# What do you guys do about flooding??



## erdavis (Aug 6, 2014)

Hey guys! 
I have a 3-4 pound sulcata tortoise that now lives permanently outdoors in our north central florida home. 
He has always been outdoors his whole life except when its cold, raining hard, and at night. But now its full term. He's also always dug holes but if I knew it was going to rain hard I would take him inside. Now however he has two holes that he constantly re-digs, no matter how many times I fill it in. One of the spots is underneath the big ladder that he has. I used to let him dig under here as much as he wanted until i couldn't reach him anymore or when i thought the ladder would fall soon (also why I put the wood there). Even though he digs under here and it gets flooded the most, he never really hangs out in here so Im more worried about the other one. 
He also digs underneath the ramp to his house and hangs out under here more than anywhere else, even at night (he doesn't sleep in his house unless I put him in there, even then he usually walks out unless i shut the door). He will re-dig this hole within hours after I cover it back up. It rains almost daily here right now and this will flood and he won't get out, I'm thinking he might even crawl in there even when its already flooded. A few days ago I knew a big rainstorm was starting before I left the house for a few hours so I put him in his house, which he would usually stay in if I put him in there while its already raining, so I felt fine about it. A few hours later I checked on him when I got home and he was trying to sleep in his hole but it was so full of water that he couldn't tuck into his shell and sleep like he usually does, he had to stretch out and try to keep his head above water. Why he would do this when he knows he can get out, I have no idea. But I don't know what to do. 
Its not at the bottom of a slope or anything, he just keeps digging! Even after I fill it in, he goes right back to it. I even tried putting a sheet of wood down and he digs it out. As much as I wish I could always be home to check on him while its raining, I can't. And sometimes when I am going to be gone for hours I don't want to lock him in his box because he still flips himself. I know some of you out there had to have had this problem and have a good solution. Any help would be so appreciated!!


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## Cowboy_Ken (Aug 6, 2014)

When my big guys decide to dig a hole near the edge of the enclosure, I put a piece of scrap plywood over the spot. Mine have a heated box for nighttime retiring, so they tend to not dig, “tunnel" type holes.


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## Yellow Turtle01 (Aug 6, 2014)

I had a problem with my sulcata burrowing at first, bu I just decided to let her at it  I'm not worried about her popping up elsewhere, because @AbdullaAli told me that burrows are one way only. He also told that a great way to get them out was to spray little hose water down there. It worked great for Cheerio, and I just do that when I need to to have her in her house (heavy rains mostly) I have a door I can close if I need her to stay inside.


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## Abdulla6169 (Aug 6, 2014)

Yellow Turtle01 said:


> I had a problem with my sulcata burrowing at first, bu I just decided to let her at it  I'm not worried about her popping up elsewhere, because @AbdullaAli told me that burrows are one way only. He also told that a great way to get them out was to spray little hose water down there. It worked great for Cheerio, and I just do that when I need to to have her in her house (heavy rains mostly) I have a door I can close if I need her to stay inside.


That's what I learned from @Tom, he's the best


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## ascott (Aug 6, 2014)

So, I see alot of objects in the enclosure that serve as water funnels in the event of rain....what I mean is, there is alot of wood in the enclosure and when it rains it collects then is directed by the wood...if the enclosure had less wood surface and more earth surface....perhaps the water would not pool so much....or, if you have an area the tort likes then use a gutter system to redirect the water from pooling???? also, does the entire enclosure begin to collect water? If yes, then you may need to sink drain pipes through out the space to also allow the water to be carried away....or you could increase the over all height of the enclosure so that when it rains the enclosure surface is already above water grade level...


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## erdavis (Aug 7, 2014)

@Cowboy_Ken I also tried the plywood thing multiple times but he digs underneath or digs it up, sometimes I'll even find it thrown a couple feet away from where I placed it! And he doesn't really dig a tunnel hole right now either since its not getting cold, but the hole is still enough to where it fills with water.

@Yellow Turtle01 & @AbdullaAli My problem isn't that I can't get him out right now, although in the future if I have this problem that advice might be very helpful, so thanks! My problem is that when I can't get home to him during a storm I worry that he will stay in the hole even though its flooded. And, now that I'm thinking about it, how come your trick doesn't work when his hole is filling up with rain water?? Hmmm...

