I'm going to blame Balboa for getting me going on another Debatable.
Most of this is based on Red-foots, but I suspect the basics apply to many species.
In the wild, Red-foots are found sleeping in situations that allow them to snuggle down, dig in, wedge themselves in tight spaces, etc.- even if their backs or hindquarters are uncovered.
I suspect this is done to give them another layer of security. If they are snugged in tight somewhere, they cannot be as easily pulled out by a predator or washed away in a heavy rain.
Many of these shelters are also about 10f cooler than the outside air. Interestingly, they are also sometimes found floating in flooded burrows- sound asleep! (Moscovitz's dissertation, Vinke's field studies. Sorry, I am at work so cannot easily link to these, however there is info at http://www.tortoiselibrary.com/bibliography.html)
In captivity, we often provide a 'parking garage' hide- a box, half-log, etc. often with no special substrate. Some heat their hides- sometimes with bulbs that give off visible light (red, blue, or 'black'/UVA). Sometimes, we even open the hides to get the tortoises out for some reason.
I have been wondering how restful this really is? If we ask a human to sleep in the garage without bedding or blankets, they would probably not get a real restful sleep.
Kruger's Moist Root Shelter (see the bibliography above) offers snugness by having sloping sides the tortoises can wedge into. I've been playing with bark 'lean-to' shelters, debris piles, and other shelters that offer the torts a chance to wedge themselves into, and they seem to prefer these kinds of hides to the more open boxes I had been using.
But- this is just my experience so far. I have not seen any studies done, any trials using more tortoises, etc.
Thoughts?
Most of this is based on Red-foots, but I suspect the basics apply to many species.
In the wild, Red-foots are found sleeping in situations that allow them to snuggle down, dig in, wedge themselves in tight spaces, etc.- even if their backs or hindquarters are uncovered.
I suspect this is done to give them another layer of security. If they are snugged in tight somewhere, they cannot be as easily pulled out by a predator or washed away in a heavy rain.
Many of these shelters are also about 10f cooler than the outside air. Interestingly, they are also sometimes found floating in flooded burrows- sound asleep! (Moscovitz's dissertation, Vinke's field studies. Sorry, I am at work so cannot easily link to these, however there is info at http://www.tortoiselibrary.com/bibliography.html)
In captivity, we often provide a 'parking garage' hide- a box, half-log, etc. often with no special substrate. Some heat their hides- sometimes with bulbs that give off visible light (red, blue, or 'black'/UVA). Sometimes, we even open the hides to get the tortoises out for some reason.
I have been wondering how restful this really is? If we ask a human to sleep in the garage without bedding or blankets, they would probably not get a real restful sleep.
Kruger's Moist Root Shelter (see the bibliography above) offers snugness by having sloping sides the tortoises can wedge into. I've been playing with bark 'lean-to' shelters, debris piles, and other shelters that offer the torts a chance to wedge themselves into, and they seem to prefer these kinds of hides to the more open boxes I had been using.
But- this is just my experience so far. I have not seen any studies done, any trials using more tortoises, etc.
Thoughts?