"My enclosure is pretty secure"

[RosemaryDW]

It's about a week away from the day we found an escapee Russian tortoise on the street last year, running as fast as she could go.

She has a very large and secure enclosure at our house but this is how she spends at least an hour most warm days: testing the one area she can see light through.*

Right now, it's about the only thing she's doing, other than digging down in her box. She's not as frantic as she is some days in this video but you can definitely see the effort she puts into climbing the walls. She wants OUT.

When I watch her, I think about what @Yvonne G has said about tortoises not being content once they realize there is a world beyond their enclosure. If a tortoise can find a way out, it will take it. Don't give them the chance!

*You can't see it well here but the gate has a brush seal on the bottom and we've also filled the gaps between the gate and the walls with expanding foam sealant. She can only see the smallest specks of light; that's all it takes!

 

[wellington]

Doesn't it just tick you off, all that space you give them and they still want more. LOL. Oh, the life and trying moments of a tortoise and its owner.
At least she gets her exercise.

 

[Yvonne G]

Little stinker. So you've had her a year and she still acts like that? I guess there's no hope for her.

 

[mark1]

personally i think her environment is probably lacking something she needs ........ better places to dig in ? better cover ? better water source ? a nesting site ? a better place to feel safe ? any i've had always get habitual predictable behaviors pretty quickly , one of them is never just trying to escape .......jmo

 

[Tom]

Personally, I wouldn't let the tortoise near that gate.

Its just a question of time until the gate is left open...

 

[leigti]

I've had my Russian tortoise for over four years. She always goes to one area of her outdoor enclosure and tries to get out. She's never gotten out of there but she keeps trying. Just keep it secure.

 

[RosemaryDW]

Personally, I wouldn't let the tortoise near that gate.

Its just a question of time until the gate is left open...

Normally I'd agree Tom but that gate opens to an alley and is not in use. It gets opened a handful of times a year to bring in nursery plants and she is locked up at those times. I'm afraid she'd get stepped on while we're preoccupied, as much as escaping.

Otherwise it's padlocked, to make sure a stranger doesn't open it accidentally.

I'm not sure she's even seen it open but obviously it draws her. Instinct or prior experience or both?