# Tortoise more interested in digging than eating



## Janet B (Jul 27, 2015)

Our tortoise has been ignoring her food and has been digging a good portion of the day. She is about 54 years old. When my mom passed 10 years ago, she came to live with us.
She hasn't had a digging hole until a couple of weeks ago. She could have had one but showed no inclination until recently. I started a bit of a hole for her and now she spends lots of time in it digging. Usually she would be tempted by roses, grape leaves,dandelions, but just sniffs. Is this normal?


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## kirsty Johnston (Jul 27, 2015)

What's the temperatures in her enclosure? Torts usually dig to cool themselves down


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## ZEROPILOT (Jul 27, 2015)

kirsty Johnston said:


> What's the temperatures in her enclosure? Torts usually dig to cool themselves down


Yes. Or to lay eggs, etc. Has she been near a male?


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## Janet B (Jul 27, 2015)

Not near any males. Do torties get broody even without a male around?


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## Janet B (Jul 27, 2015)

Today it's 95 in shade in Fremont. She can come inside the house when it gets too hot. (I think I can admit this on a tortoise forum.)


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## Janet B (Jul 27, 2015)

OK, she just ate 5 sugar peas and went for a nap. I'm not so worried. Maybe digging was just too interesting? When she was at my mom's she had a burrow, but here she didn't show much inclination until a week ago. We really need to get her better set up. Any place to look for interesting things to put in enclosures? We have noticed that she likes to walk over things and kind of creates her own par course.


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## Yvonne G (Jul 27, 2015)

Hi Janet, and welcome to the Forum!

You say you've recently inherited the tortoise. Does this mean it used to live someplace else? If so, this is why the tortoise is digging and is not settled. They are very territorial. It is quite upsetting to them to be moved to a new territory. And until they settle down and realize they are safe and there's nothing to fear in this new space, they look for ways to escape and try to go home. Are we talking about a desert tortoise?


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## Janet B (Jul 27, 2015)

Yes, she is a desert tortoise. She has been at our house for 10 years. She's known me for all of her life - 54 years or so. We grew up together, then I left home and mom took care of her. Not sure what that means to a tortoise, but we are on friendly terms.

She has been in an enclosure next to our house for those 10 years. 
Do you think she's trying to escape? Or is hole digging just something they do.

Her enclosure is about 14X14 feet with 14 X 8 feet area of diggable decomposed granite on top of clay. Never showed any inclination to dig before, but I saw her recently moving her back foot in an odd way on a wooden floor. That's what made me think "huh, that's strange. she looks like she's digging". I gave her a starter hole and then she ran with it. She digs with her back feet mostly, propped up on the edge of the hole.

It's a nice hole she's dug, about 2.5X2.5 wide and tortoise height. I put a board over one end so she could tuck herself in there. She's spent a couple nights in there. Moves the dirt around when she needs to go to sleep.


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## Janet B (Jul 27, 2015)

I should have mentioned that she was ignoring her food for a week while she's been digging. A day I would not worry about. A week I start to wonder. Even in our hottest days, she will usually eat something. But as I said before, she had 5 peas (her favorite) an hour ago, so for now, I am keeping an eye on her.


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## Tom (Jul 27, 2015)

They are a burrowing species. It would be abnormal for them NOT to dig in summer. They use their burrows to escape the temperature extremes that occur on the surface.

Don't know why she would suddenly lose interest in food.


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## Tidgy's Dad (Jul 27, 2015)

Hello Janet and a very warm welcome to Tortoise Forum.
Is it possible your tortoise is eating what she finds in her enclosure when you're not looking ?
Have you tried varying the diet ?


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## Yvonne G (Jul 27, 2015)

If she's been digging with her back feet, she's looking to lay eggs. They don't need a male for this, however, the eggs she deposits won't be fertile. Some females never lay eggs unless they've been bred, and others will lay every year or so even if they've never seen a male in their whole lives.


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## Maggie Cummings (Jul 30, 2015)

I have a box turtle that has never been with a male and she lays 3 clutches a year....


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