@ascott The wood thing is interesting. The double decker part is slanted and has holes in it on the left side, so it drains away from any place he really likes to hang out. However now that I think about it the bottom of that ladder is really close to where he has the smaller hole that he hangs out in the most (under his house ramp). Maybe if I think its going to rain I will just take away the large ladder. He wouldn't have access to the second story but at least it will prevent a little water from going down the ladder and possibly in his hole! The entire enclosure doesn't really flood. I think that the rain that falls directly into the hole has no way of draining out, so it floods. I have thought about some sort of gutter system for this one area right under his house ramp, but not really sure how to go about it. Any ideas?

This is the "hole" I am worried about the most because its the one he stays under more. In the 1st pic he is pretty much in there as far as he can go. You can see that it is barely a hole, but either way rain water still floods it and he doesn't know to get out.


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## Tom (Aug 7, 2014)

Sand and sandy soil makes sulcatas want to dig. Hot weather makes sulcatas want to dig. You've got the double whammy!

I would find or make a high spot in the yard where the water does not pool and it all runs down hill and make your tortoise a proper man made burrow with heat and a thermostat. Once the tortoise gets familiar and comfortable with the new underground box they will use it and stop digging elsewhere. 

Here's how I did it:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/daisys-new-enclosure.28662/


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## erdavis (Aug 7, 2014)

@Tom Awesome I have bookmarked this and I will look into making something like it! Thanks!!


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## Tom (Aug 7, 2014)

When its hot out, they cannot cool off enough in an above ground box.


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## Yellow Turtle01 (Aug 7, 2014)

I'm not sure why he wouldn't leave if it rains? 
The underground burrow box actually sounds like a great idea, I might have to look into that


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## Cowboy_Ken (Aug 7, 2014)

Yellow Turtle01 said:


> I'm not sure why he wouldn't leave if it rains?
> The underground burrow box actually sounds like a great idea, I might have to look into that


Someplace on this here forum, Tom has a full thread with pictures and all on building this underground man made tortoise burrow he's talkin 'bout. Here in Oregon we can't build those. Here they're call wells or ponds. Lol.


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## ascott (Aug 7, 2014)

Does the loft space (that the ramp leads to) really get used by the tort often? If it were me rolleyes...I would remove that loft space and the ramp....which will free up alot of space that can directly absorb rainfall....more earth space allows rain to sink in....I would then do something like this over the top of the green house/hole in reference below the green house and house ramp....

http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/b3/5c/5e/b35c5ee5b42f8c7d3f42194e79fe78aa.jpg

You of course would need to cover it with something like this;

https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd....6x296/998305_433045660140652_1754971000_n.jpg

I think you need to focus on moving the rain water away from the house/hole space....you say that the tort does not really dig a burrow...I see here in the pics that it is more like a pallet in the sand vs an actual burrow....I mean, here is what a burrow can end up like;

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/rvs-burrow.20957/

In my opinion, solely based on the pics and the age/size of the tortoise....I am wondering if he is simply being driven down the path of eventual burrowing....his burrowing skills may not be yet full blown, so the starter hole may be the beginning....


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## erdavis (Aug 13, 2014)

He uses that upstairs loft space SOO much, I would feel bad if I took it away from him. I used to have a much smaller one (only about a square foot) when he was much smaller and he would choose to sit up there and sunbathe rather than anywhere else downstairs. I have seen him literally just go up and down the ramp about 5 times, I guess just for fun! I think he actually might be getting more smart about the flooding issue. A few days ago it was raining and I went to go put him inside his house but he was actually underneath the loft space walking around there and hiding from the rain. Right now it is raining as I type this, I went to check on him and he is on top of the loft space. He is just standing up all stretched out and it looks like he is really enjoying getting rained on!!
I think I will make some sort of cover for the hole to help it for the time being before I can do anything else.

As for the burrowing, he does have one hole that is more of a burrow. Its the one under the huge ladder. He digs it but he never hangs out in there anymore, just digs! I only fill that one back in when I see that its starting to move the ladder a little bit. However he has dug burrows long enough to where I couldn't reach him by just sticking my hand in there. But wow that one in that link is huge! That's amazing!!


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## ZEROPILOT (Aug 15, 2014)

I have red footed tortoises and even though I'm south of you, I think we have you BEATEN as far as raining. When I made my outdoor enclosure I placed 20" square and heavy flat cement pavers under about 8" of top soil and sod. I have several half buried very,very large clay flower pots in the enclosure that contain soil. My guys love to dig in them and hang out and they keep cool. I also worried about drowning or cave-ins. I also have a small filtered pond for them to roam around in and a dog house that he usually ignores unless it's cold. heavy cement blocks wont get pushed around and eventually he'll learn where he can and can't dig. Also, I've learned to avoid things like ramps and inclines due to past tragic tip-over accidents. These guys will just as quickly step off of a ledge than use the stairs!


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