Hello. I have had a pair of DTs housed together (I know, I know) for 3 years. So far, so good. In that time, I've had a few different hides for them, ranging from a cardboard box to a LEGO hut to their most recent hide, the bottom of a plastic trashcan with a hole cut in the side. Every night, they both cram in there and honestly there is no room at all. The hole also needed to be enlarged and so I thought I would just find a new solution.
I was able to find a sort of wooden crate that is approx. 12"x12"x18" which is plenty of room. The problem is that they hate it. They haven't used it once in about a week. I have a couple theories.
1. There are slats in the crate so it isn't fully dark until all the lights are off.
2. There is too much internal height, so it feels too much like a cave and less like a burrow.
3. It is too roomy inside and they prefer the sardine situation.
To test #1 I plan on affixing some opaque black acrylic sheet I have to the top and sides to eliminate the light leak and for theory 2, I can bury it in the substrate to reduce the internal height.
Any ideas on what would make a tortoise not like a new hide when they have shown no propensity for being picky at all in the past?
I was able to find a sort of wooden crate that is approx. 12"x12"x18" which is plenty of room. The problem is that they hate it. They haven't used it once in about a week. I have a couple theories.
1. There are slats in the crate so it isn't fully dark until all the lights are off.
2. There is too much internal height, so it feels too much like a cave and less like a burrow.
3. It is too roomy inside and they prefer the sardine situation.
To test #1 I plan on affixing some opaque black acrylic sheet I have to the top and sides to eliminate the light leak and for theory 2, I can bury it in the substrate to reduce the internal height.
Any ideas on what would make a tortoise not like a new hide when they have shown no propensity for being picky at all in the past?