Hello friends, our russian tortoise has a 2 ft. X 3 ft. indoor enclosure, so I decided to build him a 4 ft. X 8 ft. outdoor enclosure shown in the attached pictures. We put about 12 to 16 inches of top soil, potting soil, coco coir, and cypress mulch mix and planted rosemary, thyme, and lavender. We used to have romaine, dandelion, kale, and mustard, but most were used or grew to big and we had to throw them away.
The problem is that every time I put our Russian tortoise in the outdoor enclosure, he likes it, but then he digs down and doesn't come back up for 3 days. It would probably be even longer, but after 3 days I start getting worried and dig him out. Because of how deep it is, it takes a lot of work and a couple of hours sometimes to find him. (see attached pictures) Also, I think I sometimes kill plants when trying to find him by moving them.
Now I want to make the enclosure half as deep, with about 6-8 inches of soil mix, but wanted to get everyones advice since you all have a depth of knowledge about tortoises that far surpass my limited knowledge. So I thank you all for any input that you can give.
The problem is that every time I put our Russian tortoise in the outdoor enclosure, he likes it, but then he digs down and doesn't come back up for 3 days. It would probably be even longer, but after 3 days I start getting worried and dig him out. Because of how deep it is, it takes a lot of work and a couple of hours sometimes to find him. (see attached pictures) Also, I think I sometimes kill plants when trying to find him by moving them.
Now I want to make the enclosure half as deep, with about 6-8 inches of soil mix, but wanted to get everyones advice since you all have a depth of knowledge about tortoises that far surpass my limited knowledge. So I thank you all for any input that you can give.