possible nest?

[Alyssa412]

how often do these ladies dig a nest instead of building one?

one of the torts started to dig a bit in the corner of my yard and the next day i found Hermione hanging out under my shed. she's been there for 5 or 6 days now. she will eat if you hand feed her, but when I put a bowl of food next to the shed (still very close) it doesn't get touched, even if left over night. the first day she was there I tried to pull her out and came kind of close, but she really anchored herself in and every time I made some progress she spread her limbs and stopped me from grabbing her. I figured if they can sit on a nest for a week with no food then I will give her a week and a few days before I dig her out. I am 99.9% sure she is not stuck. I attached some pictures.

also, I promised the person I got the torts from that I would not allow any eggs to develop (they are intergrades born by accident and he is very conservation minded, and they're siblings to boot). he said if she does lay, once she stops guarding the eggs to flip them over. any suggestions of what to do with them after that?

 

[wellington]

I didn't know of tortoises guarding nest. I also never heard of them building one. The hole is the nest, but that might not be with your kind. Hmmm. As for the eggs, just throw them away. At that early stage, they aren't tortoises yet at all. I'm glad the breeder doesn't want them bred, that's really good of him.
@tortadise might be able to help you here.

 

[Mac1967]

She will be hungry soon, how old is she?

 

[tortadise]

Manouria indeed build nests and guard them. Males will assist in scraping debris used for nests. Typically the male doesn't do a whole lot of nest building, but will partake and kinda show off to the females. Females will then take over and will indeed gaurd it upon the eggs being laid. Usually the females don't eat during this 2-3 week nest gaurding period though. How warm is it where your at? Direct sun in the entire enclosure? This may be the cause of the retreat. Manouria do not like nor fare well in complete sun and very warm direct open enclosures. They can handle a lot of heat and humidity but require large soaking ponds and lots of shaded dense planted areas.

 

[Alyssa412]

She will be hungry soon, how old is she?

15

 

[Alyssa412]

Manouria indeed build nests and guard them. Males will assist in scraping debris used for nests. Typically the male doesn't do a whole lot of nest building, but will partake and kinda show off to the females. Females will then take over and will indeed gaurd it upon the eggs being laid. Usually the females don't eat during this 2-3 week nest gaurding period though. How warm is it where your at? Direct sun in the entire enclosure? This may be the cause of the retreat. Manouria do not like nor fare well in complete sun and very warm direct open enclosures. They can handle a lot of heat and humidity but require large soaking ponds and lots of shaded dense planted areas.

it's been cooling down at night finally, into the lower 70's. the torts have the whole yard which is fairly large and open, but there are two very very densely shaded areas covered with ferns that they seem to have gravitated to. there is also a covered cement patio where they often hang out. I've had them for about 4-5 weeks and while the last 2-3 weeks the female has hung out next to the shed, this is the first time she or any of them have dug under it.

how long do you recommend I let her sit there before taking some kind of action?

 

[harris]

Shade is of the greatest importance with these animals. My outdoor enclosure is 70% shaded. The only time they ever bask in the sunlight is in the mid morning and every so often the evening hours. Ferns aren't going to give them their full shade requirements. My bet is that she is hunkering down to avoid the heat and sun. She's not going to starve herself. Often mine will hang out in the same spot for a couple of days without eating. Makes ya wonder what's going through that mind of theirs!

 

[Alyssa412]

Shade is of the greatest importance with these animals. My outdoor enclosure is 70% shaded. The only time they ever bask in the sunlight is in the mid morning and every so often the evening hours. Ferns aren't going to give them their full shade requirements. My bet is that she is hunkering down to avoid the heat and sun. She's not going to starve herself. Often mine will hang out in the same spot for a couple of days without eating. Makes ya wonder what's going through that mind of theirs!

Here are some pictures of the yard (the shady and the not so shady). I thought they had enough shade, but if you disagree please let me know! my friend and I also built them a hide box before I got them which turned out to be way toooo tall so we're going to cut it in half and add a roof to the bottom half so we have two hide boxes.


I definitely wonder what's going through their minds since one of their favorite past times seems to be going into a corner of the porch and staring at the wall! they're not even in their shells when they do this! it's so bizarre. it makes me want to make them a little dunce cap to wear when they put themselves in time out!

 

[Alyssa412]

I can't remember the exact day she put herself there, but it's coming up on two weeks for sure. how much longer should I give her before i move her myself?

 

[teresaf]

Probably of all tortoises these are the ones that require the most shade. You can get hostas of all different shapes sizes and mix them in with your Landscape. Like ferns they Do best with a lot of shade as well so plant them under a tree. they're edible so are a wonderful addition to any tortoise landscape. colocasia(Spelling?) elephant ears are taller form of shade that are also edible. if you shove them all together under a tree you have a mini rainforest. do you have some sort of misting system for them.? they require high humidity as well.

 

[teresaf]

My other concern is do you only have two? most people on this forum advocate groups of three or more tortoises of similar sizes to cut down bullying issues on one specific tortoise...

 

[Alyssa412]

My other concern is do you only have two? most people on this forum advocate groups of three or more tortoises of similar sizes to cut down bullying issues on one specific tortoise...

I have 3.

humidity is the one thing I will never have to worry about! it is so ridiculously humid here. gross humid. excessively humid.

 

[Alyssa412]

she was out from under the shed when I came home from work today!

 

[teresaf]

she was out from under the shed when I came home from work today!

Woohoooooo...did you look for eggs?

 

[Morob7]

You can't just keep us hanging! Did you find anything that explains her behavior?.....maybe eggs?