RV's Burrow

[DeanS]

Do you walk on the part of the yard that has her burrow under it?

If it's dug at a 45 degree angle...it would not affect the integrity of the surrounding area.

 

[Yvonne G]

I expected the cavern to be filled with poop, obvious poop and humidity.

Every morning, when I open Dudley's door for him, I scoop out quite a few poops, and there's an awful lot of pee on the floor. I'd be willing to bet that we're just not seeing the poop and pee in the pictures. The pee on Dudley's hard floor has no where to go, while the pee in RV's CAVERN is absorbed into the dirt right away. And they don't go to sleep every night as soon as they enter the burrow. They dig and scratch and rearrange. With all that activity, the poop probably gets mixed up in the loose dirt and you just can't see it in the picture.

 

[Tom]

The soil-type there is called "caliche". It hold its shape very well. There is about 8 or 9 feet of dirt over the main chamber, and like Dean noted, the entrance tunnel is at a pretty steep angle. They use a piece of old plywood to cover the opening of the burrow. It slides back and forth, so on rainy days they pull it forward to keep the rain out and on sunny days they slide it back to let the sun down in it. There really wasn't much poop down there. Certainly not two years worth. I fished around in the soft dirt on the bottom of the burrow and it was mostly just plain dirt. I didn't find any pee spots. None wet or recently dried and no urates either, strangely.

What I want to know is, where is all the dirt that used to occupy the space that is that complex of tunnels and chambers now? There is a very small amount mounded up near the entrance and in front of it, but it is a fraction of the volume that has been removed. Teri and Mary were debating the same thing. Further, how did RV get all that dirt up and out of a 10' deep burrow that corkscrews around like that?

 

[RV's mom]

The soil-type there is called "caliche". It hold its shape very well. There is about 8 or 9 feet of dirt over the main chamber, and like Dean noted, the entrance tunnel is at a pretty steep angle. They use a piece of old plywood to cover the opening of the burrow. It slides back and forth, so on rainy days they pull it forward to keep the rain out and on sunny days they slide it back to let the sun down in it. There really wasn't much poop down there. Certainly not two years worth. I fished around in the soft dirt on the bottom of the burrow and it was mostly just plain dirt. I didn't find any pee spots. None wet or recently dried and no urates either, strangely.

What I want to know is, where is all the dirt that used to occupy the space that is that complex of tunnels and chambers now? There is a very small amount mounded up near the entrance and in front of it, but it is a fraction of the volume that has been removed. Teri and Mary were debating the same thing. Further, how did RV get all that dirt up and out of a 10' deep burrow that corkscrews around like that?

RV spends nights down below, and is currently underground. She comes up topside, daytime suns , warms up and THEN pees and poos. Happily we have a scoop to pick up tort turds, and a hose to wash away the urates. When she goes down below, she is constantly tossing dirt behind her, as well as occasional poo... towards the surface. I bet she doesn't do that coming up. She had quite a mound going, but it was threatening a small tangerine tree, so we humans scrape and move the dirt to the fenceline on the west side of the yard. And any where else we need to have a soil fill-in. Our soil is neither clay or sand, but tough, mineralized stuff. Tomorrow I'll take a few close-ups with a ruler so you can see the actual grit. We had thought the tunnel just went straight down past the first turn, so we were very carful not to walk on that area during our times of heavy rain.

And our rain doesn't soak in easily. It pools and stays on top. We have terrible flooding in the desert - flashfloods are not a joke. We had gone fishing in the high country a few years ago, and came home through monsoon rainstorms. When we reached the flat desert, all you could see was standing water, and the rising, rushing culvert next to the highway. We were halfway pleased we were pulling a boat, in case we had to ditch the car in rising water.

anyway, I digress... as far as the poop thing goes....... I checked the house, her nice, heated house, to find tort turds and a trace of urine. Maybe its a thing with warmth, helping to move the system.

who knows.

teri

 

[DeanS]

That's an excellent point! Today Aladar went outside and could not wait to get back in! He didn't graze, defecate or urinate (no urates either)! For the past few days, he's gone out for a few hours and then back to his den...this morning I found a couple of neatly wrapped tight packages...but no sign of urine (although yesterday I did soak him in the spare bathtub...and there were some urates [and I assume urine] in there as well). But all said and done, I'm sure he'd like to spend the winter with RV

 

[RV's mom]

Mary says she DOES NOT walk on the area where we think her burrow goes.. The length of the plywood covers the first part of the burrow, thus protecting it. We'd always assumed it turned and continued downward, hence we didn't walk next to the burrow in wet weather.

