I thought I was prepared, and I wasn't...

[alben909]

Looks like everyone has the same answer

 

[Laurie]

was he trying to avoid the heat? did he have access to shade? Hides?

He has two hides in there and at least half of it is shaded by the tree I put it under at all times.

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I would suggest still burying him. I dont see most of my testudo whenever I go out to feed or whatever I'm doing. Some I dont see for at least a week and sometimes even two to three. I do dig them out just to make sure they are all doing ok though.

Maybe I'm just too paranoid but at that point, how can I even be sure he's still alive!?

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My post earlier should have said just let him bury himself. If you are really concerned dont make it that deep. Is he a small hatchling? If so only a few inches is needed and he can bury himself in that and will probably be showing the top of his shell in the dirt.

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lmao, now all I am thinking about it someone trying to bury their tortoise... thanks for the visual.

 

[Zouave]

If you are using a soil substrate, pack it down firmly. The tort will still be able to hide/self regulate and any digging will be immediately obvious.

 

[Terry Allan Hall]

Well I set up a temporary outdoor enclosure for Carl today, in a baby pool in the back yard filled with organic potting soil, some mulch, and covered with some bird wire....

Welp, I'm a failure. Carl LOVED it, of course, he was crawling all over the place... I checked on him every 20 minutes, and eventually, I couldn't see him anymore. I figured he was burrowing. Two hours later, he's still no where in sight and I panic... I eventually decided to slowly take out all of the substrate until I found him, mixed with running around the yard like a lunatic trying to find him since he OBVIOUSLY manage to escape somehow....

I had more than half the substrate out, and still no tortoise hatchling in sight, when I FINALLY found him buried....

Needless to say, I was incredibly happy to find him... but he was not incredibly happy to see me.

So, with the story of my worried mother syndrome aside, is there a substrate that would keep Carl from digging? I know, I know, he likes to dig but he doesn't like me randomly finding him in a panicked state, and I don't like it either. He has a hide in there, I don't know why he insisted on burying himself in the most random of places.

Tortoises are creatures of habit...once Carl finds the "right" spot, he'll likely bury himself in that same spot everytime.

You'll get used to it.

 

[eternalnewb]

I was having problems finding my hatchling Torty, he loves to dig and would stay burried for days if I let him. It was a pain to have to dig all around the enclosure looking for him and he always seemed to be on the last place I'd dig. For now I gave him a portion of his enclosure where the substrate is deep enough to dig and the rest is to shallow to dig. It makes it a lot easier to find him when I know the general area to look. It's hard not to worry when they are so small

 

[CourtneyAndCarl]

Thanks for all the advice everyone! I decided to only have about an inch of substrate around most of the enclosure, and then only have it deeper around "landmarks" so I know where to look. I also put a really thin layer of cypress mulch over the whole enclosure so it's pretty obvious where he's been digging because there will be a hole in the mulch.