For the past 5-6 years now it’s been my honor to care for my two cherry head redfoot tortoises, Koopa and Zamboni. Although I’ve kept a number of different reptile species over the years, Koop and Zam are my first tortoises. Caring for any type of animal for the first time is a learning experience for sure. One thing I had to get used too when I got my tortoises was giving them their daily soaks. Red Foots are a forest tortoise, who require relatively high humidity levels. In addition to keeping their habitats humid, they greatly benefit from frequent soaks.
Why should you soak your tortoise?
Soaking your Red Footed Tortoise is a great way to help them stay hydrated. Like in other animals, dehydration can cause symptoms such as weight loss, lack of appetite, lethargy, and dry skin. Dehydration, if it goes on too long, can lead to death. Many experts now believe that soaking tortoises can help eliminate pyramiding. Pyramiding is, basically, a deformity of the shell that sometimes occurs as tortoises grow.
Besides basic hydration, soaking your tortoise regularly helps to keep them clean and gives you a chance to inspect them for any signs of injury or illness.
How to soak your tortoise.
For all the benefits it provides, soaking a tortoise is a pretty simple matter. All you need is an opaque container that can hold water and your tortoise comfortably, and some warm or room temperature water.
Don’t forget that tortoises, unlike turtles, cannot swim. They can drown. You’ll want to fill their bath container so that the water level falls just under your tortoise’s chin. They should be able to hold their heads above the water without having to struggle at all to do so.
Always supervise your tortoise while soaking!
If your tortoise is anything like mine, they won’t want to calmly sit in their bath the whole time. Mine often wander around their container and sometimes even try to climb out. It’s important to make sure your tortoise doesn’t flip itself over onto it’s back while soaking.
How long, and how often, should you soak your tortoise?
I was stricter about soaking my tortoises when they were younger. When they were hatchlings, I soaked them for around 15 to 20 minutes daily. Soaking them for longer is ok, but make sure the water they’re in doesn’t get too cold. Soaking is most important for young tortoises. These days, now that they are older, I try to aim to soak them at least a few times a week.
The rule of thumb I’ve seen is that red foot tortoises should be soaked once a day until they’re a year old. After that it’s ok to decrease the frequency of soaks – with every other day to a few times a week being most recommended. However, you can (of course) continue to soak daily if you’d like too.
Other considerations…
- Red Foots, as common with reptiles, will often go to the bathroom while being soaked. If this happens you should remove them from the soiled water and, if desired, refill your container with clean water to continue their soak.
- If your tortoise is especially dirty and a soak alone is not enough to clean him/her, you can use your fingers or a clean soft bristle toothbrush to gently clean off their shells.
- Tortoises often drink while they are soaking. To drink, they extend their heads and stick them under water. This totally freaked me out the first time I saw it! Don’t worry, it’s perfectly normal.
Soaks should not replace your tortoises’ water dish!
Even if you soak your tortoise daily, they should still always have fresh, clean water available in their enclosures. Water dishes provided in their enclosure should be shallow to prevent drowning, and ideally should be big enough that your tortoise can easily get inside the dish and soak if he/she wants too.
If you have a tortoise too, do you soak him/her? Do they enjoy their baths or try to escape? If you’re not a tortoise owner, did you know how important frequent soaks are for Red Footed Tortoises?