Washing my tortoise

BoredPotato

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I gave my tortoise some calcium powder on his food and I noticed he got it all over his body. So I just gave him a bath but several minutes later the white from the calcium powder appeared again and I tried washing him again to no avail.

So, I wanted to ask, how do I wash my tort to get rid of the calcium powder on his body.
 

Grace-Sophia

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I would reccomend taking a very soft hand rag and dampen it with some baby warm water once you are done with that you can try to wipe your torts body off gently, if that doesn’t work you might just want to leave him alone, it should come off in time.
 

Lyn W

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I'm surprised it didn't come off in the soak but it shouldn't do any harm and will probably wear off.
How much did you give him?
Just a small pinch a couple of times a week is enough.
 

Sarah2020

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Calcium should be a light dusting and will dry and just drop off as a powder. I leave them with a calcium smile and it soon goes.
 

MEEJogja

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I gave mine all a light scrub earlier, with some facial cotton and warm water. Amazing to see how grubby the white cotton gets, but otherwise a rag would be better as the cotton likes to get snagged on the shell and leave fluffy bits that need picking off. They seem to enjoy it though, when I was done and took a seat behind one of them, he kept turning around and looking at me until I went back and resumed the small circular motions on his shell, then he would resume eating. I'll get a butt waggle out of him one of these days!
 

ZenHerper

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Mineral powders are very sticky. But please don't give too much calcium! A tiny pinch twice a week, and a good exposure to natural sunlight or a long-tube uvb bulb. When fed a good-quality, balanced variety of foods, no supplements are needed (just the radiation to activate vitamin D3).

Never use soap on your tortoise. Daily soaking usually keeps the shell conditioned and clean, but you can use a very soft manual toothbrush (those used for babies and toddlers) to massage away any caked on food or substrate. Be gentle: tortoises can very well feel through their shells.
 

BoredPotato

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Mineral powders are very sticky. But please don't give too much calcium! A tiny pinch twice a week, and a good exposure to natural sunlight or a long-tube uvb bulb. When fed a good-quality, balanced variety of foods, no supplements are needed (just the radiation to activate vitamin D3).

Never use soap on your tortoise. Daily soaking usually keeps the shell conditioned and clean, but you can use a very soft manual toothbrush (those used for babies and toddlers) to massage away any caked on food or substrate. Be gentle: tortoises can very well feel through their shells.
I really didn't give much, just enough to cover the food a little bit but my tort likes to sit on the food/move around a lot so he got all the calcium powder on him. So I gave him a bath but it didn't work
 

Ink

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Maybe next time you put some calcium on post a picture to the forum to find out if it is too much. If you are wondering.
 

BoredPotato

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Maybe next time you put some calcium on post a picture to the forum to find out if it is too much. If you are wondering.

I don't think that is needed, all I do is one small pinch and mix it together with the greens so it covers all of them a little bit. But hooray, my tort still manages to get it all over his body XD. I just wait for tomorrow if it falls down, otherwise I will try some methods like a damp towel/cotton or something to remove the calcium stuck on his body
 
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Sarah2020

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I would just leave it. It will be absorbed or flake off. Focus on the environment, humidity, growth needs to be smooth and you get that from the environment.
 

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