Sulcata Hatchling more active in new environment?

[cookiesandcream]

Hi all! 3 days ago, I just moved out to a new house, and bring my 3-month-old sulcata and his closed chamber with me. However, while the closed chamber humidity and temperature stay the same, I notice he becomes WAY more alert and active. Previously, after I gave him his morning soak, and fed him while basking around when I put him back in the closed chamber, he went back to his cave and slept. He might go out a couple of time to drink etc, but he spend most of his time sleeping in his hide. And he burrows a lot. He digs the coco coir substrate until he reaches the bottom.

However, after we moved, after soaking and feeding, when we put him back, he kept roaming around the enclosure and never slept inside his cave anymore. Another thing like feeding, pooping and passing urates are still normal.

Previously, when we woke up (around 7/8 am), he was already awake outside the enclosure, waiting to be picked up and fed. But today, he is so active that when we woke up, we heard a sound from his enclosure and found him digging and kinda stuck behind his cave (the cave located on the cool side of the enclosure, 29-30'c; basking 31-33'c). What is happening? I just puzzled because he is still using the same closed chamber from our previous home. Is he supposed to be this active? Because I read that sulcata hatchlings spend most of their time sleeping.
Where I usually find him


How I found him this morning.

 

[ryan57]

Temp too high. Can't cool off is probably why it's trying to get out. They dig to get cool. That is why s/he is digging. Target 79-80degF / 26 ish deg C as the cool side or temp measured on the floor. What does your temperature gun say? My little one now 300g does the same thing. If too hot, no food or dirty water it does all sorts of things to get out of the environment. As an experiment, when it is acting like this, take it out into the room. If it calms down, you know it's temperature related. If you feed it and it calms down, etc.

If temperature, you must have a temp gun and make sure that basking is hot and there is a cool spot. I'd move the hide to the corner opposite of the basking spot. Looks like it is kind of in the middle at the moment. They must have a place to get hot and to get cool.

 

[cookiesandcream]

Temp too high. Can't cool off is probably why it's trying to get out. They dig to get cool. That is why s/he is digging. Target 79-80degF / 26 ish deg C as the cool side or temp measured on the floor. What does your temperature gun say? My little one now 300g does the same thing. If too hot, no food or dirty water it does all sorts of things to get out of the environment. As an experiment, when it is acting like this, take it out into the room. If it calms down, you know it's temperature related. If you feed it and it calms down, etc.

If temperature, you must have a temp gun and make sure that basking is hot and there is a cool spot. I'd move the hide to the corner opposite of the basking spot. Looks like it is kind of in the middle at the moment. They must have a place to get hot and to get cool.

I also been thinking that it might be caused by temperature. I left town for a couple of days, so he has been in my husband's care these past couple of days. He's a great animal keeper. We've been trying to figure out what he has done differently than I did.

Another thing is that now I live with my ducks and they're loud. I wonder whether the loud sound made him more alert. So my guess is it might be temperature, new carer (my husband), or sound.

I just wondering whether him becomes more alert and active is a good or bad thing.

 

[Tom]

29-30C is not too hot for a sulcata. Its just right. That is the year round ground temp where they come from. Your basking area directly below the bulb should be around 36-37C.

Tortoises don't like change. Even though you are using the same enclosure, its in a different place with different lighting outside the enclosure and different sights, sounds and smells. It may be that he likes it better in the new place and this is his new activity pattern, or it may be that he's being stimulated by the new sensations, and he'll calm back down to his former behavior patterns after he gets more used to the new stimulation. I doubt the ducks have any thing to do with it.

 

[cookiesandcream]

29-30C is not too hot for a sulcata. Its just right. That is the year round ground temp where they come from. Your basking area directly below the bulb should be around 36-37C.

Tortoises don't like change. Even though you are using the same enclosure, its in a different place with different lighting outside the enclosure and different sights, sounds and smells. It may be that he likes it better in the new place and this is his new activity pattern, or it may be that he's being stimulated by the new sensations, and he'll calm back down to his former behavior patterns after he gets more used to the new stimulation. I doubt the ducks have any thing to do with it.

