UPDATE ON ROXYS HOLE!!!!!! PICS

[alben909]

My tortoise Roxy has been digging again lately and she has gotten pretty far. Her burrow is pretty big. Here are some pics!!!!!
Share some stories of your tortoises' burrows.

Roxy is coming out of her burrow proudly when she hears me

Here is the entrance!

Here is the burrow when it is illuminated

Lets see how big it is!!!!!

Here is an old baseball bat

I stuck the bat all the way in the burrow…

Her burrow is 2.7 feet (2 feet 7 inches)!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Are there any other TFO members who have the experience of haveing a large hole in their yard?

Hope you enjoyed!!!!!!

 

[Moozillion]

WOW!!! That's impressive!

 

[alben909]

I was to. She works on it every day now!!!!

 

[l0velesly]

Wow... amazing burrow!

 

[alben909]

Thanks. I will forward it to Roxy

 

[Eweezyfosheezy]

Yes unfortunately way too many holes. Are you going to just let her dig or fill it? I would suggest filling it up because I have heard stories of cave ins. I know that Tom has made a detailed description of how he makes his own sulcata burrows. I would find that thread if I were you and it may give you some ideas.

 

[Vishnu2]

Wow, that is a amazing, however I would do as suggested by Eweezyfosheezy and fill it up. As a side note, I have never seen her before and she is beautiful!!!

 

[Tom]

Funny you should say that...

Since the onset of the hot weather, I've been experimenting with and encouraging some burrowing behavior in my sulcatas. I've been learning a lot and its kind of neat. I am shocked at how fast and how deep they can get in a very short amount of time. My Daisy, who is around 10" now, dug a 6' burrow in an afternoon. The next day she had it over 12' long. By the afternoon of that second day, the big girls discovered her hole and enlarged/destroyed it to suit their girth. Within a few days, they had demolished a large portion of my hillside and I spent hours will a shovel filling it back in and covering the area with plywood to stop them coming back.

Just yesterday, my big male started his own hole down in the new section of their pen. He made at least 8' his first day, and I have no idea how deep it is as of today. I intend to go down there tomorrow with a flashlight and a camera.

Here is the thread Mr. Fosheezy referenced:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/Thread-Daisy-s-New-Enclosure#axzz1bv5qbbcz

 

[Vishnu2]

Tom: If you're not home how do you safely keep them from digging out of your yard and into someone else's? I see that in the pictures on this thread that the fence line is right next to her burrow. Couldn't she finally just dig below the fence line? Yikes!

 

[Tom]

So far mine aren't digging toward any fence lines. I'm no expert in captive North American Sulcata burrows, but I have never seen one dig up. They seem to only dig down and around. I'd love to hear more from others who have more experience with "natural" burrows than me.

 

[ascott]

I have a CDT here that has his natural burrow that is well beyond 6 feet at about a 45 degree angle ---he did this last year and it is his fav place of course during the hot days---

I would not fill it in--I tried to cover it with the intent of filling it in last year...well, the stress that caused him was not worth it....they have dug for millions of years, some burrow well and others not so great the first few attempts..this guy I have just happens to be the freshest ripped from the desert by some idiots---so his skills are good...I would never destroy his masterpiece...after all, if I found a sink hole over his burrow I would simply dig him out...also, I do absolutely block the natural burrow come Mid October so his little butt does not retreat to brumate in the hole....as I brumate them safely indoors due to the weather here in the high desert is very unpredictable...flooding is a huge concern.

I love a good burrow....to watch them is a true honor, one little flip of dirt and push out of the way with the back....over and over and over again.....awesome....'s

 

[alben909]

Ok thanks guys. I will fill it today, after it stops raining. Roxys going to be mad, but I have do whats safe for her

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Btw, is roxys shell paramiding?.

 

[Nixxy]

Can you upload some different angles?

If it is, it's not much. It looks like she might be, just a little bit.

As for that burrow..good grief..It looks like a badger did it!

 

[alben909]

It just rained so currently I cant go outside. I will get SUPER MUDDY. My tortoises love it though

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It rained really bad

 

[Watsonpartyof4]

How awesome! I would live to watch them dig!

 

[alben909]

Its fun. Except when they get dirt all over you