A longtime keeper in a local group and myself were offering advice to a new keeper of a hatchling Greek tortoise.
I offered that I soak all my hatchlings of all the species I keep daily, and use a higher ambient humidity environment. Now I do this because it has always made sense to me that when your entire bodymass is roughly that of a quarter you will dehydrate rather quickly. Additionally, my reasoning is that most hatchlings spend large amounts of time burrowed where the ambient humidity level is generally much higher than the external temperature and humidity level.
Now the other keeper offered far different advice. Its a desert species, dont soak more than once a week. Etc.
But what gave me pause about this is that among her reasons for not soaking is fear of skin diseases from not being able to dry it thoroughly.
So here's the question. Assuming a healthy hatchling that is eating pooping and active. How many skin issues do tortoises really have? And of those how many are likely to arise from soaking?
I have soaked hatchlings daily for YEARS and have never once had an issue of any sort, including skin issues. Have I just dodged an inevitable bullet?
I offered that I soak all my hatchlings of all the species I keep daily, and use a higher ambient humidity environment. Now I do this because it has always made sense to me that when your entire bodymass is roughly that of a quarter you will dehydrate rather quickly. Additionally, my reasoning is that most hatchlings spend large amounts of time burrowed where the ambient humidity level is generally much higher than the external temperature and humidity level.
Now the other keeper offered far different advice. Its a desert species, dont soak more than once a week. Etc.
But what gave me pause about this is that among her reasons for not soaking is fear of skin diseases from not being able to dry it thoroughly.
So here's the question. Assuming a healthy hatchling that is eating pooping and active. How many skin issues do tortoises really have? And of those how many are likely to arise from soaking?
I have soaked hatchlings daily for YEARS and have never once had an issue of any sort, including skin issues. Have I just dodged an inevitable bullet?