The Great Autumn Migration??

I think I posted this last year, and didn't really seem to get anyone who has had the same experience but...it seems this time of year my sulcata has an insane urge to escape. He normally tests the boundaries of my large fenced property but lately he is obsessivly trying to bulldoze his way out. Did the same thing last year. Migration? Mating urge??

What area are you from?

Southern California

I'm not noticing anything. It is too hot for him to do much. I've never seen him try to bulldoze his way out.

My larger Sully - Sal ( 50 lbs) does this sometimes. Can't say it's weather / season related but every once in awhile he will spend several hours walking the fence line and stopping to push against it.

Almost seems like testing to see if it will give.

He has a 1/4 acre of grass & weeds. A large burrow. So I don't know what this is. Other than a natural roaming urge.

Ellie Mae said:

I think I posted this last year, and didn't really seem to get anyone who has had the same experience but...it seems this time of year my sulcata has an insane urge to escape. He normally tests the boundaries of my large fenced property but lately he is obsessivly trying to bulldoze his way out. Did the same thing last year. Migration? Mating urge??

Click to expand...

Sulcatas don't migrate. They are territorial and stay in their self-dug burrows 95% of the time, so this possibility is eliminated.

The breeding season starts in early January and typically ends around the end of December every year, so that's not it either. Is there a female nearby?

I have two guesses:
1. Is the fence around your large property see through? If yes, the tortoise will never stop trying to push past the fence. Many of them injure their noses, shells and legs this way. They need a visual barrier around the entire perimeter of their enclosure.
2. Given your location and the weather we've been having, I'm going to guess your tortoise was/is overheating. When temps get over 100, they can't cool down enough. Doesn't matter how much shade you offer. Since they don't sweat or have a good cooling mechanism, if its 105 in the shade, the tortoise is 105 and their brain is on the verge of overheating. They need to be able to get underground, or have some method of cooling off like a watering hole, sprinklers, misters, or a cooler indoor room. When they begin to overheat, they begin to frantically run around looking for some place to get out of the heat. This is when many of them that have never bothered to dig, start digging a giant burrow all of a sudden. Going underground is their instinct to escape heat. Some captives just don't seem to figure this out and they try to run away from the heat.
3. Captive sulcatas in North America seem to like to wander and roam. I've turned mine loose on all five acres and they just walk to the edge and keep trying to find a away to go further. I've taken them to the middle of nowhere and turned them loose just to see what would happen. They just keep going for miles. I eventually run out of time and have to pick them up and take them home. I wonder what they'd do at nightfall and into the next day...

Does this lend any insight? Let's talk tortoises. Can you confirm or deny any of my possibilities?

Sulcatas are territorial. But aren't borders where two large males meet ? The reason I ask is because at the end of the mating season and before the new season starts . The tort may want to see if it can expand his territory to get more females . He maybe bigger then his old rival or the older rival maybe dead . It means more food and more females . Just a different theory .