Yearling Redfoot loves to burrow.....a little too much

[Nolan1992]

One of my two RFs has a passion for burrowing. The only problem is he can't see when his heat lamp comes on in the morning, causing him to sleep through the day. I always pull him out to eat and soak, but I feel like it's un-natural for him to wake up that way. Should I just let him be and see if he will come out on his own from now on? I'm just afraid he's going to stay down there forever!! lol

 

[TarHeelNC]

Mine does the same thing!!!! Id like to knew too!

 

[christinaland128]

My two do the same. I let them burrow most the day then pull them out around 3pm to soak and eat. Though I suspect they wander a bit at night or early morn unbeknownst to me because I find nibbles on leaves of their enclosure plants.

 

[Nolan1992]

I guess I will just wait a little later to pull him out than I usually do. My Cherryhead, who is a bit smaller, doesn't burrow. He likes to find the one that burrows and sleep on top of him lol.

 

[christinaland128]

I guess I will just wait a little later to pull him out than I usually do. My Cherryhead, who is a bit smaller, doesn't burrow. He likes to find the one that burrows and sleep on top of him lol.

Ha ha! That's cute!

 

[ascott]

How long have you had the two? Is it the pair maintained in the same enclosure, just the two of them?

 

[FLINTUS]

What are your temps and humidity? Red foots aren't known to burrow that much.

 

[christinaland128]

My soil temp is 85 and my humidity 85. They don't burrow deep in the coir, just under the moss. I assume they still hide quite a bit because they're only 6mos old and instinctually hide to avoid being eaten. When they're not hiding they're quite active, they explore their enclosure, nibble on plants, sniff things.

 

[muu]

My boys a year and a half old, he burrows constantly. Although he always comes out for food and a bath in the morning. But spends most of his time burrowed. As was said before I assume it'll become less as he gets older. But at the moment he's keeping safe from predators ( well just me) he's very active when he does come out. It used to worry me but he seems to be really healthy. When he had his check up with the vet she was very pleased with him.

 

[Nolan1992]

How long have you had the two? Is it the pair maintained in the same enclosure, just the two of them?

What are your temps and humidity? Red foots aren't known to burrow that much.

I know the temps and humidity aren't a factor because they're on point, nor is it them living together. He goes outside often and even when he is outside he tries to find spots to burrow by tearing the grass apart. It's just his nature. I'm not trying to get him to stop burrowing, I know he just loves it. When I purchased him, he was burrowed in his enclosure when I went to pick him up. I just wanted some people's take on whether they pull their guys out or let them be. But I guess I'll keep pulling him out as usual, and he will grow out of it eventually.

 

[abclements]

Try not pulling him out for a coupe days. For whatever reason, he wants to be buried. Trust me, he will come out to eat if he gets hungry enough, if not there is some issue that is manifesting itself in this way.

By saying your temps and humidity are "on point" doesn't help a whole lot... flintus and ascott ask these questions because a red foot burying itself isn't normal behavior and is usually brought on by high temps, low humidity, lacks of hides or bullying, or a combo of some/all of them. You mentioned the cherry sleeping on top of your buried red foot, which may sound cute, but to me it appears to be an aggression thing. Just my thoughts.

 

[Ashes]

My RF baby will make a hole, but not big enough to be completely in it. He will lay in it and sleep - when he's awake he stays in it and just looks around... He's only a little over a month old. I take him out to soak and eat every night - he's awake when I do this, but if I don't take him out he'd never get soaked. So you're saying never take him out unless he's out walking around?

 

[Ashes]

My ambient temp is 81 - basking is about 104, hide is about 74.... I try to keep humidity above 80, but never usually goes below 70.

 

[abclements]

That sounds fine. Basking temp might be a little high but overall, pretty good. If you need to soak him, by all means, pull him out. I was just suggesting for Nolan to experiment and see if his RF really actually likes burrowing (a happy tort will come out to eat, warm up and wander a little then go back) or if it's something else that is forcing him to burrow.

 

[Ashes]

Oh okay. Whew. I figured since mine is so super young he'd hide quite a bit. But gotta keep him hydrated!! thanks!

 

[abclements]

Hydration is the key! Keep doing what you're doing with the soaking!

 

[christinaland128]

You guys are so helpful. Thank you.

 

[Nolan1992]

Ambient temp is 80, Basking temp is 90-92, Hides around 75. When he comes out, he is very active, eats a lot and does some exploring before going back to sleep and have even found him wandering late in the evening (around 7) when all of my other torts are settling down. I think I have just forgotten how torts differ in their habits, and I've been comparing his habits to my Cherrys. I don't believe there is any bullying, if my Cherry is sleeping, the one that loves to burrow will go to sleep next to him, and vice versa. I believe they just like being together. They've been together for months and I've never seen signs of aggression or had to separate them. They eat together, soak together, sleep together, etc. As far as the burrowing goes, after some research, I've found it's not as uncommon as I thought. I found a few threads with several people, including breeders, saying it is normal for RFs/YFs to burrow even when temps and humidity are ideal.

 

[christinaland128]

I don't allow mine to eat together. I recently read a post about one tort who kept biting the other's leg. Perhaps mistaking it for food. It was pretty nasty. :/. Mine eat at separate ends of enclosure, or separate times.

 

[Nolan1992]

Well I monitor all of my tortoises when they eat including my sulcata and hermanns even though they don't have roommates so if a fight broke out I would see it. But here are some pics of my little ones, I am not exaggerating when I say these two are best buddies. Would love to see pics of everyone's little ones as well