Hello all!
This is my second post here. The first told how when a friend had to move I suddenly inherited a 5 y/o captive breed tortoise and SO HAPPY for it! What I did not post was what happened next- This tort once had a sibling, but at some point over a year ago he disappeared. At their original home they had dug burrows so long it was impossible to check so he was presumed dead.
Along comes last August, my friend had her emergency, I took the remaining tortoise.... Then, on her very last day at the house... she literally had packed up and moved out, but had just gone back to do a final clean-up, the tortoise popped up! There he was just standing in the middle of the yard!! After a year!
So now I have TWO 5 y/o desert torts.(OK I do have a question! Bear with me
) My backyard is really ideal though the torts cant dig a large natural burrow. I created 2 burrows but they seem to stick together and use just one. They have other "areas", under a bush, behind the potting bench, etc. I have read every piece of information on keeping torts, and assumed that as the weather started to cool down they would they would become less and less active, stop eating etc. When the time seemed right my plan was to winter them in an appropriate box in the garage. (I would usually let nature take its course but received my landlords mail and found out he isnt paying the mortgage! ARGH! So moving could be in my near future)
They do not seem to be slowing down! Yes, it is unusually hot here in Phoenix AZ. but it's their native climate. Their hours have changed, instead of dusk and dawn they are active from about 11am to 4pm. The grass in the yard has mostly died and I have seen them eating dry, dead leaves, but if I offer fresh leaves (mainly dandlion,hibiscus,grape,aloe,mallow) they will eat as much as ever.
Whats going on and what should I do? My ideas- Maybe this is still a new environment to them? Maybe because they need long, deep, dark burrows? Maybe this is normal for now and it just isnt cool enough?
Any guidance here would be greatly appreciated. Previous owner had very large non-landscaped yard, she didn't interact w/ them much so can't help. I'm not really concerned this is a problem, but want to make sure I am caring for them properly and not doing something that's preventing them from hibernating. Thanks so much in advance for your ideas!
This is my second post here. The first told how when a friend had to move I suddenly inherited a 5 y/o captive breed tortoise and SO HAPPY for it! What I did not post was what happened next- This tort once had a sibling, but at some point over a year ago he disappeared. At their original home they had dug burrows so long it was impossible to check so he was presumed dead.
Along comes last August, my friend had her emergency, I took the remaining tortoise.... Then, on her very last day at the house... she literally had packed up and moved out, but had just gone back to do a final clean-up, the tortoise popped up! There he was just standing in the middle of the yard!! After a year!
So now I have TWO 5 y/o desert torts.(OK I do have a question! Bear with me
) My backyard is really ideal though the torts cant dig a large natural burrow. I created 2 burrows but they seem to stick together and use just one. They have other "areas", under a bush, behind the potting bench, etc. I have read every piece of information on keeping torts, and assumed that as the weather started to cool down they would they would become less and less active, stop eating etc. When the time seemed right my plan was to winter them in an appropriate box in the garage. (I would usually let nature take its course but received my landlords mail and found out he isnt paying the mortgage! ARGH! So moving could be in my near future)They do not seem to be slowing down! Yes, it is unusually hot here in Phoenix AZ. but it's their native climate. Their hours have changed, instead of dusk and dawn they are active from about 11am to 4pm. The grass in the yard has mostly died and I have seen them eating dry, dead leaves, but if I offer fresh leaves (mainly dandlion,hibiscus,grape,aloe,mallow) they will eat as much as ever.
Whats going on and what should I do? My ideas- Maybe this is still a new environment to them? Maybe because they need long, deep, dark burrows? Maybe this is normal for now and it just isnt cool enough?
Any guidance here would be greatly appreciated. Previous owner had very large non-landscaped yard, she didn't interact w/ them much so can't help. I'm not really concerned this is a problem, but want to make sure I am caring for them properly and not doing something that's preventing them from hibernating. Thanks so much in advance for your ideas!
