What makes their shells shine....

[bobsindenver]

Hi. My new friend is settling in.

What do you use that makes their shells shine. Lots of the pictures here show it.

And, when should you introduce them to an occasional bath? I have a Cherryhead.

Thanks everyone

 

[DixieParadise]

A lot of my pictures are taken after they have come from a soak or out of the water dish. (Plus the sprinkler comes on every 4 hrs) They do get dirty and dusty...but I just wash them off. They are in an outside enclosure.

I soak them once a week or twice when the temps get over 100 for several days. I do this manily to check on them to make sure they are staying hydrated.

When they are in their inside enclosure which is not frequent in the spring and summer months, the humidity is more regulated and the shells just stay hydrated and shine. I do not use vitashell or any other oils. Hopes this helps. I am sure everyone will have their own way of doing it...this is just what I have found to be successful, thus far.

 

[Mic]

I have hear a couple people saying they put just a little olive oil on them with a coton ball. I tried this and my baby looks beautiful and I noticed an improvement with it's shell that was rotting a bit.

 

[Tom]

In most of the pictures its just water.

I don't have redfoots, but for all of my species, I soak the hatchlings and youngin's every day. As they approach nine months to a year, I skip an occasional day. Once they are adults, I soak around once a week in summer and once a month or so in winter.

When its soaking time I just put them in a tub of shallow water for anywhere from 10-60 minutes. If they poop, I dump the water and refill it with clean water for the rest of the soak.

 

[dmarcus]

I agree, in any of my photos where they look shiny; its because they either just finished soaking or I just sprayed them with water...

 

[RV's mom]

only water. RV gets her soaks - mucks up her topside, she gets it all washed off (imagine tort dirty looks) and the camera comes out.

 

[Madkins007]

Shininess- as mentioned, usually water, although there is no real problem using a little oil, lotion or cream of a sort you would feel safe using on a baby.

Soaks- if my guys are a healthy weight, I don't soak them- but a lot of this is going to depend on your location and microhabitats- even if you keep them indoors. Tom soaks daily but lives in warm, dry southern California. My guys live indoors in a very humid habitat.

I don't really have a problem with soaking every day anyway, but it is at least a little stressful for many of them (although some really seem to like it), so I figure why bother unless there is a reason.

 

[ChiKat]

Dry:

After being sprayed with water:

 

[N2TORTS]

Pure Fresh H2O....... dont even use tap water here ... too many chlorines and salts in my neck of the woods~

JD~

 

[October]

They probably produce some their own oils too, like your fingernails. Of course mucking around in the sun and dirt absorbs it up though.

 

[CaliforniaGirl]

Chikat what kind of tortoise is that ?