Behaviour change

[Charlottesuzie]

Hey guys
I have a sully its coming up to just a year old maybe a bit older its 5 inches measured on the plastron length and eats a nice regular healthy leafy green diet of hand picked dandelions and weeds and the odd portion of lambs lettuce when weeds are running low!
We keep it in a vivarium heated to 80-90 and has a good humidity level between 80-90.
Its started to want to get out more and likes to roam around the house, i let it out and put him back after 20 mins half an hour to keep his heat up but hes in the viv 10 mins and back at the glass doors tapping and scratching to get out then goes for a wander and always heads back to the same little corner by my unlit fire next to the viv. So am not 100% in the care of torts as my little tortie is my first one is he ok to spend more time out his viv now and is this normal for them? I dont want to do anything to put him in danger

Thanks for reading x

 

[Tom]

They should never be allowed to roam the floor of the house. The cold temperatures are just one of many disastrous problems that can occur.

The solution to this problem is a larger enclosure. A tortoise that size should have an enclosure size of 244 x 122 cm minimum. Larger would be better, and the outdoor enclosure for fair weather should be 10 times that size. This is difficult for a giant tropical reptile that needs a lot of space AND constant warm temperatures when a person lives in a cold climate. Weather in sulcata land in Africa for the next week will see daily highs of 39-43 C and over night lows of 27-29 C. How close is your floor to those temps?

 

[Yvonne G]

When a sulcata, or any species for that matter, is allowed to learn that the world is bigger than what's inside his four walls, he's never again satisfied to stay in his enclosure. It's a big mistake to let a tortoise out of his area.

 

[Charlottesuzie]

They should never be allowed to roam the floor of the house. The cold temperatures are just one of many disastrous problems that can occur.

The solution to this problem is a larger enclosure. A tortoise that size should have an enclosure size of 244 x 122 cm minimum. Larger would be better, and the outdoor enclosure for fair weather should be 10 times that size. This is difficult for a giant tropical reptile that needs a lot of space AND constant warm temperatures when a person lives in a cold climate. Weather in sulcata land in Africa for the next week will see daily highs of 39-43 C and over night lows of 27-29 C. How close is your floor to those temps?

The home isnt that cold i like it warm my hubby says am like a lizard we are in the process of getting a larger enclosure making sure its big enough for him to grow with and we are also making him a large outdoor area with a hotbox area aswell so he can enjoy the summer months in north west england we have ordered the new indoor enclosure just waiting on delivery he does like to sit with us and often snuggles into me! (I like to joke he knows who mum is!) but i think its because am always with a blanket or housecoat so emanate heat he stays in his enclosure all times during the day when we are in work or out only comes out when we are home and i can keep an eye on him! Am the odd person who will put the fire on in the spring time i work nights so feel colder during the day when awake due to being tired so have the heat on. I really appreciate all your posts and hopefully when his new bigger viv arrives he will stay there longer! Hes growing at a steady rate and gaining weight steadily the exotic vet we take him too is happy with his weight and growth so im doing something right just noticed this new behaviour the past few days and wondered if it was normal! Thanks for your help ill see how he goes with his new enclosure xx

 

[Charlottesuzie]

When a sulcata, or any species for that matter, is allowed to learn that the world is bigger than what's inside his four walls, he's never again satisfied to stay in his enclosure. It's a big mistake to let a tortoise out of his area.

We have always let him out from having him new started as the odd time when we cleaned the vib and bathed him but hes just been getting more and more anxious to get out hopefully when his larger viv arrives we can get him settled again x