Help! My baby is digging

[-Michael-]

So I just got my little fella today he/she is named Cortés.
I'll tell you all the nice stuff later
Its 4 months old less than 2 inches and was eating all of today as well as exploring his new home.
The lights went out and I went back 30 minutes later and I couldnt find the tortoise! He wasnt in his hide and I new he couldnt have escaped long story short I found him 1-2 inches under the ground
Im using damn coco coir and it is 2-3 inches depending on the area
Is this normal if so how do they brethe xD!

- Thanks sorry about the rant kinda scared

 

[leigti]

What type of tortoise? Did you say in your last thread you were getting a Russian? Russians love to dig. More than once I thought my Russian had escaped also. Just to find her buried somewhere. It is normal and they can brief just fine. You can even make the substrate deeper if you'd like. How old is your tortoise? Because you don't want to temperatures to get below 80 around the clock if you have a hatchling.

 

[Jodie]

Completely normal. Kinda freaky, but normal. I don't know how they can breath, but they do just fine.

 

[HermanniChris]

Yes normal and they absolutely must be left to dig whenever they want to. Tortoises are programmed to to do this when so young because they are vulnerable and it's their way of staying hidden from predators. They're wild animals at heart.

 

[-Michael-]

What type of tortoise? Did you say in your last thread you were getting a Russian? Russians love to dig. More than once I thought my Russian had escaped also. Just to find her buried somewhere. It is normal and they can brief just fine. You can even make the substrate deeper if you'd like. How old is your tortoise? Because you don't want to temperatures to get below 80 around the clock if you have a hatchling.

I ended up getting a eastern Hermanns tortoise.
Also It is a hatchling 4-5 months old the basking is around 85 and the surrounding area is around 71 I am thinking of getting a infared heat lamp on top of the uvb heat lamp

 

[HermanniChris]

Your basking area and ambient temp are too low. An infrared may help but be careful at night because they must be able to cool down.

 

[Loohan]

My baby 3-toed... last year i would put him in a planter that i had ripped the lettuce out of so he could get some sun. He would always bury himself several inches deep, like maybe 5-6" under wet sandy, clayey potting mix. (This was before i read that sand can cause internal impaction.) You wouldn't think he'd be able to breathe much down there, as it was fairly wet.
I would have to comb through the soil with my fingers for some time to find him. He wasn't much over 1" long then.

 

[-Michael-]

What type of tortoise? Did you say in your last thread you were getting a Russian? Russians love to dig. More than once I thought my Russian had escaped also. Just to find her buried somewhere. It is normal and they can brief just fine. You can even make the substrate deeper if you'd like. How old is your tortoise? Because you don't want to temperatures to get below 80 around the clock if you have a hatchling.

Your basking area and ambient temp are too low. An infrared may help but be careful at night because they must be able to cool down.

Okay took your advice! I added in a bit more coco coir and made the slope a bit higher the basking temperature is now 91f and the cooler spots are around 72

During the night the mean temperature is around 74 this should be okay as he/she burrows right?

 

[leigti]

I would make the basking spot right about 100°. And with a baby tortoise I would not let the temperature drop below 80° around the clock. Get a ceramic heat emitter and a thermostat. The sub straight should be a little damp but not soggy. If you have dampness and humidity with cold temperatures your little one will get a respiratory infection. This could kill it. As an adult, your tortoise will not need night heat. But I would keep the night heat on for at least a year. Others will chime in soon to give their opinion.

 

[HermanniChris]

72 is still a bit cool during the day you should try to get that up around 80-85. At night 74 is great and cooler is good too. You do not want Hermann's to be too warm at night. 91 is fine for a basking site and a little warmer is too. Don't push it too close to 100 because of it starts going higher you could have an issue.

 

[leigti]

72 is still a bit cool during the day you should try to get that up around 80-85. At night 74 is great and cooler is good too. You do not want Hermann's to be too warm at night. 91 is fine for a basking site and a little warmer is too. Don't push it too close to 100 because of it starts going higher you could have an issue.

So you don't have to worry about keeping hatchlings warm all night? I realize they are not like leopards or sulcatas but I thought it was still important to keep them warm. I know adults need to cool down at night. I guess I learned something new every day.

 

[HermanniChris]

Yes absolutely. Hermann's tortoises in particular should be subjected to a cool down at night. It's a common misconception to "baby" them and provide additional warmth at night for them. Many originally unexplained deaths or failures with baby Hermann's have later been attributed to this. Of course if it's dropping past a certain temperature than yes absolutely provide them with nighttime heat but it is more than often not necessary and causes more harm than good.

 

[-Michael-]

Yes absolutely. Hermann's tortoises in particular should be subjected to a cool down at night. It's a common misconception to "baby" them and provide additional warmth at night for them. Many originally unexplained deaths or failures with baby Hermann's have later been attributed to this. Of course if it's dropping past a certain temperature than yes absolutely provide them with nighttime heat but it is more than often not necessary and causes more harm than good.

It drops down to 15c in the cool end and that is what I can see he goes under a log in the cool end which I assume would be colder D:

 

[leigti]

Yes absolutely. Hermann's tortoises in particular should be subjected to a cool down at night. It's a common misconception to "baby" them and provide additional warmth at night for them. Many originally unexplained deaths or failures with baby Hermann's have later been attributed to this. Of course if it's dropping past a certain temperature than yes absolutely provide them with nighttime heat but it is more than often not necessary and causes more harm than good.

Is this the same with Russians in Greeks also?