Hello all -- thanks for helping us newbies...
We have a large outdoor enclosure for the 2 russian tortoises, adopted 6 months ago. One disappeared last week, and I suspect he burrowed. The other female, quite a bit larger, keeps trying to burrow in the wet areas of the enclosure. I have a drip system to keep some of the grassy areas watered because of our lack of rain.
This morning I found the female burrowed again in this wet soil (it also rained a this morning). I am inclined to take her out again, soak her in warm, and then wait for her to dry up before putting her back in the enclosure.
I am sort of bewildered by their behaviors because:
1) The rescuer said that these tortoises had not ever hibernated
2) So Cal weather has winter temps that can be in the 70s during the day and down to high 30s-40s at night
3) mostly dry
I'd love feedback from anyone, especially those living in SoCal. I am fairly confident that these torts will be fine outside all year, but I am surprised that they are burrowing??
We have a large outdoor enclosure for the 2 russian tortoises, adopted 6 months ago. One disappeared last week, and I suspect he burrowed. The other female, quite a bit larger, keeps trying to burrow in the wet areas of the enclosure. I have a drip system to keep some of the grassy areas watered because of our lack of rain.
This morning I found the female burrowed again in this wet soil (it also rained a this morning). I am inclined to take her out again, soak her in warm, and then wait for her to dry up before putting her back in the enclosure.
I am sort of bewildered by their behaviors because:
1) The rescuer said that these tortoises had not ever hibernated
2) So Cal weather has winter temps that can be in the 70s during the day and down to high 30s-40s at night
3) mostly dry
I'd love feedback from anyone, especially those living in SoCal. I am fairly confident that these torts will be fine outside all year, but I am surprised that they are burrowing??