Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a "Ivory" albino male Sulcata and a Possible het female. They're both roughly 7months old. I've had them now for like 2months. And they hate to be bathed, I'm lucky if I can get them to sit still in the water for maybe 5mins let alone scrub any of the green off of them from the dandelion greens. Other then the appearance of the green on them, they are in great health. Any ideas? or opinions on how you bath your tortoises is welcome.

Tony

I throw them in a luke warm shower while I clean their cage... I'm not sure how much they like it, but they don't look as to hate it

Ian

When you bathe them do you allow them any time to soak while they think that you are not watching them?
I have box turtles that take a luke-warm bath indoors one at a time. Some of them seem to sort of freak out in the tub IF they can see me, if I move out of their sight they'll relax and enjoy it.
I never actually leave them alone while they're bathing, I only give them the appearance that I am not there.
When they can't see me, they'll sit for quite a while relaxing. Usually they will defecate, then once they've done that they'll start moving around and I know that means they're ready to leave the bath.
Our sulcata on the other hand is large, she loves to sit in her water dish and have someone pour water on her with the garden hose.
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PHRatz

How should I go about getting the green off of them from the stuff they eat? Keep in mind these two are fairly small, palm sized at best. They're like little kids when it comes to bathing, lol. Typically what I do is put them into a pan and pour water over them until it reaches the bottom of there chins. Maybe an eight of an inch of water total. Any suggestions? one person said they put their sulcattas in the shower? how big are yours? I wonder if that would be safe. Do you guys scrub them at all? I also count there bathing sessions as there soaking sessions. Not sure if you guys mean the same thing or not. Heres a picture of them.

This pic was taken when he was ~3yrs old, now he's 7 & I can't lift him to give him an underbelly scrub.
So basically "he's a dirty old man".........

Enjoy & a Merry Christmas to all from the UK.
graham

Graham can I ask you something?
At 7 years of age do you know how much your tortoise weighs?
Ours has a long story, we don't know who originally owned her, so we don't know her age but after her being here for 3 & 1/2 years she's grown to be so large that at 55 pounds I can't lift her to clean her either.
The few times she's pooped in her house & then sat on it, my hubby has had to hold her up while I try to wash her plastron. That's something that's gotten to be very difficult so in winter when she does this.. she's a dirty old woman lol.
In winter though the heat mat or "pig blanket" dries up the poop fairly quickly then it just falls off of her, thankfully.
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PHRatz

I hope you don't mind me throwing my hat in the ring...

I've got 3 sulcatas that have been putting on about 1/2 pound, or less, of weight per year. Speedy (i got one of those too) is my poster child. I believe it is a she but at 9 inches SCL I think it's still too early to tell. She weighs in at about 5 lbs and she is coming up on 7 years old.

The point is that growth rate is highly variable for tortoises in captivity and I like to drive this point home to relieve any worry in new tortoise keepers. If the tortoise is active and healthy with a good weight, the growth rate should be of no concern. I'm convinced that there is no such thing as 'too slow' or 'too fast'.

>>Graham can I ask you something?
>>At 7 years of age do you know how much your tortoise weighs?
>> Ours has a long story, we don't know who originally owned her, so we don't know her age but after her being here for 3 & 1/2 years she's grown to be so large that at 55 pounds I can't lift her to clean her either.
>> The few times she's pooped in her house & then sat on it, my hubby has had to hold her up while I try to wash her plastron. That's something that's gotten to be very difficult so in winter when she does this.. she's a dirty old woman lol.
>>In winter though the heat mat or "pig blanket" dries up the poop fairly quickly then it just falls off of her, thankfully.
>>-----
>>PHRatz
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Ed @ Tortoise Keepers
Trying to keep the fun in Chelonian care

Nope don't mind you throwing a hat in the ring.
I do understand that there are no set rules on growth rates for them & I also understand that I am never going to know our sulcata's age. I just WISH I could find out.
I know it's not really important but you know ...curiosity killed the rat.

I don't worry about her growing as quickly as she has because she was horribly pyramided when she got here but as she grows I see those pyramids flattening out so we know from that happening that she's been eating the right foods here at our home.
She has grown much faster than we expected but since it's good growth, it doesn't matter although I do miss being able to carry her by myself.
I'm always curious to know how old other people's larger tortoises are just so that I can keep playing the age guessing game with our girl.
It's a futile exercise for me but I always have to ask.
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PHRatz

I don't think there is any such thing as 'too much' information. I ask those kinds of questions all the time... especially when I see pictures of tortoises that I like from people 'who don't have a clue' as to what they are doing in the care of their of tortoise if you know what I mean.

>>Nope don't mind you throwing a hat in the ring.
>>I do understand that there are no set rules on growth rates for them & I also understand that I am never going to know our sulcata's age. I just WISH I could find out.
>>I know it's not really important but you know ...curiosity killed the rat.
>>
>>I don't worry about her growing as quickly as she has because she was horribly pyramided when she got here but as she grows I see those pyramids flattening out so we know from that happening that she's been eating the right foods here at our home.
>>She has grown much faster than we expected but since it's good growth, it doesn't matter although I do miss being able to carry her by myself.
>>I'm always curious to know how old other people's larger tortoises are just so that I can keep playing the age guessing game with our girl.
>>It's a futile exercise for me but I always have to ask.
>>-----
>>PHRatz
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Ed @ Tortoise Keepers
Trying to keep the fun in Chelonian care

Hi,

At 7 he's around 30-35kg. One of the females @6yrs old is 40kg &
as Ed states, " a healthy tort is more important than size", & I certainly agree.

By coincidence, I had the chance this week to view two "9 yr old males" (supposedily)& they weighed in at 6 & 6.5kg. Both looked healthy albeit a little pyramiding. Their gulars were certainly prominent but I personally have my doubts to their age of 9yrs. They were perfectly clean which possibly meant they had been reared in a viv environment.

graham

>>How should I go about getting the green off of them from the stuff they eat?

With my box turtles I am able to simply wipe their faces with either a damp paper towel or a soft damp cloth. That works for them but they don't eat green cactus so their beaks don't stain as the sulcata's beak does.
Unfortunately I am not able to wash the face of the sulcata, but eventually any cactus stain washes off on it's own.
I can't wash her face because she'll pull her head in when I try. If I were to get a finger or my hand stuck in there, I know she's break my bones so I rely on her to wash her own face.
With little ones like yours I'd try the soft cloth or brush as Mel suggested & maybe if you start that now by the time yours are larger like mine they'll continue to allow you to wash their faces without a fight.
Great pic btw, your babies torts are beautiful!
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PHRatz

If any of my shelled creatures need cleaning I use a very soft nail brush for their shells and legs, and for their face I just use a soft wash cloth or a peice of paper towel. Normally I don't scrub them unless they have a lot of food smashed on them or they have feces on them. I also clean them before they go to the vet.

A scrubbing bath and soaking should be seperate in my opinion. My guys all dislike getting a cleaning bath, however they enjoy a relaxing, hydrating soak.

I don't have any large torts so mine just get put in a rubbermaid container with warm water filled halfway to 3/4's up their shell. Usually they defecate, then I change the water and put them back in. I soak them for about 20 minutes each, sometimes longer (expecially in winter when it is dry) and change the water halfway through to warm it back up. After the bath or soak I dry them off and they usually get to roam a safe room for a bit afterwards. I always soak them before they roam to reduce the chances of them going on the floor.

The young ones will always resist the first few times around. I remember the first time I bathed Claymore and Zweihander, they both projectile peed on me. I only scrub them when they are dirty though. Basically, they just need to get used to it. I use a denture brush or a baby toothbrush though.