We plan to make a different topper for the burrow, and it will still extend over the entrance, trailing back over that same area to protect the burrow from potential cave-in. we're moms. we worry.

teri

ps. thanks maggie. I'm having fun changing avatars..

 

[Marty333]

Last night I had a dream that me and Chevy dug a huge burrow and lived in it I think I am starting to go insane

 

[RV's mom]

chevy will grow... watch out!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Michiba54]

RV's burrow is amazing! And to think I'am impressed when my little sulcata makes apple sized pits with his coco fiber, but this is truely holy**** material! And as much as I would love it, I hope mine doesn't do anything this epic someday... only about 1-2ft above the water table here

Off Topic: Not what I pictured you to look like Tom

 

[Tom]

Off Topic: Not what I pictured you to look like Tom

Is that good or bad?

 

[Laura]

maybe females are cleaner then our dirty pooping males...!

 

[Michiba54]

Off Topic: Not what I pictured you to look like Tom

Is that good or bad?

Thought you would look older an have a beard! haha

 

[fhintz]

Tom needs a reality show

 

[BethyB1022]

Wow! These pictures are great. Tom you are one brave fellow for going on that adventure. I just showed the pics to my bf and he said he can't wait for Ichabod to dig a burrow that big so he can go exploring too.

 

[RV's mom]

maybe females are cleaner then our dirty pooping males...!

I really think it is a heat issue.

RV does poo down below, she scrapes it up when she 'digs' her way down each night. She is constantly digging out. But there is not a huge amount, and what she does bring up, we dispose of.

In the cooler times, when RV comes up in the morning, she goes to the warmest, brightest part of the yard and suns. And when she is warm - THATS when she does her business.

Because of enviroment issues, it seems that everyone else needs to keep their sulcata's in a heated shed, and they will pee and poo, because they are warm, everything is working and moving.....

my thoughts, my opinion

teri

 

[DonaTello's-Mom]

Tom needs a reality show

That's what I was thinking too!!They could name the show.......... "Tort talk with Tom'...

Wow Tom what a treat for us to see, thanks so much! And hey us 'nerds' really appreciate the knowledge and all the good stuff you share with us..

 

[Albinoboidsetc]

That has to be one of the coolest things I have ever seen. I live how RV just has that look of "Watch it buster" lol I'll have to show the fiance these pics maybe they will discourage her from wanting too many more of them

Oh on a side note we set a day for the wedding next year. October 29 so if anyone is near Jacksonville NC around then, let me know

 

[Michiba54]

maybe females are cleaner then our dirty pooping males...!

I really think it is a heat issue.

RV does poo down below, she scrapes it up when she 'digs' her way down each night. She is constantly digging out. But there is not a huge amount, and what she does bring up, we dispose of.

In the cooler times, when RV comes up in the morning, she goes to the warmest, brightest part of the yard and suns. And when she is warm - THATS when she does her business.

Because of enviroment issues, it seems that everyone else needs to keep their sulcata's in a heated shed, and they will pee and poo, because they are warm, everything is working and moving.....

my thoughts, my opinion

teri

I read that tortoise will goto the bathroom in their dens to help with humidity, but I donno if she could pee/poo enough to keep that labyrinth undercontroll.

 

[Tom]

Tom needs a reality show

That's what I was thinking too!!They could name the show.......... "Tort talk with Tom'...

Wow Tom what a treat for us to see, thanks so much! And hey us 'nerds' really appreciate the knowledge and all the good stuff you share with us..

I enjoy the opportunity to learn from everyone else's experiences. Really speeds up the learning curve and helps affirm or deny new theories quickly. I also enjoy having so many friends to share all this stuff with. Prior to finding all of you guys, there were only a few people who wanted to hear my obsessive non-sense about my animals, and I think the majority of them only tolerated it because they are nice people.

 

[TortieGal]

This is great to see inside a Sulcata hole! Thanks for taking pic's to show us all. I would love to crawl in one. I would think a baby's hole would be more moist than a adults a baby would spend a lot more time hiding. I'm glad they didn't let RV go down there with you she sure wanted to! I have to wonder how she would have acted tho. Best not to find out. You are very brave Tom.