# Behavioral question:



## Whitneyrae (Aug 14, 2014)

I just recently moved my Russian tort from a glass enclosure to a tortoise table, yet she still just scratches at the sides all day long. Her humidity is at about 30% and her day temp is about 85-90 degrees and about 65-70 at night. she has about 5 inches of coco coir bedding and she's fed and soaked well.
If anyone could help me figure out why she is doing this I would be very grateful!


----------



## Tom (Aug 14, 2014)

Because they walk for miles in the wild and your enclosure is tiny in comparison. This is normal russian behavior. A large well planted outdoor enclosure might help.


----------



## Blakem (Aug 14, 2014)

I have a good size area outside for my Russia , yet he tries to get out all day. Even when I let him roam the whole huge backyard, he finds the gated fence and tries to get under it. He acts like he's deprived of space. 


———-------------------------
(This is my signature)
Here's some great plant identification websites I use. 

http://www.tlady.clara.net/TortGuide/diet.htm#plantlist

http://africantortoise.com/edible_landscaping.htm

http://m.thetortoisetable.org.uk/m/plants_19.asp


----------



## Whitneyrae (Aug 14, 2014)

I just doubled her space, I figured this would help.....


----------



## Blakem (Aug 14, 2014)

At least it's bigger.


———-------------------------
(This is my signature)
Here's some great plant identification websites I use. 

http://www.tlady.clara.net/TortGuide/diet.htm#plantlist

http://africantortoise.com/edible_landscaping.htm

http://m.thetortoisetable.org.uk/m/plants_19.asp


----------



## ascott (Aug 16, 2014)

Patience. It may take a month or two before the tort settles in the new space....also, outside time is essential...but you will get a tort that has sampled the great outdoors...so understand the pacing is going to be an issue for awhile....make sure that there are few roll over places so the tort has a better chance of working out the new enclosure as the issue and not roll overs as well....


----------



## Yellow Turtle01 (Aug 17, 2014)

Before my russian got fabulous  care I kept him in a glass tank, and then I learned that was a nono, so I moved him to his own 5x3 table. He scratched non-stop on the walls for a week. He didn't eat much, or slept either. However, after that, he settled right doen't and began consuming foods in record amounts, slept for hours in weird places, and stopped scratching the walls. Yours will settle down eventually! He's just weirded out bu all his new space.


----------



## Alaskamike (Aug 21, 2014)

I have two baby Leopards - 2 mos old . 

"Scooter" hardly stops moving once awake. They are in a 2' x3'enclosure with pleanty of interest and potential hides. Food to graze on , good temps &humidity. Scooter walks the perimeter scratching. 
The other one "Cooter" just eats. Where he puts it I have no idea but he seems always to be munching on somthing. 
Each morning I get them out on my large lanai for a ' walkabout'. 
Scooter - true to form walks non stop for an hour - more if I have time. he stops and takes a bite of whatever I scatter around then he's off again. Cooter walks till he finds a small bit of greens and parks it,eating like it will be taken away. Once done he finds a corner and takes a nap. 
My take is that Scooter is just an active little guy. Loves to walk and explore. I don't see it as anything more than differences in personality - if you can call it that. 
These are grazing animals. Some walk miles to find food and explore environments. I will be interested to find out if this is a phase or continues on as they mature.


----------

