burrowed in

[tczar]

so my 50 lb sullie has a burrow he uses in the spring and summer, he was really trying to get into this enclosed area 8 days ago, the nights were warm so i let him in and he went straight to the burrow. Since then he has only come out once and eaten only once whereas he had been eating daily, any thoughts, its a large burrow and you cant see past the right turn.

 

[ascott]

lol....from what I have heard they do like to make right turns...lol

What are your temps like outside where you live? Is it rainy, dry, snowy?
What do your night temps get like where you are now?

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daaahhh, I just noticed you are in el paso texas I think that I would be prepared to put a rain shield over and around the burrow opening..but something he can push out of the way if he needs to get out...from what I understand you may be getting some rain over the next few days....if he should come out I would quickly block his burrow entrance, at least until you are aok with him going in and out as he pleases and as the weather is prime for that

 

[tczar]

Yeah, I have covered it with something he can move, I was planning on closing it up if it got cold, he just didnt cooperate by staying hunkered down, we'll see what happens

 

[ascott]

Well, the good thing is that he is of substantial weight, you know? If you control the direct water flow so that it does not pour into the burrow, he should be aok Now if you were someplace that was set to have very cold night temps, like near freezing or less accompanied by rain, I would be a bit more worried....but if you have cool night temps with some rain and taking into account he is a fair size and you have laid something over the entrance to control water flow....my guess is he will be aok

 

[Jacqui]

Do you have any idea how far down his tunnel goes or how far back?

 

[Tom]

Is it that you want him out of there? Run a garden hose down there. He'll come shooting out of there in about 10 seconds.

 

[Jacqui]

Is it that you want him out of there? Run a garden hose down there. He'll come shooting out of there in about 10 seconds.

That's really all it takes? The belief that their burrow is flooding?

 

[Tom]

Is it that you want him out of there? Run a garden hose down there. He'll come shooting out of there in about 10 seconds.

That's really all it takes? The belief that their burrow is flooding?

It has worked for me several times. I think it is the sensation of running water pouring in. If it had failed it might have been a problem so I did it when I knew I had some shovels and a few hours of free time before dark.

I discovered this quite by accident.

 

[ascott]

I know you all are speaking of sulcatas here....BUUUUT, I know that the one CDT here....the one that was taken straight from the wild by an idiot....anyways..the first year he lived here through the winter his burrow began to flood....I was at work and had this horrible feeling he may be in distress....likely the feeling was brought on by mass flooding near every where here...so my then boss told me to leave and go check on the torts so I could come back to help with flooding at our park due to the Mojave river...so when I got to his burrow his hole was about 3/4 flooded...so I grabbed the shovel and tore into the burrow from the entrance inward towards him....when I opened the burrow pocket there he was leaning against the side with only his head and horn sticking out of the water...eyes closed. So of course I reached in and pulled him out and wrapped him totally up and put him in what is now his sleeping box for brumation.....my point to this long story is that a tortoise may not respond by fleeing the burrow, especially if he is cold and slowed down...you know? Just my two cents

 

[Jacqui]

I know you all are speaking of sulcatas here....BUUUUT, I know that the one CDT here....the one that was taken straight from the wild by an idiot....anyways..the first year he lived here through the winter his burrow began to flood....I was at work and had this horrible feeling he may be in distress....likely the feeling was brought on by mass flooding near every where here...so my then boss told me to leave and go check on the torts so I could come back to help with flooding at our park due to the Mojave river...so when I got to his burrow his hole was about 3/4 flooded...so I grabbed the shovel and tore into the burrow from the entrance inward towards him....when I opened the burrow pocket there he was leaning against the side with only his head and horn sticking out of the water...eyes closed. So of course I reached in and pulled him out and wrapped him totally up and put him in what is now his sleeping box for brumation.....my point to this long story is that a tortoise may not respond by fleeing the burrow, especially if he is cold and slowed down...you know? Just my two cents

Now this is more what I would expect to have happen.

 

[bfmorris]

so my 50 lb sullie has a burrow he uses in the spring and summer, he was really trying to get into this enclosed area 8 days ago, the nights were warm so i let him in and he went straight to the burrow. Since then he has only come out once and eaten only once whereas he had been eating daily, any thoughts, its a large burrow and you cant see past the right turn.

I think he's happy as a bug under a rug down there; I also think it is late enough in the year now, that I would not disturb him were it me.

 

[Livingstone]

I would take some prickly pear and put it as far down as you can see. Then its just a waiting game, once the tort smells it he'll come then you just pull up the prickly pear slowly, he'll follow. Its like tortoise fishing, except minus the hook, beer, boat, etc.

 

[ALDABRAMAN]

Is it that you want him out of there? Run a garden hose down there. He'll come shooting out of there in about 10 seconds.

---

Is it that you want him out of there? Run a garden hose down there. He'll come shooting out of there in about 10 seconds.

That's really all it takes? The belief that their burrow is flooding?

It has worked for me several times. I think it is the sensation of running water pouring in. If it had failed it might have been a problem so I did it when I knew I had some shovels and a few hours of free time before dark.

I discovered this quite by accident.

 

[tczar]

well, he came up to the front of his burrow today and seemed ok, although i could not coax him out with food, when i did get close he just did the boot scoot boogie back into his hole, it got down to about 35 degrees this morning, one more night of cold weather and then warmer. Decided not to flood him out because if it didnt work he would then be cold and wet. I was really concerned because he had not eaten in four days when before eating daily.

 

[bfmorris]

They come up to gather heat the surface. It is probably a better time to not disturb this behaviour.

 

[ascott]

Yeah...I agree with bfmorris...also, a tortoise that size will be fine without food for awhile, no matter how much it stresses us...lol