Disappearing horsfield

[LynseyA]

Hello.

We have a horsefield tortoise who is around 8 years old now.

We’ve always kept him indoors but this year we’ve made him a larger outdoor area.
He’s nearly given me a heart attack thinking he had escaped but we had no knowledge of how.
Thank fully he had just dug really quite deep down under the grass from his sheltered bed area.

Is this usual for then to dig so deep down? Can they survive? Should I of left him? Was he trying to hibernate? It is cool at night but not freezing. We haven’t ever hibernated him as I’m too nervous.
His appetite has gone down, there’s plenty of grass and dandelions, and we give lettuce every day but he’s not touching any of it. I’ve not seen him eat for a long time.
Is this normal?
Thank you in advance for any advice.
The photo where is was poking out and the hole he dug and the next is where he was outside his bed area under the grass. And the other one is the other side of his outdoor enclosure. But I couldn’t find him for days.

 

[DoubleD1996!]

It's perfectly normal for them to burrow. They do it to brumate, but also on unfavorable days.

Either with intense heat or, or the cold.

 

[Tom]

Hello.

We have a horsefield tortoise who is around 8 years old now.

We’ve always kept him indoors but this year we’ve made him a larger outdoor area.
He’s nearly given me a heart attack thinking he had escaped but we had no knowledge of how.
Thank fully he had just dug really quite deep down under the grass from his sheltered bed area.

Is this usual for then to dig so deep down? Can they survive? Should I of left him? Was he trying to hibernate? It is cool at night but not freezing. We haven’t ever hibernated him as I’m too nervous.
His appetite has gone down, there’s plenty of grass and dandelions, and we give lettuce every day but he’s not touching any of it. I’ve not seen him eat for a long time.
Is this normal?
Thank you in advance for any advice.
The photo where is was poking out and the hole he dug and the next is where he was outside his bed area under the grass. And the other one is the other side of his outdoor enclosure. But I couldn’t find him for days.

Hello and welcome. It's too cold out there. The tortoise needs to be able to warm up. Please read these two threads:

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