New tort trying to climb out?

rsb6697

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Hi all. We just adopted a 1-2 yr old Greek female tortoise (we think!) My son gets worried because she keeps trying to climb up the side of her enclosure. Is this normal? We have had her 3 days & she has been eating nicely.
 

lismar79

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Can she see through her enclosure? Made out of glass?
 

rsb6697

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No, we had a terrarium but we moved her to a pool.
 

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lismar79

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One or two tips then,
1) remove any unnessasary furniture like the rock ramp and take out one of the hides.
Get a terra cotta plant saucer ( the ones that go under the planter) for a water dish. Big enough for her to sit in. They take up less room and the kind you have are a flip/ drown hazzard :(
2) add plants, real or fake, so she does not feel exposed. Torts are natural prey so they like to hide.
So she maybe climbing because she's looking for safety or she maybe climbing because the space is new. Or she might just be a climber and in that case you are going to want to take out the flip hazs for sure :) good luck.
 

rsb6697

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Thank you!! I will repost a pic once I make the changes! We want the best for her!
 

Yvonne G

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You have an awful lot of 'stuff' in there. I don't like those type waterers. What lismar79 advised is good advice.

Your tortoise is a Russian and they are very territorial. It is trying to escape and go back to it's original territory. Tortoises usually settle down after a couple of weeks.

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rsb6697

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I did remove the sandstone hide and gray waterer. Put a small water dish in for now until I get the type recommended. At least he eats well and seems friendly with us. He sees the vet next week.
 

Tom

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Pretty normal. Tortoises are creatures of habit and like it when they are familiar with their surroundings and in their own territory. Whenever they are moved to a new territory, it takes a while for them to get familiar and comfortable with it, even if its "better" than where they came from.
 

rsb6697

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He seems to be more calm today & already ate this morning. Once the grass is dry we'll go outside. I guess we just have to get used to the fact that he's not what we thought but we already love him & want him to be healthy & hapoy.
 

ditzyangeluk

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My Hermann did exactly the same for a week or so when I got him and I thought he was stressed. As we are having an unusually warm time in the UK, I was advised to turn off the basking light a bit during the day and it seemed to do the trick.
He doesn't climb now but yesterday I was so proud as he has burrowed down in his soilk outside a bit - like a real tortoise, ha!
 

bouaboua

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Lots useful info you get here. This is how wonderful the staffs and members are. :):)
 
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