Burrowing

[Koopa1]

My Hermann tortoise doesn't burrow himself when he sleeps, night time or day time, he just falls asleep on top of the substrate. Is that normal?

 

[Maggie Cummings]

Evidently it's normal for him....

 

[popeye tortoise]

It may be a comfort zone for your little guy. You may want to check your temperatures in he/she enclosure and the humidity. Do you have an area for him/her to soak?

 

[Koopa1]

Yes the enclosure is a vivarium with the basking lamp up one end and the soaking/water bowl up the other. I have a thermostat for it and I put it at 30° in the day time and about 5/10° at night. Sometimes he doesn't even go into his shell when he sleeps he just lays his head on the woodchips! (During the daytime mostly if he has a nap).

 

[yillt]

Yes the enclosure is a vivarium with the basking lamp up one end and the soaking/water bowl up the other. I have a thermostat for it and I put it at 30° in the day time and about 5/10° at night. Sometimes he doesn't even go into his shell when he sleeps he just lays his head on the woodchips! (During the daytime mostly if he has a nap).

You be just said it yourself. Woodchips. They don't hold moisture and can't be very comfy to burrow in. You need some coco coir for your tortoise and in no time he'll. Be burrowing. But mine never burrows and he has coco coir so not all tortoises do.

 

[Matt j Harris]

As far as I'm aware hermanns aren't a burrowing tortoise unless the temps are extreme my parents one which is 60+ years old never has to there knowledge and mine which is 6months old doesn't either

 

[Koopa1]

Thank you everyone

 

[chinese guy]

Hello,friend.I am from China,and I keep five tortoises.In fact,my friend and I never use the burrow.

 

[WithLisa]

My torts never sleep in the open, but they want to reuse their old burrows, not dig a new one every night.
Maybe he needs a substrate that's more suitable to build a burrow?

 

[W Shaw]

Mine always burrows, but not in the same place. He sleeps in a burrow all night, but makes a new one for his daily nap, and then another one to go to bed in. I have to shift his night lamp every night to make sure it's in the same general vicinity he is.

 

[spud's_mum]

My Hermanns tort rarely burrows. He normally sleeps on top of the substrate, hiding under some fake leaves.

Even if he does burrow, he doesn't normally go all the way down, he just makes a tiny ditch and leaves his shell out.

 

[W Shaw]

My Hermanns tort rarely burrows. He normally sleeps on top of the substrate, hiding under some fake leaves.

Even if he does burrow, he doesn't normally go all the way down, he just makes a tiny ditch and leaves his shell out.

I'm beginning to feel just a tiny bit sorry for people with tortoises who don't burrow. Ronan is at his most adorable in the morning when he puts his head out of his night burrow and looks around and yawns. He spends like 20 minutes waking up that way before rising up out of the substrate to officially start his day.

 

[spud's_mum]

I'm beginning to feel just a tiny bit sorry for people with tortoises who don't burrow. Ronan is at his most adorable in the morning when he puts his head out of his night burrow and looks around and yawns. He spends like 20 minutes waking up that way before rising up out of the substrate to officially start his day.

Spud occasionally burrows and it is rather cute when he comes out with soil on his head

He wakes up very quickly when he sleeps on the surface though

 

[Piers Cresswell]

I'm beginning to feel just a tiny bit sorry for people with tortoises who don't burrow. Ronan is at his most adorable in the morning when he puts his head out of his night burrow and looks around and yawns. He spends like 20 minutes waking up that way before rising up out of the substrate to officially start his day.

Id love to see a photo of him poking his head out and yawning!

 

[W Shaw]

Spud occasionally burrows and it is rather cute when he comes out with soil on his head

He wakes up very quickly when he sleeps on the surface though

Totally, right? Does he do the stegasaurus thing, walking around with a ridge of substrate still piled on his back?

 

[spud's_mum]

Here are some old pics of spud burrowing. He rarely does this now, not sure why.



Sorry to post pics on your thread, hope you don't mind!

 

[Piers Cresswell]

Haha that's awesome! It's the night of the zombie spud!

 

[spud's_mum]

Totally, right? Does he do the stegasaurus thing, walking around with a ridge of substrate still piled on his back?

He has only done it a couple of times, I wouldn't call it a ridge though, his is normally just a pile on the front of his shell haha
I have a cute picture of him with substrate on his shell

 

[Piers Cresswell]

My hermann, Sancho, does not burrow much, he just used to fall asleep with his head flopped out sometimesome using a rock or his foot as a pillow. I recently changed his habitat a little and he has dug a little hole under a pot to partially cover himself but nothing like the pictures of spud above! I'm thinking of changing and deepening his substrate to see if that leads to him burrowing more.

 

[Piers Cresswell]

Haha that's a great video. I love it that tortoises yawn, Sancho sometimes seems to smack his chops (if that's the right saying) after yawning like he needs to brush his beak