In my Red-foot's outdoor pen, I wanted them to have more hide options, so I built them a brush pile to simulate the sort of habitat that field researchers find them under all of the time in the wild. I also saw another post (sorry, I forget where) that said that her torts burrow under some mulch on cooler nights to stay warm. Locally, we are having a chilly summer and I was trying to think of ways to make it safer for them to stay outside as much as possible.
So, I broke off a lot of leafy branches and laid them in the habitat between a few stakes to keep the torts from dragging everything all over. I laid them roughly so the breaks all point the same direction so it was more like it broke off a big tree. I used mulberry and grape vines so they could also nibble the leaves. I toss on a few fresh branches when the old ones get dry.
This has turned out really cool! I find them under the pile most of the time now, and I've seen some interesting behaviors.
When they enter the pile, the bigger guys usually approach it from the broken end side, and often enter with an interesting little motion- they drop their front legs and extend their hind legs fully, and drive in low. When they cannot go any further, they shove up with the front legs and push a bit more. The entire pile heaves when the big guys move through.
The mid-size guys do something that really surprised me- they often climb up on interior branches! I was looking for them and had sort of 'peeled' the pile back, and two of them were up in the middle of the pile! I thought it was a fluke, but a few of them have done it several other times.
The smallest at about 9 months often digs into the leaf litter and soft soil under the pile. It is the only one of the herd that routinely digs in, period, and usually digs in under something else- rotting log, overhanging plants, bark, etc. Before the brush pile, I rarely found it hiding with or near the others, but now it is often under the brush- albeit often dug in a bit.
The other interesting thing I have seen is following behavior in the pile. I have seen a lot of following behavior when one tort follows the other literally nose to tail. In the pile, it is interesting to watch on tort go half-way out and freeze, with one or two others behind it. The followers wait patiently for the 'blocker' to decide to move rarely trying to pass or find another way out- even when food is involved!
Pictures- sorry, I don't have any. I am trying to build a new outdoor pen and the old pen is not very photogenic right now, all trampled, etc. Besides- its just an unstructured pile of branches, sticks, vines, and leaves dropped in the pen so the big ends point the same way. Who needs instructions?
So, I broke off a lot of leafy branches and laid them in the habitat between a few stakes to keep the torts from dragging everything all over. I laid them roughly so the breaks all point the same direction so it was more like it broke off a big tree. I used mulberry and grape vines so they could also nibble the leaves. I toss on a few fresh branches when the old ones get dry.
This has turned out really cool! I find them under the pile most of the time now, and I've seen some interesting behaviors.
When they enter the pile, the bigger guys usually approach it from the broken end side, and often enter with an interesting little motion- they drop their front legs and extend their hind legs fully, and drive in low. When they cannot go any further, they shove up with the front legs and push a bit more. The entire pile heaves when the big guys move through.
The mid-size guys do something that really surprised me- they often climb up on interior branches! I was looking for them and had sort of 'peeled' the pile back, and two of them were up in the middle of the pile! I thought it was a fluke, but a few of them have done it several other times.
The smallest at about 9 months often digs into the leaf litter and soft soil under the pile. It is the only one of the herd that routinely digs in, period, and usually digs in under something else- rotting log, overhanging plants, bark, etc. Before the brush pile, I rarely found it hiding with or near the others, but now it is often under the brush- albeit often dug in a bit.
The other interesting thing I have seen is following behavior in the pile. I have seen a lot of following behavior when one tort follows the other literally nose to tail. In the pile, it is interesting to watch on tort go half-way out and freeze, with one or two others behind it. The followers wait patiently for the 'blocker' to decide to move rarely trying to pass or find another way out- even when food is involved!
Pictures- sorry, I don't have any. I am trying to build a new outdoor pen and the old pen is not very photogenic right now, all trampled, etc. Besides- its just an unstructured pile of branches, sticks, vines, and leaves dropped in the pen so the big ends point the same way. Who needs instructions?
