Tortoise skin dry from oversoaking?

Liltortivert

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Hi so my tortoise started peeling a bit on his neck and while I know this is normal it made me wonder if its possible to dry your torts skin from over soaking. I know humidity is good and I keep his "dry" area at 70-80 humidity and his humid area upwards of 90. But moisture, wetness, and humidity are different things, even if they can go hand in hand.

Anyways I noticed his shell looks great but his skin is a bit dry. Not sure if its the dead skin or just dry from top much water. I soak him a lot on top of watery greens and plenty of external moisture. My skin gets super dry from all the water im handling so I was wondering if it might be the same for my little tort. If its too dry what can I do? I soak him twice for about 40 minute or I give him one hour-long soak depending on how work is going for me. Maybe thats too much? Or not enough?

You can see some skin peeling here. He is eating endives and dandelion greens.
VideoCapture_20201129-171126.jpg
 

Tom

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Your parameters and routine sound great.

How much time does he spend outside, and wha type of bulbs are you using inside?

Soaking doesn't dry out their skin. Just the opposite. The wrong bulbs or too much time outside in the CA sun is what dries them out.
 

Liltortivert

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Your parameters and routine sound great.

How much time does he spend outside, and wha type of bulbs are you using inside?

Soaking doesn't dry out their skin. Just the opposite. The wrong bulbs or too much time outside in the CA sun is what dries them out.

That is good to know.

He doesn't spend time outside yet and indoors he has a 75 watt bulb for basking and a cfl for UV tho that will be upgraded ASAP. Just need to find the right fit for our setup.

CA is d r y especially in here in socal so humidity can be challenging but its a good thing I work at home so I can always keep his enclosure nice and moist. I know the tap here is really hard from my aquarium days but not sure if that will have any effect.
 

Sarah2020

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Tortoise shed skin that is what you are seeing. Do not pull off - it must drop naturally.
 

Tom

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That is good to know.

He doesn't spend time outside yet and indoors he has a 75 watt bulb for basking and a cfl for UV tho that will be upgraded ASAP. Just need to find the right fit for our setup.

CA is d r y especially in here in socal so humidity can be challenging but its a good thing I work at home so I can always keep his enclosure nice and moist. I know the tap here is really hard from my aquarium days but not sure if that will have any effect.
The 75 is probably a "spot" bulb. That is no good. It will dry him out excessively. You need a flood bulb, or a regular round bulb in a lighting hood for basking heat.

Seems like you already discovered why not to use the cfl. They are ineffective as a UV source and some of them cause eye damage. I highly recommend you make a safe outdoor enclosure and put the tortoise out there two or three times per week for an hour or two. Take advantage of our CA sunshine when temps are warm enough. Mt babies all went out today. You won't need indoor UV if you can do this most of the year. Its fine to skip a few weeks in winter when we get our rain and cold weather spells.

Always rinse your tortoise with low mineral water after a soak. I use collected rain water in a sprayer. You can also use RO water or distilled. These are all great for rinsing the tortoise and spraying the cage. They won't leave mineral deposits behind. Don't use these non-mineralized waters for soaking or drinking. They need the minerals in their drinking and soaking water.
 

Liltortivert

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The 75 is probably a "spot" bulb. That is no good. It will dry him out excessively. You need a flood bulb, or a regular round bulb in a lighting hood for basking heat.

Seems like you already discovered why not to use the cfl. They are ineffective as a UV source and some of them cause eye damage. I highly recommend you make a safe outdoor enclosure and put the tortoise out there two or three times per week for an hour or two. Take advantage of our CA sunshine when temps are warm enough. Mt babies all went out today. You won't need indoor UV if you can do this most of the year. Its fine to skip a few weeks in winter when we get our rain and cold weather spells.

Always rinse your tortoise with low mineral water after a soak. I use collected rain water in a sprayer. You can also use RO water or distilled. These are all great for rinsing the tortoise and spraying the cage. They won't leave mineral deposits behind. Don't use these non-mineralized waters for soaking or drinking. They need the minerals in their drinking and soaking water.

Oh yeah I had to get the 65 watt flukers incandescent because CA light bulb laws. Took a while to figure out where to get those. What would be a good way to mount the UV lighting over his enclosure? Since they are wider and not able to be easily hung from a simple light stand.

Thanks for the replies btw.
 

Tom

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Oh yeah I had to get the 65 watt flukers incandescent because CA light bulb laws. Took a while to figure out where to get those. What would be a good way to mount the UV lighting over his enclosure? Since they are wider and not able to be easily hung from a simple light stand.

Thanks for the replies btw.
I like to make a plywood base under the enclosure and screw two upright 2x4s to it, then make an over head beam with another 2x4 screwed to the top of the uprights. Then you can hang all your lights from the overhead beam.

If the enclosure is wood, you can screw directly to the sides and skip the bottom part.
 

Liltortivert

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Location (City and/or State)
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I like to make a plywood base under the enclosure and screw two upright 2x4s to it, then make an over head beam with another 2x4 screwed to the top of the uprights. Then you can hang all your lights from the overhead beam.

If the enclosure is wood, you can screw directly to the sides and skip the bottom part.
My man! Thank you. Thats why this is TOMtoiseforum.org, you got all the answers! Lmao.

Anyways, I'm probably going to do something like that, if not exactly that haha. I was overthinking a solution in my head for sure. Thanks again.
 
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