Should my tortoise be drinking water?

[tpr007]

It might seem like a stupid question, as all animals need it to live, but my tortoise NEVER drinks any.

It eats plenty of salad that is predominantly made of water, so I assume this is sustenance enough.

Should it be drinking water, or is perfectly normal for the tort to ignore the water bowl?

[Catwoman63]

Hiya, there are plenty of weeds around to feed your tortoise instead of salad, i always provide a water bowl but not seen any drink from it, so bathing them for 15-20 minutes hydrates them x

[alley cat]

Hello and welcome to the forum I have only seen my tortoises drink on rare occasions, most keepers give their torts a regular soak in tepid shallow water to hydrate them, some can be seen to take this opportunity to drink and others will make every attempt to escape! I think it is especially important for those kept indoors on tables or in vivs. I keep water available at all times for them as I believe they probably drink more than I realise, it is just that I dont see them doing it!

[Gordon]

Originally Posted by Catwoman63

Hiya, there are plenty of weeds around to feed your tortoise instead of salad, i always provide a water bowl but not seen any drink from it, so bathing them for 15-20 minutes hydrates them x

Hi and welcome i have a few that i never see drink but as said above they will take on water from having a soak, the other little trick i do is to dip there food (weeds etc) in water first this way as they eat they drink lol and you will find vits will stick to it better (Nutrabol) .

[Catwoman63]

Yes i do that too, i spray their food with water then add the vitamins / calcium powder, so they get a little water when eating too x

[suttysue]

I just give my tribe a good old soak in teped water as already suggested. Sometimes they submerge thier heads in the water and this I assume is them drinking.
SO dont worry just give them a soak every day or every other day and they will be fine.
Sue

[Watermelon]

Hiya,

I see mine drink just about everyday (when I'm around) usually in mornings. So I always have a waterbowl available in the enclosure. Then again some people say they never see their tortoises drink. As others have said you could always spray water on their food, occasionally I drizzle a bit of cucumber juice over their food. I think if they are bathed everyday then they will be fine.

[TortBabe]

All of my guys drink a lot, when they are bathed they will fully submerge their heads for an age and drink, especially the babies, and I often see them drinking from the bowl during the day

[cherylahutch]

Mine seem to do it when I bath them in a morning, I tend to wash there weeds and not dry them off so they are wet when they ger them, have seen my horsfield drink out of her water bowl a few times but not oftern. I bath them each day for about 20 minutes and they seem happy enough.

[sandy]

Originally Posted by tpr007

It might seem like a stupid question, as all animals need it to live, but my tortoise NEVER drinks any.

It eats plenty of salad that is predominantly made of water, so I assume this is sustenance enough.

Should it be drinking water, or is perfectly normal for the tort to ignore the water bowl?

Try using rain water for their water bowls.