Intro and help please!

[Alissa79]

Hello everyone! My name is Alissa and I am a new red foot tortoise owner. My baby is only about four months old and I've had him/her for about three months now. Before last night I have never had an issue with him trying to escape his habitat. Last night, after cleaning and rearranging his habitat, he started going to one specific corner and climbing the walls, making himself flip over onto his side or back. He doesn't even appear to try to flip himself back over either, which is concerning since it's the side with the heat lamp and I'm worried he will get overheated if I'm not here to flip him back over. The only thing I changed when rearranging his habitat last night was the location of the live plants and hides. I also added a tabletop fountain (but that's not the corner he is trying to escape from). Any suggestions? I'm still reading and learning new things every day.

 

[Mobileturtle500]

Maybe since you changed the habitat around he doesn't like it and it stresses him out maybe. Or he sees something he wants. But he could just be doing it to do it my sulcata would try to climb his hide that I made him and he would flip so I had to remove it sometimes they just get stubborn.

 

[Alissa79]

I thought he actually liked it more because he was out and about and exploring all night and all morning this morning. Maybe I can try to put something in that corner so he can’t try to climb that wall? I’m curious as to why he’s only trying to climb in that one spot...

 

[Mobileturtle500]

How big is the enclosure and how is the lighting setup. My sulcata likes to sleep in one corner and only one corner and I think it's because it's the least busy area of his cage. I'd definitely move the heat lamp from that area just in case he flips and you don't catch him fast enough and then I'd probably put something that he can't get grip on right In that corner. is the enclosure see through or transparent? if you can post pics that might help.

 

[Alissa79]

It’s pretty big, especially for a baby. The big plant in the last picture used to be in the left corner (where the cat is). That’s the corner he’s now trying to escape from (and is the least cluttered part of the enclosure). The left side of the enclosure is the part I keep the heat lamps on and I put the food on the opposite side and the water in the middle.

 

[Mobileturtle500]

Oh and welcome to the forum. You will find it to be a wonderful place with wonderful kind people who have great knowledge of tortoises

 

[Mobileturtle500]

I'm pretty sure the problem is the glass tank. A tortoise will never quite understand he can't go through it. I would put something darker on the outside taller than he can see. Make sure it's not see through and that might fix your problem. But honestly I would speak to Tom about enclosures because they need tons of humidity and he uses closed chamber enclosures which is a wooden box with a lid and it has no open holes or anything so the humidity stays high. And it looks like you have live a plants. Just make sure they are tortoise safe because he might try to eat it

 

[Alissa79]

I read about glass tanks not being ideal (after I already bought it of course lol). It stays pretty humid (I think/hope). I have the moss which absorbs moisture really well, plus soil for the plants and the cypress mulch. I actually put the live plants in there hoping he would eat off of them (I checked first to make sure they weren’t toxic). As much as I hate to buy a whole new enclosure, maybe that’s what I need to do

 

[Mobileturtle500]

Well the problem is you can't buy a good enclosure most people build them. I see your in Florida if your anywhere near Orlando i can help you build one. But I would talk to Tom or yvone they know more about enclosures than me.

 

[Mobileturtle500]

https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/closed-chambers.32333/ thats a good one to read

 

[Alissa79]

I’m about an hour and a half from Orlando. I may take you up on that! How do I find these two people you are referring to?

 

[Mobileturtle500]

If you click that link. Tom was the one who posted it. Click his name and hit start a conversation Yvonne is there as well. they can answer any questions