Desert tortoises

[JackAttack]

I have a male and female desert and they have dug a hole and are both now living in the hole, the male has come out some times but the female has stayed in the hole. I am asking if I should bring them both out of the hole and fill in the hole or ?

 

[mainey34]

Hello and welcome to the forum. How old are your desert tortoise's? And where about are you located?

 

[ALDABRAMAN]

Welcome!

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Jack:

Unless you live in the desert, it is probably too wet during your winter to allow your tortoises to hibernate in the ground. I would take them out of the hole, fill it in, and provide them with a nice, safe, dry house (placed in the shade) to hide in.

 

[SDDTMama]

From what I've read, where I live, I cannot allow my CDT to burrow and hide himself there; it's too cold and damp in coastal SD for that to be a healthy option for my lil' guy.
So I guess it depends on your location?
Welcome, and good luck!

 

[ascott]

Well, a male and female CDT should not be housed together in the same enclosure...this will create captive CDTs which is not the desired result when hosting a CDT that is not able to live in its native wildland...the state also frowns on this living situation as a host is to allow a displaced CDT to comfortably live out the rest of its life since it is a forced captive tort....

I live here in the high desert (which is near the Mojave) and I won't even let them brumate outdoors here as the weather is so unpredictable and for a few years in a row we have had huge amounts of rain accompanied by freezing temps...I use to support their brumating outdoors but it is simply a high risk due to the unstable weather during winter months...again, this is simply MY opinion after supporting brumation both outdoors as well as indoors...

I also would suggest you pull them out of the burrow---but I would do this to visually check over the female that is now remaining in the burrow...

Here one of the CDTs has his own natural dug burrow (goes down 6+ feet) and works really well for him all months of the year --however, in about 2 weeks I will cover his burrow entrance and he will have to reside in his above ground hide as winter approaches....I found that if I allow them to remain outdoors as close up to the cold days as possible it makes their transition into brumating more natural, as the shorter days and cooler nights seems to allow them to transition...I eventually begin to bring them in during the night and back out during the day for shorter periods of time until Nov 1 arrives and at that time they are ready for bunkering down...again, this is what works for me here and with these torts (I have had them for awhile and have figured this system out with them)...