but would warm the pool to uncomfortably warm. Every year I would have a swim party for my birthday, in the spring. My grandparents would have to explain how it was possible every year to parents. I think that this is the route to take for tort water. Really only 100 gallons at most is needed, if we could heat a swimming pool to 80 degrees I'm sure making 100 gallons is an achievable goal.

 

[Len B]

I live where we can get very cold temperatures, sometimes extended periods. Like what's forecasted for this week, high temps low 30s F. Lows into the teens. I have 4 sulcatas from 3 to 27 years old. I keep them hydrated with their diet not by soaking. Been doing it this way for years and it works. In the morning they get rehydrated grass and weeds that I collected last spring and summer along with some moistened mazuri. In the afternoon they get collard greens, opuntia cactus, cucumber and ripe cactus fruit.I also offer them lettuce's, Yes even iceberg lettuce from time to time. Right now it snowing, 31 degrees F and inside their houses the humidity levels range from 13 to 38%. The lowest house temperature is 85F. They need internal hydration without soaking or drinking.

 

[Tom]

I do not live in an extremely cold climate but it does freeze here. Our 25 year old sulcata is in an outdoor enclosure and is doing fantastic, eating well. very active during the day, will go inside night box to warm up regularly during the day. I am having a very hard time with hydration though, as his water freezes everyday. Even our well water comes out of the hose below 60 degrees. During the warm months he soaks in a 300 gallon cow water tote, but how do I do this in the cold? My question is how do all of you "Hydrate" in the winter?
My plan is to build a solar water heater with the 300 gallon tote. A small pump with 200+ feet of black irrigation line to warm the water and dump into the tote, then picked up by the pump and pushed through the line to warm up again. Whatcha all think? anyone else try this? How do you get warm water?

For soaks I tell all my people: Bring the hot water to the tortoise, or bring the tortoise to the hot water. Your choice.

Like Len, I tend to hydrate from the inside out in winter. Cucumbers, cactus pads, wetted lettuce, soaked this or that, etc...

 

[BajatheChickenMan]

For soaks I tell all my people: Bring the hot water to the tortoise, or bring the tortoise to the hot water. Your choice.

Like Len, I tend to hydrate from the inside out in winter. Cucumbers, cactus pads, wetted lettuce, soaked this or that, etc...

Would putting some greens in a water dish/bowl encourage larger tortoises to drink? Sort of a manatee type approach like throwing a head of lettuce into a water bowl.

 

[Tom]

Would putting some greens in a water dish/bowl encourage larger tortoises to drink? Sort of a manatee type approach like throwing a head of lettuce into a water bowl.

I've never tried that. If they are eating lettuce in a pan of water, I don't see how they could avoid taking in more water with it. Try it and let us know.

 

[BajatheChickenMan]

I've never tried that. If they are eating lettuce in a pan of water, I don't see how they could avoid taking in more water with it. Try it and let us know.

My little guy isnt big enough yet, but thats just something ive observed at zoos for various animals. But definitely something worth trying i guess with any size as long as the water is shallow enough.

 

[EppsDynasty]

I dont think the black poly is going to warm the water significantly enough to then warm the water in the tote. I think you'd need something bigger/better to collect or concentrate the heat from the sun before trying to transfer it to the water in the tote.

Also idk how much the water would be heated while being pumped through the pipe, you'd be effectively cooling the pipe as much as heating the water since the tote would be a resouvoir of cold water.

So last week just to see what would happen I tried a simple Solar setup, here's how it went ...
I used 200' of Continental Rubber Hose (4x50') just laid out on the ground hooked to a 0.23 amp 264 GPH pond pump. I put water from the well at 58 degrees into the tote, about 60 gallons. The outside temp was 64 degrees, not really warm. I turned on the pump and about 4 gallons per minute is what the flow was out the end of the hose. In 1 hour I was able to increase the water temp by 15 degrees resulting in the body of water being close to 75 degrees. This resulted in the water exiting the 200 feet of hose to be almost 85 degrees, just 5 degrees short of my target 90 degrees. Again all this in just 1 hour of running it, while outside it was 64. I placed only 5 gallons in a black tub to see if it would heat the water without having to be pushed through hose, and that was a big no. I included this info to show no real heat was being gained by simply being in the sun. Here's pics ...


Here is a pic of the "Tote Wall Temperature" to show I am not mistakenly measuring that ...
And here he is enjoying his warm bath
I will continue with this experiment of solar water heating, it has some promise I do believe..

 

[Yvonne G]

Many years ago when my husband was still alive we had an in ground pool. It was pretty large, something like 20' x40', and took a very long time, many many summer one hundred degree days, to warm up enough to comfortably dive in. So my husband had the bright idea of somehow hooking up garden hoses to the pump out flow. He wound the hoses back and forth, back and forth along the fence. After that we didn't even have to wait for one hundred degree days. We were enjoying comfortable water in early spring!

 

[Shellion Mama]

Would putting some greens in a water dish/bowl encourage larger tortoises to drink? Sort of a manatee type approach like throwing a head of lettuce into a water bowl.

I do this all the time. I find putting a hibiscus flower or their favorite treat in the water dish works best because they’re eager to eat it.