Digging spree!

[CyberianHusky]

I have three females and one male Egyptian Tortoises. Male isn't of breeding age but one of the females might be. So someone has been on a digging and noticed a couple deep ditches being dug out. What would posses one of them to dig so deep could it be egg laying or something else? All curious answers and suggestions fully welcomed.

 

[ascott]

Maybe the urge to get some practice?

 

[Moozillion]

We know that human females start developing secondary sexual characteristics (breast enlargement, body hair etc) in response to hormone changes BEFORE they start actual menstruation/fertility. Maybe something similar is going in with one of your "girls": hormone changes triggering instinctive egg-laying behaviors before she is actually fertile or gravid??? Just a thought.

 

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I have three females and one male Egyptian Tortoises. Male isn't of breeding age but one of the females might be. So someone has been on a digging and noticed a couple deep ditches being dug out. What would posses one of them to dig so deep could it be egg laying or something else? All curious answers and suggestions fully welcomed.

Adult females, sexual mature lay eggs whether they have mated before or not.

 

[tortadise]

Well a couple questions. Have they changed any active behaviorism besides the digging? Like less eating or seems to be less active? Sometimes they will slow down. Especially with the season changes. Did the temps or anything in their environment care change at all.

It really sounds like they are digging nests to me. Especially since this is their typically laying season.

 

[CyberianHusky]

Well a couple questions. Have they changed any active behaviorism besides the digging? Like less eating or seems to be less active? Sometimes they will slow down. Especially with the season changes. Did the temps or anything in their environment care change at all.

It really sounds like they are digging nests to me. Especially since this is their typically laying season.

There has been a changing of the seasons here in Portland. There are shelves in my tort table with little planters. Has them outside all summer got cool and brought them back in and put them on their appropriate shelve. Could added plant life cause the digging?

 

[tortadise]

Well a couple questions. Have they changed any active behaviorism besides the digging? Like less eating or seems to be less active? Sometimes they will slow down. Especially with the season changes. Did the temps or anything in their environment care change at all.

It really sounds like they are digging nests to me. Especially since this is their typically laying season.

There has been a changing of the seasons here in Portland. There are shelves in my tort table with little planters. Has them outside all summer got cool and brought them back in and put them on their appropriate shelve. Could added plant life cause the digging?

Yes very much so. This is what they do in the wild. But another question. How are they digging? Front legs and just burried half way? Or back legs digging a hole?

These guys will dig(really its just minor shallow excavation. Most times around a plant base) burrows to escape extreme heat and cold nights in the wild. Did the outside temps change at all the ambient, basking, and inside moisture during these changes? alot of times people will keep the temps the same but forget that winter also brings lots of dry air, as the warmth in the ambient air is not around to create higher levels of humidity. Not saying they need high humidity. Just saying in the wild in any species of tortoise really. Humidity can dictate the season change and not really the temperatures entirely. Dry to wet season and wet to dry season is a major change for these hard wired tortoises.

 

[billskleins]

Any update?
When my girls nest they pick a site - often under a heat source but not always - and start pushing around the substrate with their front legs often moving in a circle.
Once they've made this original depression in the substrate they start digging with their hind legs. The nest holes can be fairly shallow but often are as deep as three quarters to full length of their carapace. This process usually takes place after the lights come on and she has warmed up a bit and may take several hours.
Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[CyberianHusky]

The radical digging stopped and at work during the day so do not know the pattern in which the ditches were dug. Now I am wondering if there is a egg hidden somewhere in the substrate of my table.

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Bill what times of the year do your do the nesting most? I think mine might have been just a digging fluke and not so much nesting. But curious what your nesting season is like and/or what your season are like for nesting if it is year round.

 

[billskleins]

They've already started but things will pick up in December through April.