Survival Instincts ??

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BrinnANDTorts

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I was just wondering if someone could help me figure out why Sulcatas , or any tortoise really, doesn't automatically go to where its warm when it gets cold. Like in the wild they go to their warm burrows. I have read that on this forum multiple times that people have to manually put their Sulcatas in their warm houses during the winter or they will just sleep out in the cold. or when its raining and its freezing cold they will go out into the rain and sleep anyways... this just doesn't make sense to me because I just thought that there natural survival instincts would kick in and tell them to go to where its warm when its too cold to be healthy for them outside... just a little curiosity. :p :tort: :) :tort:
 

ewam

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Hmmm. Not sure, maybe they are just adapted to it being cold at night and they might not realize how cold it will get after they fall asleep.
 

FADE2BLACK_1973

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Not to make anyone mad but I think they are not the brightest things...lol. I had a very smart dog once that the only 2 things he was not bright on was would not go into his doghouse when it rained or snowed and would rather play with his water dish then to keep his water in it. He done this from pup to adult. Never changed and I tried to teach him different but it did not help..lol. So
 

Redstrike

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The Sulcatas natural range is right along the equator, throughout central Africa:
http://www.testudines.org/Articulos/Ficha-de-Especie/Geochelone-sulcata-MILLER,-1779.aspx
Scroll down a bit and you'll see the range map, I know it's all in Spanish, but the map is good.

Given their native range, it's unlikely they'd experience the cold night temperatures we get in more temperate regions. Therefore it may be unlikely that they are innately selecting for such things come bed time. This is and educated guess, I'm not a sulcata expert.
 

Tom

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I think Chris hit it. As a tropical species, living near the equator, they really don't have an innate mechanism for dealing with the cold. When it get super hot here, all of mine instinctively try to get underground. They can feel themselves overheating and know they must take action. When they get cold in the wild, they just find a place to hang out for a night, because it will not get dangerously cold where they occur. They simply are not equipped to understand what "dangerously" cold is. So, we must help them.

On a related note, much of my time and thought with wild animals is spent trying to keep them from killing or hurting themselves in captivity. No different for my torts.
 

BrinnANDTorts

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Aww see that makes perfect sense now :)
I feel kinda dumb I didn't think of that myself cause its kinda common sense now that I know lol :tort:
 
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