Stupid Question, Must Learn!

[thegame2388]

So I have the most perfect night box for my 7" sulcata...weighs about 1130g.

Now my question is, his/her enclosure area is about 3feet by 40 feet...or 120sqt if you will.

However, as of this typing, my sulcata is at the very END of his outside enclosure fenced area and its getting cold.

In other words, how do I teach my sulcata to go INSIDE his nice cozy heated night box? If I continue to leave him out there with temps currently at 65F, I feel like he'll freeze to death (not literally, but tonight it will get to about 40F). I don't want to pick him up and put him inside manually because then he'll never learn.

Maybe I'm thinking about it the wrong but I'd appreciate any advice on how to the sulcata to move its butt over to the hide box at around 5-6pm.

 

[sulcata tortoise #1]

Step 1. Get food in your hand
Step 2. Take the food to the tort
Step 3. Let him sniff it
Step 3. Once he starts eating it slowly walk to the heated enclosure
Step 4. Have patience.

 

[leigti]

I have heard other Sulcata owners say they just put the tortoise in there every night. And lock them in for the night. Eventually they do learn to go in, hopefully.

 

[G-stars]

You have to teach them to use it. You probably have to herd him into it every night until he gets it. It may take weeks.

Tortoises are habitual creatures so eventually he should put himself away into the tort house.

 

[Jodie]

Repetition and patience. The other option is move the night box to where he wants to be.

 

[leigti]

Repetition and patience. The other option is move the night box to where he wants to be.

That is a good idea, I have done that with hides.

 

[thegame2388]

That is a good idea, I have done that with hides.

I'll try the food idea tomorrow. I can't move the hide itself.

 

[Yvonne G]

I put my tortoises in their night houses. They eventually get the idea. Sometimes the 200lb Aldabran is not put away at night. I walk along behind him tapping him on the butt with the rake. He goes in the house.

 

[Jodie]

The image of herding a 200 pound aldabra with a rake amuses me for some reason.

 

[thegame2388]

Lol mine is 4lbs max but I get the picture. It just kinda sucks since sometimes I don't get back from work until about 8-9PM.

 

[Tom]

This is one of the main reasons I told you not to move him outside until spring. Most of them don't learn to use their shelter until it is too hot outside. They have never evolved to deal with "too cold" because it does not exist in sulcata land. You will need to put him away each every evening until he starts doing it on his own. Moving the enclosure to where he naturally wants to be would make it easier on both of you, but since this is not an option for you, you will have to do it the hard way. He could start as early as next week, or it might go on this way until the heat of summer returns.

If you can be there in the evenings, like maybe on weekends at least, you can build a small 6' circle around the door of his box with cinderblocks stacked two high for a tortoise of this size. At the time he normally wants to go to bed (as early as 2 or 3 pm with this cold weather we've been having for my sulcatas) put him in that circle so there is nowhere to go but in the box. If he parks instead of going in, put him on the ramp. If he backs down, put him half way in. You will have to keep at it until he learns, which as I said before might not happen until things warm back up and get too hot for him outside. Do all of these things before the sun sets.

I would not want my 7" sulcata outside at 65 degrees, or lower, for hours at a time. I think you are courting danger there with this cold damp weather we've been having. Along those lines I would also jack the box temp up to 86 degrees or so right now until we get some warm weather and sunshine back.

 

[Levi the Leopard]

Actually, picking him up and placing him in the box each night IS the best way to teach him. Then let him come out on his own each morning.
Next evening, same thing. Put him in, lock the door, open it in the morning and he'll come out on his own.
Eventually you'll find he's put himself in there. My leopard picked it up very quickly.

 

[thegame2388]

Sounds like a plan. I'll be doing Tom's method for a few days and see what happens.

 

[bigbeaks]

I put my sulcata in her box every night for about a week. Now she's always in there when I go out to close the door to hold the heat in for the night. They learn pretty quick.

 

[Tom]

Sounds like a plan. I'll be doing Tom's method for a few days and see what happens.

Keep us posted on how it goes. Many people have issues with this, so we can learn from whatever happens in your case. Let us know what insight you gain from this and what technique either works or fails for you.

Good luck.

 

[Yellow Turtle01]

Mine is getting awfully heavy to be heaving around, so I taught her about in the summer so that in the winter she'd learn... "OH, it's warm in there!"

 

[thegame2388]

I put my sulcata in her box every night for about a week. Now she's always in there when I go out to close the door to hold the heat in for the night. They learn pretty quick.

Seems like a good idea. How big is the enclosure? Mine seems to always go in its own little area...then it "forgets"..Not sure about yours but I'm almost certain sulcatas have almost no short term or long term memory..or comprehend the idea of "oh it's cold now, let me go where it was hot where my owner took me that one time"

 

[Dizisdalife]

From what I have observed I believe that they do have memory. I have seen mine walk across the yard to get a drink from his water dish. He does know where it is. Recently I have seen him go into his house to warm up on a cloudy day when there was no sun to bask in. He came out later to graze before going back in for the night. He has his basking spots around the yard that he uses. They change with the seasons. So I believe that there is some short term and long term memory going on. In time yours will learn to use the night box, and go in there when it is time. In over three years that my sulcata has lived outside he has only parked himself outside for the night 5 times. All of those where in the summer on some of the hottest days. He has one spot in some thick hedges that he was certain that I could not get him out of. Wrong. Guess he found out which one of us is the more stubborn. We have these contest from time to time. So in that regard his long term memory fails, or he is just being a sulcata.

 

[omgdoubletacos]

That's what i had to do with my 50+ pound sully. Now he goes in it almost every single night. Though trying to find him when it was dark out was no fun. (I began putting him in his night box starting in September. I live in Southeast ga and it didn't start getting really cold until a few weeks ago.)

 

[thegame2388]

Thanks everyone for the input. Here are some thoughts:

I put the sulcata in his indoor enclosure for these extremely cold days (it's 30F outside!).

Just for fun, I decided to "turn on" his outdoor enclosure with all the heating and stuff and cranked the thermostat to 85F and checked back at 1AM. As of now, it's 30F outside but about 73F inside his outdoor night box, which isn't bad at all which is the temperate of his INDOOR enclosure (inside my room).

I'm kinda surprised the insulated night box couldn't even get it up to 80F at night, nearly 50F above outside temps, but hey, it's the worst its ever gonna get so it's not too bad.

Now I have two questions:

1. I've been feeding mazuri, but I'm kinda tired of those small pieces. I'm pretty sure I've read/seen about those BIG mazuri pellets...I'm talking like billard ball size....it's much easier to soak one then 7-8 for a daily feed.

2. At what point do I go... "well, it's pretty cold outside, but hey, he's REALLY outgrowing his indoor enclosure, so I need to take him outside even with the heat running nonstop at at around 75F during the night"?