Sulcata borrow

[Brookn178]

around June i rescued a sulcata tortoise from a family member who hadn’t been caring for him properly, he’s around 4/5 years old and i think his growth was slowed down from lack of water and food (I inserted a picture of his size compared to my hand as a 5’2 woman lol) anyways!! He hasn’t borrowed since I got him in the enclosure in my backyard, (it’s around 25 feet long and 12 feet wide) but recently started borrowing in the area of the enclosure with no grass and has dug really steep and underneath the barrier (the wood you see in the pictures) should i be worried about him getting stuck and unable to get out or him digging so far i cant see where he is at? Should I fill it in and encourage borrowing elsewhere? I have many questions about borrowing and that’s about the only thing I lack information/knowledge on. I inserted pictures but they were screenshots from a video after I realized I couldn’t post a video so please excuse the quality. Also! It’s about a half a foot to a foot deep across.

 

[Tom]

I see a couple of problems. First, they should never be living on sand. I realize that is what you have there in FL, but dirt would be better. Sand impaction is likely in that environment. Do your best to keep the tortoise's food free of sand as much as possible. Truck in some clean fill dirt to replace that sand in the tortoise enclosure.

In your climate, the frequent heavy rain is likely to fill that burrow and make it collapse.

Burrowing is good for hot weather, but not so good for winter weather. I would fill that burrow in and block that area with a sheet of plywood for a while, and make the tortoise sleep in its heated night house. You have an insulated heated night house, right?

Encourage the tortoise to dig a burrow and live underground next spring. I repeat this cycle annually. I let them start using the burrow in June, and close it off and make them sleep in their night boxes in October. You can build a cover, or possible use an anchored umbrella to keep the rain out. Given the winds that come with your tropical storms and hurricanes, building something heavy and sturdy is more likely to hold up in your area.

 

[Brookn178]

I see a couple of problems. First, they should never be living on sand. I realize that is what you have there in FL, but dirt would be better. Sand impaction is likely in that environment. Do your best to keep the tortoise's food free of sand as much as possible. Truck in some clean fill dirt to replace that sand in the tortoise enclosure.

In your climate, the frequent heavy rain is likely to fill that burrow and make it collapse.

Burrowing is good for hot weather, but not so good for winter weather. I would fill that burrow in and block that area with a sheet of plywood for a while, and make the tortoise sleep in its heated night house. You have an insulated heated night house, right?

Encourage the tortoise to dig a burrow and live underground next spring. I repeat this cycle annually. I let them start using the burrow in June, and close it off and make them sleep in their night boxes in October. You can build a cover, or possible use an anchored umbrella to keep the rain out. Given the winds that come with your tropical storms and hurricanes, building something heavy and sturdy is more likely to hold up in your area.

I haven’t built/gotten a night box other than the shed that’s already in there because it’s so hot still in Florida (90° during the day and 80° at night) as it gets closer to cooling off at night around late November/december I will definitely get one. The area where I’m at we don’t get winter until January. As for the sand/dirt, that is what is under the grass that died off from him digging and the constant walking over, I didn’t place it there so I’m not quite sure how I would remove it because it would still be there, right? Sorry if that’s a stupid question lol. So should I block off the borrow he dug or should I leave it open? Is what he dug safe?

 

[Tom]

I haven’t built/gotten a night box other than the shed that’s already in there because it’s so hot still in Florida (90° during the day and 80° at night) as it gets closer to cooling off at night around late November/december I will definitely get one. The area where I’m at we don’t get winter until January. As for the sand/dirt, that is what is under the grass that died off from him digging and the constant walking over, I didn’t place it there so I’m not quite sure how I would remove it because it would still be there, right? Sorry if that’s a stupid question lol. So should I block off the borrow he dug or should I leave it open? Is what he dug safe?

I would fill in the hole that he dug and cover the area with a sheet of plywood to keep him from digging there again.

The boxes take quite a few hours to build, or have built, so I'd get started now. You should already have one. If the temperature stays warm, the thermostat will keep the heat off. Sulcatas really should never drop below 80 degrees. Your nights certainly won't be "cold" until winter, but they will start dropping into the 70s soon, and with your humidity, that could be bad news.

An added benefit of a properly built box is that it acts as a surrogate burrow. Instead of digging to China and wrecking the whole yard, your tortoise will simply use its box instead of trying to make a comfy burrow. So the box isn't just for heat, it's also for security. It makes them feel comfortable and safe in their own little space. Additionally, the boxes protect them from rats, fire ants, and a whole host of other night predators. I lock all of my tortoises in their boxes every night regardless of temperatures outside. And then I pop the doors open every morning.

Here are two examples, and there are a couple more threads to help build one when the time comes:

Single Tortoise Night Box

I like my larger tortoises to live outside full time. My climate permits this year round with a little help. For people who live where it snows all winter, this type of box is still good for warmer weather, getting them out earlier in Spring, and keeping them out a bit later into fall. You'll...

tortoiseforum.org

Double Door Night Box

As the years have gone by and I build more of these boxes, I learn more and more each time. This one is the latest and I incorporated everything I've learned over the years. I also tried to take lots of pics so I can explain in more detail some of what is going on. It will take multiple posts to...

tortoiseforum.org

 

[SinLA]

I would just like to say that "90° during the day and 80° at night" is like my dream environment, except for the humidity, bugs, and gators. Plus a few other reasons we won't go into LOL