My tortoise has buried himself over 8 feet deep

Nosuchlogic

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I need help to understand more on digging my tortoise out from his collapsed den
 

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KarenSoCal

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I pride myself on not being an alarmist, but that looks just a tad nightmarish...I would lean toward sending the child you love the least down into the hole to retrieve the tort.
You are incorrigible! ? SMH...
 

Nosuchlogic

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Oh my! Does the burrow go straight back, or does it take a turn down?
What kind of tortoise?
Can you see him?
The burrow on right in photo is his original one. It goes straight back and then hooks a right like the letter "J". So a second hole was dug to try and reach him. So far nothing. Iam so upset. I am disabled and relying on future son in law to dig. He's doing a phenomenal job, but we just haven't found him. Plus, we had recently moved and this was his 1st winter here. He's a registered Mojave desert tortoise. We acquired him from a guy who had a pair. We got him right after he hatched. He's almost 23yrs. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated
 

Nosuchlogic

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You are incorrigible! ? SMH...
We actually have a mud loving granddaughter. ?. My future son in law has already crawled so far into it all we could see were his shoes. We are desperately hoping that he's managed to dig his way back out. The tunnel the deepest gets far too small for him to turn around or back up. At our old house I had to dig him out 3 times, after he got himself stuck sideways.
 

Nosuchlogic

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Are you positive that he is in there? Can you see a collapse? What made you start digging?
If he is not in his burrow, is he in a safe secure area?
I'd love to feel positive about him being in there. Our new neighborhood is a really good area. Aside from a house to the right behind us has a balcony where he can easily be seen. They have lots of backyard parties..... and there's the kid who helped us dig the original one.
 

Tom

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The reason we started digging is we thought it was time for him to wake up. And once we inspected his den we realized it had begun collapsing.
This is why you don't let them hibernate outside. All you can do is keep digging and hope you find him.
 

KarenSoCal

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Yes, I agree. No more hibernation outside. That's if we find him?
Just in case...while digging, also treat this like a lost tort.

Try putting food and water near a spot where the early AM sun hits and he might be likely to bask.

Tell any children that he's lost. Offer a reward to whoever finds him. Kids are good at looking for them. Maybe put food near the burrow entrance as well. Make him want to come out if he can.

What's his name?

And we're almost neighbors...I'm on the Salton Sea.
 

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