My Hermann’s tortoise went missing yesterday between 3pm - 7pm. It was a hotter day than usual here in western Washington state USA, around 87F-90F (30C-32C). There are 2 possibilities I can think of:
1) He escaped his enclosure. This is unlikely because we built the enclosure to be very difficult to escape. He’s never come close to getting out. And, he never ever roams the perimeter or attempts to find a way to escape. Also, there are no signs of escape… except his hide was rotated slightly. Which may be odd but he is known to bulldoze/move his hides so it’s not out of the ordinary. However, maybe his moved hide explains the 2nd possibility:
2) A predator took him. How likely is it that an animal was able to snatch him from under his hide without leaving any marks, any kicked up dirt, any majorly displaced decorations? There was no sign of struggle. I don’t think the ducks are large enough or have enough interest to take him. We see raccoons but they’re nocturnal and rarely come near the house. When they do, it’s always past 11pm and our security cameras pick up their movement and start recording. From the time we last saw our tortoise to the time we discovered his disappearance, the cameras did not record any animals nearby. So that challenges the predator theory
What are your thoughts? Regardless of the circumstances, what can I do? I’ve searched under every shrub, tree, bush, etc that I can manage. Called local pet stores and animal shelters asking about recently admitted tortoises. We’ve dug up his enclosure hoping to find him burrowed underneath. We put out a bunch of his favorite food in multiple areas in hopes that he’ll come back and we’ll find him munching. What else can we do? What are the odds that he’s still alive and that we’ll find him or he’ll come to us?
1) He escaped his enclosure. This is unlikely because we built the enclosure to be very difficult to escape. He’s never come close to getting out. And, he never ever roams the perimeter or attempts to find a way to escape. Also, there are no signs of escape… except his hide was rotated slightly. Which may be odd but he is known to bulldoze/move his hides so it’s not out of the ordinary. However, maybe his moved hide explains the 2nd possibility:
2) A predator took him. How likely is it that an animal was able to snatch him from under his hide without leaving any marks, any kicked up dirt, any majorly displaced decorations? There was no sign of struggle. I don’t think the ducks are large enough or have enough interest to take him. We see raccoons but they’re nocturnal and rarely come near the house. When they do, it’s always past 11pm and our security cameras pick up their movement and start recording. From the time we last saw our tortoise to the time we discovered his disappearance, the cameras did not record any animals nearby. So that challenges the predator theory
What are your thoughts? Regardless of the circumstances, what can I do? I’ve searched under every shrub, tree, bush, etc that I can manage. Called local pet stores and animal shelters asking about recently admitted tortoises. We’ve dug up his enclosure hoping to find him burrowed underneath. We put out a bunch of his favorite food in multiple areas in hopes that he’ll come back and we’ll find him munching. What else can we do? What are the odds that he’s still alive and that we’ll find him or he’ll come to us?