Temp too high. Can't cool off is probably why it's trying to get out. They dig to get cool. That is why s/he is digging. Target 79-80degF / 26 ish deg C as the cool side or temp measured on the floor. What does your temperature gun say? My little one now 300g does the same thing. If too hot, no food or dirty water it does all sorts of things to get out of the environment. As an experiment, when it is acting like this, take it out into the room. If it calms down, you know it's temperature related. If you feed it and it calms down, etc.

If temperature, you must have a temp gun and make sure that basking is hot and there is a cool spot. I'd move the hide to the corner opposite of the basking spot. Looks like it is kind of in the middle at the moment. They must have a place to get hot and to get cool.

the weird thing is that I just got home yesterday night, so today morning I am the one who soak and feed him, and once I put him back to his enclosure, he goes straight back to his cave, just like usual 😅 Really not sure what happened, or what my husband did that keep him in his toes 🤣
I just wonder whether him being more active is a good or bad thing. If it's a good thing, then I need to re-adjust my previous care, because he seems to spend a lot of time sleeping in his cave under my care. But not sure whether he become more alert because he notices the change in his environment and will go back to his previous sleep pattern once he settled.

 

[cookiesandcream]

29-30C is not too hot for a sulcata. Its just right. That is the year round ground temp where they come from. Your basking area directly below the bulb should be around 36-37C.

Tortoises don't like change. Even though you are using the same enclosure, its in a different place with different lighting outside the enclosure and different sights, sounds and smells. It may be that he likes it better in the new place and this is his new activity pattern, or it may be that he's being stimulated by the new sensations, and he'll calm back down to his former behavior patterns after he gets more used to the new stimulation. I doubt the ducks have any thing to do with it.

the basking area directly under the bulb is 26-37, the surrounding area near the basking is 33'. I put his hiding cave in a slightly colder area, 29-30'.

Thank you for assuring the ducks have nothing to do with it 🤣 We're considering moving the sulcata to another room so that he can have a good night's sleep. The ducks get loud when excited, but we love them to bits haha.

 

[ryan57]

29-30C is not too hot for a sulcata. Its just right. That is the year round ground temp where they come from. Your basking area directly below the bulb should be around 36-37C.

Tortoises don't like change. Even though you are using the same enclosure, its in a different place with different lighting outside the enclosure and different sights, sounds and smells. It may be that he likes it better in the new place and this is his new activity pattern, or it may be that he's being stimulated by the new sensations, and he'll calm back down to his former behavior patterns after he gets more used to the new stimulation. I doubt the ducks have any thing to do with it.

I've noticed that curtains open or general amount of light in the space makes a huge difference. I had my little one that is almost 300g now in three different rooms and different behavior in each place.

Question about ground temperature... has anyone measured an average burrow to determine the depth from ground level? As you go down further, if their burrows can be very long, wouldn't there be a temperature gradient? Has anyone determined what the lowest temperature is in a ground burrow in their native habitat? Then their indoor burrow or enclosure is to mimic that same range right?

If they are basking on a rock and get too hot, I've often seen the little one go into his hide and dig even though it's already plastic with all the substrate dug out. It's about 79-80 degrees on the plastic bottom. If s/he is too cool when sleeping I've noticed that it leaves the hide and has dug a spot adjacent to it where the temperature must be perfect. I have measured it and it is usually 82 +/- 1 degree.

As I'm sitting here typing this, I'm within 5' of a growing sulcata that has decided that he was too hot in his "indoor burrow" (usually 86-88deg) so he moved to the edge (83.5deg) to feel more of the room which is 76-78 with the wood stove going. For scale, that ramp is an 18"x18" tile. He's 2yrs 1 week.

Thank you so much again for sharing your knowledge and experience. It was crucial for this one. Now he could be a serious trip hazard outdoors and has a proper outdoor enclosure he can't escape from with a heated day/night box to use when he wants to. He has been so hydrated lately with drinking about 16oz of water most mornings and 1.5hr warm soaks every evening that I noticed that his urine was not that light brown/rust color tonight. Barely any color, almost clear. Had plenty of grass and weeds today, bypassed the plate and went straight to his favorite spot in the world. He's back to pooping at 11:30am so no more tub fiascos. Thankfully.



Seems like a whole lot of sunny and 107deg where he's from.

