GIANT tortoise needs a burrow, haaalp!

[Alice J-B]

so cute! cant wait for mine to get that big

 

[Big Charlie]

Tom, what area do you live in? I'm going to start my build today, but we are in Southern California. I'm wondering if I need the insulation? My sides, top and bottom are taking to be 1/2 plywood... what do you think?
Also, I noticed on your box doors you have plastic flaps. Where do you get that stuff from?

I just bought my flaps on ebay from this seller: http://www.ebay.com/itm/8-Plastic-S...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649
You don't need very much and this was about the cheapest I could find because you can pick how much to get. There was a problem where the seller didn't see my cutting instructions so I had to cut it myself, but the material is very nice and thick. Here is my thread about it: https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/question-about-car-wash-door-flaps.160820/

 

[Big Charlie]

WRONG!!! Of course, it all depends how lazy you are about clean up, but this is about three days worth:

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This is what I use to scoop it up:

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I have that same scooper! I also have a smaller metal one I got at the swap meet that has a flatter bottom.

 

[Yvonne G]

I prop the door up with a section of 2x4 in those cases.

Well, duh. . . of course, you prop the lid open. I used to just use a broom stick. But you still have to lean in and bend over. It's a back breaking job.

 

[tortlover73]

My Koopa is 50 pounds. Over the Covid lockdowns I did build Tom’s house for her and it’s bombproof. Keeps its temps as desired. She uses it every day and sleeps in there at night. Koopa had started digging burrows in the dirt side of our yard. The first was near the deck support so I filled that in. She started another a little bit further down the hill but being in suburbia I don’t want her to come across any buried electrical or pipes or anything. I also would like to make her a controlled burrow so she has a place to go but doesn’t cause a lot of underground damage. I’m hoping to move out of here to land soon but waiting for my divorce to finalize. I feel like whack a mole with her burrows. I fully knew Sulcatas would dig lol. Just thought I’d be outta here by then ugh.

 

[Hippytort]

View attachment 219868 View attachment 219870 View attachment 219869 View attachment 219871 Ive got a 22 yr old 70 lb Sulcata. He's HUGE! He wants a burrow, and rather than allowing him to make one himself, Id like to control the situation. Mainly so it doesn't get out of control. I'm leaning towards this 3 wall cinder block idea, capped with plywood and buried in dirt.

My issue is this... does it need to be big enough for him to turn around in? Torts aren't great at reverse, but this guy is 2.5'x 1.75'. His turning radius is like 5'.

Any ideas? Attaching pictures of what I've found, and how big he is...

Otherwise I'm thinking about building a wooden hide box and putting a tort heater in there. Maybe he'll go for it. At his last home (him laying with the dog photo) he had a really crappy shallow wide notch taken out of a hill. Not a burrow at all, really. The previous owners said he hibernates for a few months, but.... they aren't supposed to, right?

Thank you for any help you can offer!

I think you missed his true weight by 100 lbs. He looks huge! Looks a lot, (almost exactly) like mine. My guy is 170lbs weighed last year.

 

[Big Charlie]

My Koopa is 50 pounds. Over the Covid lockdowns I did build Tom’s house for her and it’s bombproof. Keeps its temps as desired. She uses it every day and sleeps in there at night. Koopa had started digging burrows in the dirt side of our yard. The first was near the deck support so I filled that in. She started another a little bit further down the hill but being in suburbia I don’t want her to come across any buried electrical or pipes or anything. I also would like to make her a controlled burrow so she has a place to go but doesn’t cause a lot of underground damage. I’m hoping to move out of here to land soon but waiting for my divorce to finalize. I feel like whack a mole with her burrows. I fully knew Sulcatas would dig lol. Just thought I’d be outta here by then ugh.

Once we built Charlie's house, he stopped digging burrows. At the same time we built the house, we built another house over dirt without any heating in a place where we thought it would be a good place for a burrow, if he wanted to dig. We did this because we saw that he liked to build his burrows up against a barrier, like a wall, and the house provides that for him. He sleeps in that house during the summer but other than a little pushing of the dirt to get comfortable, he has never dug.

Sulcatas dig to get out of the heat as well to get warm. Maybe she needs a cool place to go during the summer.

 

[tortlover73]

Once we built Charlie's house, he stopped digging burrows. At the same time we built the house, we built another house over dirt without any heating in a place where we thought it would be a good place for a burrow, if he wanted to dig. We did this because we saw that he liked to build his burrows up against a barrier, like a wall, and the house provides that for him. He sleeps in that house during the summer but other than a little pushing of the dirt to get comfortable, he has never dug.

Sulcatas dig to get out of the heat as well to get warm. Maybe she needs a cool place to go during the summer.

There’s a grassy side of the yard where she grazes. Then there’s trees and shrubs which provide tons of shade. On the other side of the yard it’s currently dirt and we are in design mode. She spends a lot of time in the shade and the grass and she heads to bed around 4 pm in her house.

 

[Hippytort]

Here is my Sal's house. I get about a full shovel full every two days. But he eats eat like a pig 🐖.
I have a hinged lid on his house .
This summer I'm going to build him a new one, more based on Tom's plan. He's been living in this for about 12 years now. I've cut the door openening several times as he's grown. Can't open it anymore 😪. Time for a bigger house.