Is this normal behaviour?

[Big Charlie]

I pulled Bob out of his hay by the front of his carapace. Then I would gently kick his back feet and he would walk. I also taught him with treats to come or follow my wiggling fingers. He would always follow me. He was 125 pounds. I was 120 then. Every morning I would open his doggie door and he would go out. That's how I trained him. Some people say you can't train a tortoise. But Bob was different. I trained him to do a lot of stuff as he went to Petco so kids could get their pix taken with Bob and Santa. I taught him to play a sort of soccer with a 5 gallon bucket. He'd push it with his gulars to me them I had to kick it around and he would chase it. Once he got it, he'd push it back to me.
Do you not keep him warm in the winter? Bob's shed was 85 or 90 degrees all winter and his lights were on for 12 hours. That's how to keep them up and active during the winter.That keeps them eating pooping playing and everything. How do you keep him, may I ask?

He has a heated night box that he stayed in from the end of November to the beginning of February. We just built the box this year. In previous years he had a burrow and a heated spot on the patio. In previous winters, he would stay in his burrow for several days at a time during the winter but would come out at least once a week. If it got extremely cold or wet, he would come up on the patio to his heated corner. He was kept warmer this winter than in the past. I was thinking that he was just so comfortable he didn't want to move. When we built the box, I really thought he would come out more since he was kept warm enough to digest food.

ETA: maybe the problem that it was dark in his night box? Although there should have been light coming in through the clear plastic door panels.

 

[Maggie Cummings]

I pulled Bob out of his hay by the front of his carapace. Then I would gently kick his back feet and he would walk. I also taught him with treats to come or follow my wiggling fingers. He would always follow me. He was 125 pounds. I was 120 then. Every morning I would open his doggie door and he would go out. That's how I trained him. Some people say you can't train a tortoise. But Bob was different. I trained him to do a lot of stuff as he went to Petco so kids could get their pix taken with Bob and Santa. I taught him to play a sort of soccer with a 5 gallon bucket. He'd push it with his gulars to me them I had to kick it around and he would chase it. Once he got it, he'd push it back to me.
Do you not keep him warm in the winter? Bob's shed was 85 or 90 degrees all winter and his lights were on for 12 hours. That's how to keep them up and active during the winter.That keeps them eating pooping playing and everything. How do you keep him, may I ask?
My NASCAR bird.....View attachment 166796 The bird pix pushed away my words. But I retyped them and now I'm going to ggo do anything else.....

 

[Maggie Cummings]

This is just my opinion but it's not popular. Bob's shed is 20'x12'. Sulcata are active most of the time. Bob had room to pace or play with his toys or any number of things. I think those warm night boxes are not good for some tortoises. Bob was active all winter. If he couldn't go out he was still active as he had so much room. Your tort slept cuse he didn't have anything else to do. I believe in building them a big enough shed that they have active room. I'm not sure I have a picture on this, but I'll look. Consider building him something he can actually live normally in....

 

[Maggie Cummings]

I GIVE UP>!!! NO PICTURES< NO ADVICE AFTER SITTING HERE FOR AN HOUR AND IT ALL DISAPPEARS> I HATE COMPUTERS

 

[Maggie Cummings]

boostupid computer, it's all gone.

 

[Maggie Cummings]

My electric bill didn't go down any when he died. So the insulation really helps. His floor was insulated too....

 

[Big Charlie]

This is just my opinion but it's not popular. Bob's shed is 20'x12'. Sulcata are active most of the time. Bob had room to pace or play with his toys or any number of things. I think those warm night boxes are not good for some tortoises. Bob was active all winter. If he couldn't go out he was still active as he had so much room. Your tort slept cuse he didn't have anything else to do. I believe in building them a big enough shed that they have active room. I'm not sure I have a picture on this, but I'll look. Consider building him something he can actually live normally in....

I'm beginning to see that might have been a better option. I'm really hoping he'll dig another burrow this summer. I can see your shed picture now. We have a storage shed on the far side of our yard. It might have been better to adapt that for him.

 

[Maggie Cummings]

Now I told you that's not a popular opinion, one because some think it's harder to keep a bigger space warm. And more expensive, I did not find that so. Bob's shed was made out of 3/4" plywood with all 4 walls insulated. Then another sheet of 3/4" plywood. A DeLonghi heater kept it at 85 or 90 even in the snow. The floor had those Styrofoam sheets and the ceiling and the rest was that pink stuff. It was always warm and nice. He never dug one hole ever. In the summer it was cool thanks to a fan, and winter warm from the heater and lights. To him, it was his burrow. He had a deep water hole. It's my advice, to go as big as you can, and make the house and his pen the best you can. Make his life great. That's what I tried, and evidently failed to do...

 

[Big Charlie]

Now I told you that's not a popular opinion, one because some think it's harder to keep a bigger space warm. And more expensive, I did not find that so. Bob's shed was made out of 3/4" plywood with all 4 walls insulated. Then another sheet of 3/4" plywood. A DeLonghi heater kept it at 85 or 90 even in the snow. The floor had those Styrofoam sheets and the ceiling and the rest was that pink stuff. It was always warm and nice. He never dug one hole ever. In the summer it was cool thanks to a fan, and winter warm from the heater and lights. To him, it was his burrow. He had a deep water hole. It's my advice, to go as big as you can, and make the house and his pen the best you can. Make his life great. That's what I tried, and evidently failed to do...

You made Bob's last years the best. He had a great life. It wasn't your fault he died and you know that.

 

[Mary <3]

Bob had a VERY good life and the very BEST Mom. No one could have loved him more and that's all that matters.

 

[Maggie Cummings]

Thank you both for what you have said. But I know people are getting tired of me talking about Bob. I have decided that's it's probably better to maybe not talk so much about him. I will say for reasons I won't go into, inside myself, where only I know, way down inside, I know in my heart, Bob's death was muchly my fault. 'Nuff said.
I also have Hermanni, a small colony of Eastern, 3-toed, and my favorite T. ornata ornata. I read that's it's hard to keep ornata in captivity, and I have not found that the case in my house. They spend winter inside, spring and summer in their own pens outside, sleeping inside at night. We have foxes, 'coons, rats, possums,, one ornata is blind, another is missing a back leg. One passes a fatal disease and the Eastern female Ginger was mailed to me from MATTS, because she was so afraid of other turtles and people it had made her blind. Well, if anyone from MATTS remembers Ginger, she has the best, funniest personality of all my box turtles. As long as she lives alone. I wish I knew how to add a video here. She does the Hootchie Chootchie and it's the cutest, funniest thing you ever saw. Bob did it too, but he wasn't as funny as Ginger. See? Bob, it's just hard, he's always here. Pouring rain here, so I figured that would make the weeds easy to get up. I'm not gonna have veggies this year, just flowers, millions of flowers....have a great Sunday. We are thru with this subject, unless I can help you with more advice about enclosures.....
prediction.....Kyle Busch will win Las Vegas today. I have Girl Scout thin mints, a good race my driver will win, and I get to pull weeds in the rain. Don't get much better than that...

 

[Maggie Cummings]

Or it is possible that Kyle Busch might not win.....third is alright....