Scratching corners of enclosure, normal?

[DonaTello's-Mom]

My DonaTello always goes to the corners and scratches. My new indoor one is 4ft by 3ft. The outdoors is 6ft by 6ft. He does it out there too. In his bed at night he's there again scratching away. Is this normal for torts? I'm a new keeper so this is all new there me, but I'm learning! Any thoughts would be appreciated.

 

[chadk]

Normal. When there is good subrate in those corners they will often toss up dirt to cover up with while napping So even when there is nothing really good to dig, they'll scratch at it. Do you have good hides (warm and cool side) and good areas for digging?

 

[Tom]

I think he's either telling you he wants more room or he's just trying to dig in for some security. Some of them are more restless than others. Think about this: If you put him down on a 100 acre ranch, how far do you think he would walk. I turn my big ones loose on several fenced acres and they never stop walking and looking for escape routes. Well, they stop long enough to decimate any weed patches, but then quickly move on.

My current outdoor baby Sulcata pen is 15'x30' and Daisy constantly marches around the whole thing.

I guess my point is: Even though your enclosures are plenty big, no pen is ever big enough for an animal that is built to wander all day every day. All you can do is give him as much room as you can and make sure he doesn't hurt himself while scratching at the corners. Maybe you could make the substrate a little deeper.

 

[Maggie Cummings]

It's instinct. They do that in their burrow in the wild to arrange the dirt so they are comfortable. Bob does it every night to his plywood bed and my neighbor has complained about the noise. ha ha

 

[DonaTello's-Mom]

Thanks everyone. Yes he has one log hide and a really huge hide. But I feel much better knowing it's the "norm" for them. I was worried he would hurt himself. Maybe I'll pile up some substrate higher. Stayed tuned for more questions from me..

 

[chadk]

Keep in mind a HUGE hide is really not a hide... At least not to a tort. They like something snug and cozy. Perferably with sides just bigger than their shell and some nice substrate to burrow into if they want. A tort that feels secure will be a happy healthy tort. So I like smaller hides that offer a dark area to rest and also dig into moist substrate if they want. One on the warm side one on the cool side.

 

[DonaTello's-Mom]

So funny you said that Chad. Yesterday at walmart I just got a smaller hide for him. Haven't put it in yet. I've been looking at it thinking he might think it's too small. The HUGE hide is well, HUGE. The log he never uses. I think this one will be just right......I'm so glad you all are here to help us "newbies" out. Here I was thinking BIGGER is Better, but I was way wrong, huh? And yeah this new hide is 1/2 the size of his old one.

 

[tortoisenerd]

Scratching while burrowing is different from scratching at the walls. When scratching at the walls occurs I'd want to think about the size of the enclosure and cage furnishings (sometimes rearranging them or redecorating with new stuff will occupy them). Torts in captivity generally will display behaviors such as this at least every once in awhile because they are penned up, unless you give them really huge enclosures. So, first you need to figure out what type of scratching this actually is (it may be both). Torts like to burrow at night against something like a wall or object to feel safe. Also consider if the depth of substrate is sufficient (I like twice as deep as my tort is long). You should have multiple hides in multiple temperature zones. Some torts also prefer a plant or pile of hay rather than a box or half log. Best wishes.