I Think Charlie is Chewing on Plywood!

[Big Charlie]

This year, we added more insulation to Charlie's night box and covered it with plywood. I noticed when I cleaned out his box, there were some fresh wood shavings in the front of his heat mat. I thought it was just left over from construction and swept them out, but there are new shavings there every time I clean! Then today, I noticed there is an area about his head height where the wood looks chewed into.

Is this dangerous?

FYI, Charlie is an 18 year old sulcata.

 

[Tim Carlisle]

Is Charlie actually eating it or just gnawing on it?

 

[Big Charlie]

I don't think he is eating it, just gnawing on it. If he was eating it, maybe there wouldn't be what looks like shavings on the floor. I don't have a camera in there so I can't see what he is doing in the dark. He puts his head right up against the wall when he puts himself to bed. Before I put in the insulation, he could put his head between the boards. Maybe he wants to stretch his neck out and can't, so that is why.

 

[Tim Carlisle]

I think we could start a whole new category for tortoise mannerisms. lol

 

[ZEROPILOT]

How about capping the corners with an L shaped strip of aluminum?
(While you still have a corner to protect)
Maybe it's from a mineral deficiency?

 

[Big Charlie]

How about capping the corners with an L shaped strip of aluminum?
(While you still have a corner to protect)
Maybe it's from a mineral deficiency?

It's not the corner! It's right in the middle. I don't know how he even got ahold of anything to chew on. Maybe I can glue a cuttlebone there!

 

[ZEROPILOT]

It's not the corner! It's right in the middle. I don't know how he even got ahold of anything to chew on. Maybe I can glue a cuttlebone there!

Maybe he's showing you where he wants the door to be?

 

[Big Charlie]

Maybe he's showing you where he wants the door to be?

He probably doesn't like having to turn around!

 

[Tom]

I doubt he's chewing. More likely digging at the sides. That is what they do. Their claws and leg scales can go right through stucco and drywall. Plywood can last a little longer, but not forever.

I'd reinforce the area with another layer of plywood. You can then periodically take off the old damage plywood patch and replace it with a new piece.

 

[Big Charlie]

I doubt he's chewing. More likely digging at the sides. That is what they do. Their claws and leg scales can go right through stucco and drywall. Plywood can last a little longer, but not forever.

I'd reinforce the area with another layer of plywood. You can then periodically take off the old damage plywood patch and replace it with a new piece.

Thanks! That's a relief! I can see how this could happen when he turns around. His leg scales get pretty worn down so I'm sure he digs or scrapes into the sides of things a lot.

We have posts on our patio that are painted green, and his house is painted green, and I've seen green paint on his shell.

 

[Speedy-1]

I think Tom is right ! Speedy has worn a lot of paint off the inside of his box this way .

 

[Maro2Bear]

Yep, our Sully does the same. Gets into his house, digs and moves and turns around. All the time rubbing his shell and clawing the inner walls.

 

[Big Charlie]

We hear a lot of noises coming out of his house, like he is rearranging furniture! So I guess I shouldn't have been surprised.

 

[Sterant]

I doubt he's chewing. More likely digging at the sides. That is what they do. Their claws and leg scales can go right through stucco and drywall. Plywood can last a little longer, but not forever.

I'd reinforce the area with another layer of plywood. You can then periodically take off the old damage plywood patch and replace it with a new piece.

I had a sulcata dig through a 3/8" thick ABS Vision tub in one winter. They get into a corner and dig and dig and dig.

 

[Tom]

I had a sulcata dig through a 3/8" thick ABS Vision tub in one winter. They get into a corner and dig and dig and dig.

That is surprising. I would not have guessed that was possible.

 

[Sterant]

That is surprising. I would not have guessed that was possible.

It was a real surprise to me. The scales on his front limbs were packed with the plastic. Eventually I decided to check the corner and make sure he wasn't going through it, and it was paper thin. This wasn't typical night-time bedding type digging, he would dig in the corner all day as a part of his perimeter pacing ritual. I have since sent him to a friends zoo in Texas. No matter how big his enclosure was, he would pace the perimeter - both indoors and outside in a rather large (2500 sq. ft.) pen.