 

[ryan57]

View attachment 367726
the weird thing is that I just got home yesterday night, so today morning I am the one who soak and feed him, and once I put him back to his enclosure, he goes straight back to his cave, just like usual 😅 Really not sure what happened, or what my husband did that keep him in his toes 🤣
I just wonder whether him being more active is a good or bad thing. If it's a good thing, then I need to re-adjust my previous care, because he seems to spend a lot of time sleeping in his cave under my care. But not sure whether he become more alert because he notices the change in his environment and will go back to his previous sleep pattern once he settled.

"because he notices the change in his environment"

Just wait until it's the yard! If you move ANYTHING, and I do mean anything (like a chair or even a pair of shoes), a flower pot, anything... they HAVE to check out whatever you've changed and then walk the perimeter. I've never seen anything quite like it.

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

"because he notices the change in his environment"

Just wait until it's the yard! If you move ANYTHING, and I do mean anything (like a chair or even a pair of shoes), a flower pot, anything... they HAVE to check out whatever you've changed and then walk the perimeter. I've never seen anything quite like it.

Especially if they moved a chair to a place they think it should belong (no matter if someone was sitting in the chair)

 

[cookiesandcream]

Especially if they moved a chair to a place they think it should belong (no matter if someone was sitting in the chair)

Such a big personality inside such a tiny body 🤣 I actually bought him for my husband as he has been wanting to get one for years. But I never thought he would be THAT cute. He turned me into a big fan of tortoises, and now we are considering purchasing our second tortoise (they are going to be fully separated, obviously). We are still unsure whether we are going to adopt another sulcata or adopt a red foot this time.

 

[Sarah2020]

I agree with other comments, tortoise are not fans of change but they do settle down. This tortoise will become very large and strong so I would stick to one for now. I would check heat temps and continue as you are to give it the best healthy life for slow smooth shell growth. Enjoy.

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

Such a big personality inside such a tiny body 🤣 I actually bought him for my husband as he has been wanting to get one for years. But I never thought he would be THAT cute. He turned me into a big fan of tortoises, and now we are considering purchasing our second tortoise (they are going to be fully separated, obviously). We are still unsure whether we are going to adopt another sulcata or adopt a red foot this time.

Yes, I was surprised too when I've got mine. I can't imagine how I lived all these years without a tortoise Redfoots are beautiful, but a pain to keep in dryer climates..

 

[cookiesandcream]

Yes, I was surprised too when I've got mine. I can't imagine how I lived all these years without a tortoise Redfoots are beautiful, but a pain to keep in dryer climates..

What a cutie! He/she looks happy; look at those big eyes! My husband had been wanting to have sulcata for years before I finally gave in. But boy, I never thought I would love his little face that much, haha. I've been considering red foot because I live in a hot-humid-tropical climate, with daily temps 24-27'c, while mid-day temps can reach 30-33'c. It's also so humid, around 65 all year round. I think Indonesia is more suited for tortoises than humans LOL! The temperature and humidity are perfect for forest tortoises, and we're in the correct temp to house red foot. We are still researching more about the species before buying one. But look at that face Alex! How can someone resist that!

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

What a cutie! He/she looks happy; look at those big eyes! My husband had been wanting to have sulcata for years before I finally gave in. But boy, I never thought I would love his little face that much, haha. I've been considering red foot because I live in a hot-humid-tropical climate, with daily temps 24-27'c, while mid-day temps can reach 30-33'c. It's also so humid, around 65 all year round. I think Indonesia is more suited for tortoises than humans LOL! The temperature and humidity are perfect for forest tortoises, and we're in the correct temp to house red foot. We are still researching more about the species before buying one. But look at that face Alex! How can someone resist that!

I envy your weather ) You don't have to fight the nature to make your tortoise happy

 

[cookiesandcream]

I agree with other comments, tortoise are not fans of change but they do settle down. This tortoise will become very large and strong so I would stick to one for now. I would check heat temps and continue as you are to give it the best healthy life for slow smooth shell growth. Enjoy.

We do plan to wait a couple of months until we are really familiar and confident with tortoise care before adopting another one. In the meantime, we've been searching for other species' care and calculating the cost. We are thinking red foot this time because the climate and humidity are suitable to raise one. My husband grew up with turtles, so now we have a place on our own, I think it was just about time until he decided to adopt another one.

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

Maybe it makes sense to wait a bit more: until your sulcata will pass the "fragile" stage and will be living outside full time. You'll be pretty busy with "sulcata-proofing" the yard, training him to go to the night house, checking the plants for safety and so on...