Wenzer
Member
I have been reading about the construction of outdoor enclosures from various people and websites so I can get more inspiration for mine but in the process, I've gotten a bit confused about something:
Many people note how much tortoises enjoy burrowing and digging, and in their builds they implemented some way of escape prevention by doing things like adding a "floor" of hardware screen (which is then buried a little ways into the ground, or set on top of the ground, and buried in substrate), or by building the walls of the enclosure in a way that they extend pretty far down into the ground so that even if the tortoise digs, it should take a whole lot of digging before they could even try to escape (at which point, the owner should have been able to notice the jail break scheming ? I hope at least!).
There's also a lot of enclosures people have made which seem to just be walls that sit on top of the ground, that do not appear to have these kinds of preventative measures. Then again, I was looking at different enclosures made by different people for all kinds of tortoise species, not just the small ones and not just Russians.
So my question is, are russian tortoises avid diggers/burrowers to the point where they could very well dig themselves out of an enclosure if there is no "floor" or embedded fencing to keep them in? I figure it's something I might as well add, but I just wondered what others thought of it.
My little girl does love to burrow in the corners of the indoor enclosure (though I think its more of a restlessness from not enough space rather than recreational digging, so to speak. Lol). If anything, I'm sure adding more substrate on top of the ground would also give it more difficulty to tunnel under and out of.
On a side note, there is a possibility (trying not to get my hopes up but thats difficult ?) that I could be moving, to a much nicer (and larger!) house!! It's a long story, but basically, I rent my current house and it's really not an adequate situation. My neighbor, and at this point, close friend, wants to work with me on buying a house that is directly across the street from our houses, finishing the renovations and then renting it to me, or rent-to-own, I'm not 100% sure what he wants.
He has the financial capability to do so, and he's retired with lots of free time, and he has done all the renovations on his own house himself, so he seems to know what he is doing... it is extremely generous of him to offer this kind of thing to me, so I'm not going to guarantee anything, because it is entirely up to him. But it would be an incredible step up in my life to be able to cooperate with him to do this! So basically, I'm extremely excited, but trying not to make myself too hopeful just in case it doesn't work out.
But anyways, I mentioned this because there is that possibility I may move houses, so right now my plans for an outdoor enclosure are bit all over the place; things I had previously wanted to do are being put on hold because if I do move, I need to make sure the enclosure and all of its parts are easy to take down/remove and won't leave, for example, a huge patch of bare earth in the yard lol... my landlord wouldn't be too happy with that, I'm sure...
Many people note how much tortoises enjoy burrowing and digging, and in their builds they implemented some way of escape prevention by doing things like adding a "floor" of hardware screen (which is then buried a little ways into the ground, or set on top of the ground, and buried in substrate), or by building the walls of the enclosure in a way that they extend pretty far down into the ground so that even if the tortoise digs, it should take a whole lot of digging before they could even try to escape (at which point, the owner should have been able to notice the jail break scheming ? I hope at least!).
There's also a lot of enclosures people have made which seem to just be walls that sit on top of the ground, that do not appear to have these kinds of preventative measures. Then again, I was looking at different enclosures made by different people for all kinds of tortoise species, not just the small ones and not just Russians.
So my question is, are russian tortoises avid diggers/burrowers to the point where they could very well dig themselves out of an enclosure if there is no "floor" or embedded fencing to keep them in? I figure it's something I might as well add, but I just wondered what others thought of it.
My little girl does love to burrow in the corners of the indoor enclosure (though I think its more of a restlessness from not enough space rather than recreational digging, so to speak. Lol). If anything, I'm sure adding more substrate on top of the ground would also give it more difficulty to tunnel under and out of.
On a side note, there is a possibility (trying not to get my hopes up but thats difficult ?) that I could be moving, to a much nicer (and larger!) house!! It's a long story, but basically, I rent my current house and it's really not an adequate situation. My neighbor, and at this point, close friend, wants to work with me on buying a house that is directly across the street from our houses, finishing the renovations and then renting it to me, or rent-to-own, I'm not 100% sure what he wants.
He has the financial capability to do so, and he's retired with lots of free time, and he has done all the renovations on his own house himself, so he seems to know what he is doing... it is extremely generous of him to offer this kind of thing to me, so I'm not going to guarantee anything, because it is entirely up to him. But it would be an incredible step up in my life to be able to cooperate with him to do this! So basically, I'm extremely excited, but trying not to make myself too hopeful just in case it doesn't work out.
But anyways, I mentioned this because there is that possibility I may move houses, so right now my plans for an outdoor enclosure are bit all over the place; things I had previously wanted to do are being put on hold because if I do move, I need to make sure the enclosure and all of its parts are easy to take down/remove and won't leave, for example, a huge patch of bare earth in the yard lol... my landlord wouldn't be too happy with that, I'm sure...