Sulcata scraping in his house?

TortoiseMomma

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Sep 19, 2017
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San Mateo, CA
We rescued a large sulcata (100 lbs) a couple of years ago. He has a large grassy area - well over 1/4 acre with shade and contour as well as full sun. He roams, grazes and hangs out outside every day it's warm, we live outside of San Francisco. On cool/rainy days he stays inside his house, and he returns there on his own every night on days he spends roaming. His house is about 4' x 4' with a heated floor mat (kane) and oil space heater mounted up high which keeps his house in the mid-70s. I've noticed recently that when he returns home after a day of wandering in the yard, he scrapes and bangs against the walls inside his house for a while before settling down. I'm wondering if he needs a bigger house or we should take the floor mats out so he can dig a in there and/or throw something like straw in with him he can burrow into. Thanks for your suggestions!
 

Tom

The Dog Trainer
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This is normal. To them, the night box is like a burrow, and they often like to dig, even though there is no dirt.

Over time, if this damages the plywood too much, you can easily put a plywood "patch' over the damaged area and buy some more time.
 

waretrop

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Aug 30, 2015
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NE Pa. Zone 5
@Tortoise momma , So here are some pics to show you how it is here with Alice and what has happened to us. She weighs 80 pounds now.
alice large.jpeg

But when she was about 40 pounds here are some of the things she has done.

Here is Alices hide box.
alice11.jpg

Here is the inside with her heating pad. She goes inside, not just to sleep, but to keep herself heated when she feels the need. And usually digs into the end of it. You can hear it all over our property. It's just a need to dig. She gets a little more exercise and now that heating pad is anchored down or it would fly out of there.
alice4.jpg

Next you see a pic of Alices outside condo.
alice condo1a.jpg

This ramp is so heavy that my husband and I together have a very hard time to move it. It was in place for months without any problems. One time we took it off to paint it. It was back in 2 days...Alice had such a problem when we put it back she attacked it. Eventually she got used to it again but this is what she did the first day we put it back.

So this i what she didalice condo6.jpg
alice condo4.jpg

So do you see the door hanging down at the top of the ramp? That is a hinged door if I want to close the condo, It also now has a glass window on top that I can open and close yet keep the ramp in place. That's for the summer time.

She uses it as a back scratcher. She also likes snow....LOL
20170210_100549.jpg


When they get something in their head they will succeed....

So when she was smaller we had her in our kitchen her first winter. I had the need to keep her close to me to learn all I could to keep her safe. I, with allot of help, from THIS FORUM, was able to keep here there until spring...BUT when that time hit, there was no holding her back. It was just good that I have a brick house...
r.jpg

There is nothing that will stop these beasts...
 

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