Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Sorry,
I know this is a few day old topic to you guys but it's fresh on my mind. I've always thought you were suppose to soak a sulcata somewhat regular (much more when they are a hatchling) because the naturally soak themselves in mud. In fact when I first came to this forum, Fall 99, I was told that only soaking my hatchling once a month (like the pet store guy told me) was a death sentence. When he had RNS soaking (combined with keeping warm and dry) seemed to help.

So Niki your telling me to not soak him at all and I don't really get it. Maybe where you live, more humid than the Sahara desert, where Teddy goes outside everyday soaking isn't necessary. But when it is hot and dry it seems like it would dehydrate my guy.

I'm inspired to re-read husbandry literature to see what I missed. I like the idea of a microclimate, will try to do that.

As for the baseline humidity in his habitat, I don't think running a humidifier at night makes it tropical forest humid, more like non-drying out humidity.

happy torting!
Nikki

Hi, well I'm trying again to say that I'm not recommending soaking
to your tortoise while it is SICK. Everybody's missing that point.

In the summer Teddy gets hosed off a lot and gets to dig in
the mud and flips mud on himself. I'm in NC and we have very hot
and humid spring & summers. When it is over 100 degrees and humid,
with a high heat index he comes inside for the noon-4 hours into
the air-conditioning. This happens about 4 days a year.
At this time mid/end Oct. it's 70's (80 tomorrow, but that's
unusual), so he's outside whenever he chooses. At Teddy's size
it's not practical to "soak" him in anything now, and the weather
is too cool. I use the guide that if I wouldn't want to be
sitting outside with wet hair myself, I'm not wetting the tortoise.
That's why there are all too often posts here with torts with
problems, bubbly noses etc... I'd rather he be dry or dirty than
to get sick.

With your tort on the floor he's subject to drafts and yes he
must have gotten too cold those days. My heat lamps give me
an on the shell temperature of around 125 plus F. If he's spending
all his time under the lights, jack the temp up more. 100 if it's
the on shell temp is too cool. Teddy has basked at this temp for
years.

Again, it's your tortoise, if you want to keep his temp at only 100 and
run a humidifier at night and continue soaking, that's your decision
not mine. niki

Niki,
Soaking a tortoise provides the means for the tortoise to keep itself hydrated. In addition it also helps to prevent the buildup of bladder stones.
To deny the tortoise access to fluids is courting disaster(doubly so if the animal is on certain antibiotics).
A dose of common sense needs to be used such as using tepid water, avoiding drafts, keeping the tortoise warm during soaking and making sure the animal has access to a basking area once it is finished soaking.
I don't think anyone here is suggesting that the tortoise be soaked then turned loose in cooler weather.

Humidity on the other hand should be utilized to maintain a natural balance of moisture in the nares and the lining of the lungs. A Sulcatta certainly has access to a diverse enviroment in the wild so why not try to emulate this in their captive husbandry?
By the way I wanted to clarify that my response to your post below was not done out of anger. I typed in capital letters to seperate your response from mine in an effort to make it easier for others to follow my pitiful cut and paste technique.
Jackie Lapradd

I certainly hear what your saying but I also know when you have a sick animal keeping them hydrated is essential to their well being. I think you think I am soaking him and leaving him wet. I soak him in warm water for usually like 5 min. Dry him off and put him in his warm habitat. While it may be really cold outside, I keep my house a couple degrees above 70 (mainly for my tort!) Also, when my tort had RNS a few years ago I was thinking the same thing you were and not wanting to soak him too much. Someone on this forum told me I should be soaking him more often, just keeping him warm and dry. When I did that it seemed to substantially help.

I only run a humidifier at night when the heat is really kicking. I will get a humidity measurerer (somethingometer, blanking right now.) So we can talk numbers. I think the house is so dry that we are not talking about much moisture added.

I'll lower his heat lamp a little bit. He does utilize the whole habitat, and will nap in the cooler side. He just preferentially sleeps under his heat lamp.

Thanks for the advice,
Sorry I thought you lived in Florida, for some reason that's where I thought you were, N.C. is a good tort place too!!
Nikki