Experiment. Hmmm...

[Elohi]

So I decided to do an experiment because I noticed that the two times that I have used a "broken clay pot hide" my three Leo's have crammed themselves into it, especially at night.

I wondered if it was because it was on the warmer side of the enclosure...
So I switched my domes. MVB over the other end with the cave hide and the CHE over the end with the broken pot.

My Leo's are STILL cramming themselves into the clay pot to nap and sleep.
First I had this pot, the liked it well enough but then I put this broken pot back in and they insist on piling in.

Old white pot

Clay pot they seem to love. MVB on this side.


Still cramming into the clay pot with MVB moved to the other side of the enclosure.

Here is their big hide and small pot hide next to it.

Thoughts?
Obviously they are going to be too big to do this someday lol.

 

[Barista5261]

That is funny that they all insist on dog piling into the same pot. Maybe it's pack mentality where all 3 of them want to be in the pot simply because the other 2 are.

Obviously, you know your babies the best, to try to rule out any early "alpha tort" behavior, do they all pile up in the same spots every time? Or at least one of them in the same spot almost always?

I hope that made sense, lol. It did in my head. Haha.

 

[Elohi]

That is funny that they all insist on dog piling into the same pot. Maybe it's pack mentality where all 3 of them want to be in the pot simply because the other 2 are.

Obviously, you know your babies the best, to try to rule out any early "alpha tort" behavior, do they all pile up in the same spots every time? Or at least one of them in the same spot almost always?

I hope that made sense, lol. It did in my head. Haha.

It seems pretty random. It's always funny when tort #3, whomever it happens to be each time, has to wiggle their way in if the other two aren't deeper into the pot.

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The big cave rock hide is huge. They wouldn't have to be close to one another inside of it. And it has a big wad of moist moss for them to bed into. But they don't use it nearly as often. And every night, they tort pile Iintio this pot. Strange lol.

 

[Barista5261]

Ah, so it's a random assortment every time

Your Leo Trio are a bunch of characters! They are adorable, and I hope you are able to keep them together for as long as possible [SMILING FACE WITH OPEN MOUTH]

 

[canicke]

Interesting. Did you have a plant in the (now) broken clay pot? Maybe the smell of the plant. Or the smell of whatever planting material you had in the planter? Or - the colour? Of the pot, i mean. Hmmmm

 

[Elohi]

Interesting. Did you have a plant in the (now) broken clay pot? Maybe the smell of the plant. Or the smell of whatever planting material you had in the planter? Or - the colour? Of the pot, i mean. Hmmmm

Actually it was an old kitchen canister LOL. I got them from a family auction a few years ago and they were sitting on my counter as decorations. Then I got the idea that I could break one side of it out and use it as a tort hide. It works great, and they obviously love it, but it's kinda weird lol.

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And lucky for them, I have two more, bigger ones, to use as they grow [GRINNING FACE WITH SMILING EYES]

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Ah, so it's a random assortment every time

Your Leo Trio are a bunch of characters! They are adorable, and I hope you are able to keep them together for as long as possible [SMILING FACE WITH OPEN MOUTH]

[TURTLE]oh man me too! I'm hoping for three girls that will get along perfectly. You heart that trio? Girls! No flashing penis' at me please! Lol

 

[Yvonne G]

My first thought was because the clay pot is darker and more closed in than the white pot, but then I saw the big hiding place, and its dark and closed in too. So now I don't know what to say.

 

[bouaboua]

What if you take away the clay pot? What will happen...........Love to know.

 

[Tom]

THIS is why I say rather than offer the tortoises "choices" we should offer them what we know to be best.

I've said this many times: There are MANY factors that determine where a tortoise chooses to hang out. Many of those factors, we probably have no clue of. Because in the wild, any of those choices will be fine, they don't have the coping mechanisms, or logic capacity to make the correct choices in our foreign captive environments. For example: My young sulcatas will often bed down at the base of a weed clump, instead of retreating to their warm shelter at dusk. Now I know its going to be too cold at night and they will get sick if they stay outside like that, but they can't seem to figure that out. In the wild parking under a bush like that would be fine because it doesn't get so cold there. Here in North America, following the wild instincts that have served them for millions of years in their natural habitat can kill them. Yet some people persist with the notion that somehow tortoises thousands of miles away from the conditions that they are adapted to deal with somehow "know" what's best for themselves. I say: No they don't.

 

[Moozillion]

I think they're adorable!!! Are they clutch mates?

 

[Elohi]

I think they're adorable!!! Are they clutch mates?

Two of them are. The one with the most white is not related to the other two.