i was wondering would the big railroad ties stacked maybe 3high in a 24 bye 24 square hold a female sulcata? i was thinking of making this type of pen these ties are really heavy bout close to 100lbs i just don't know how to deal with the digging.

I am guessing you mean 24 feet. Because rail road ties are about 8 feet long

I keep mine in a pen made of rail road ties stacked two high. About the digging, all I can say is they are going to do it and its gunna be tuff. But they dont dig to escape, they dig down to make a burrow.

This post was last modified: 03-30-2008 12:43 PM by Redfootedboxturtles.

Quite a few folks use the railroad ties or landscape timbers to make sulcata pens. They work well. Some people worry that the creosote that they are soaked in may leach into the soil. I have railroad ties all around the edge of my horse pasture to keep the grass in and the weeds from next door out. I have never noticed any ill effects from creosote, just something for you to be aware of.

If you provide a house for your tortoise that allows her to cool down in the summer and stay warm in the winter, chances are pretty good that she won't dig. I've had Dudley, who now weighs around 100lbs, for about 10 years and he has never tried to dig. After he goes into his house, though, all bets are off. I can hear him trying to dig on and off all night long. Can't go anywhere, though because there is a 3/4" rubber horse-stall mat on the floor. I've rescued many sulcatas and none of them ever tried to dig except inside their house. I always try to place my tortoise houses in the shade.

Yvonne

Mine dig like CRAZY, massive burrows. And they have two houses and three hide spots. PLUS the burrow is not in any of them.

You could always try hammering rebar down a couple of inches apart. I was at a guys house and he built a couple of burrows on top of the heated shed and his don't dig since they have burrows to hide in.

yeah my guys is digging in his indoor pen now he does it all day and he is small i think i'm gonna run into problems trying to keep him inside over winter.i have a spare room to figure something out but i just don't know.

another question do leopards dig like sulcata i have a baby that was just sleeping on top in the hay now he seems to like digging into the mulch a bit. but not going down to deep will i have the same problem when he gets bigger.i though a room size enclosure would have worked with my sulcata but if not i'll have to find him a new home.

Leopards wont dig like sulcatas.

cool thats what i thought but wasn't sure