Is nest building the same motions as burrowing (Indian)? Too small to lay? & other Questions

[Stoneman]

Today I had a female Indian star SCL about 6.75 and bodyweight about 850. Today I noticed she looked like she was building a nest in an enclosure, and then it looked like she abandoned it. I have seen her mate with a Male, I am not sure if the magic happened but with how much they have I would not be surprised if they made it work at least once. She is kind of small for a layer. I have read 900 grams to be the minimum.

So, back to the matter at hand. Is the motions of egg laying the same as burrowing under a heat source to stay cool? She was only moving her back legs, and trying to push chips out of the way. They kept falling back in. I wanted to pull out some big pieces for her. I have an area of sand mixed with fir bark mulch, and another area with just fir bark mulch. So she has some options.

Another concern is disturbance. A smaller female walked over to her and basically sat in the hole right next to her butt. I pulled the intruder out and moved her away. So, what would be best for me to do? Should I remove the nest builder to a more solitary enclosure to give her some peace? Should I remove the others so that she is in the same environment and has some peace? Or should I do nothing?

 

[Stoneman]

There was no apparent digging of the front legs. Every time I have viewed tortoises burrow, they have all done so with their entire body. More of a shuffling downward motion of the body. This was only rear legs, pushing chips out. Very thoughtfully and methodically.

 

[2turtletom]

There was no apparent digging of the front legs. Every time I have viewed tortoises burrow, they have all done so with their entire body. More of a shuffling downward motion of the body. This was only rear legs, pushing chips out. Very thoughtfully and methodically.

That sure sounds like she was digging to nest. How deep is your substrate? Did she hit bottom?

 

[Stoneman]

It did not look like she did, but she was close. I have varying levels of depth. I have three different types of substrate. One is light sand mixed with fir mulch and a little a little fir bark. The other is all for mulch, and the rest is a mix of fir bark and fir mulch. The area she was digging was the shallowest. About 5 inches. She stopped at 4. The rest of the enclosure is 6 to 9 inches. It is all closed chamber, so Usually 85- 95, maybe dropping down to 75 in the coolest spots at night.

 

[Tom]

When they are digging out a shallow pallette to cool off, they use their front feet primarily. Digging down 4" with back feet would be nest digging.

Females that are undersize for breeding should not have access to males. You risk egg binding when they are too small. Whenever I raise a group of juveniles, I separate males from females as soon as I can tell the sexes, and long before maturity or any breeding can take place. I don't put them back together again until the females are the correct size for breeding for their species.

I would definitely move all the other tortoises out and leave the layer alone.

I would never use sand for substrate. Its an impaction risk and a potential eye and skin irritant.

75 at night is risky for a star. You might get away with it for a while, but why not set the thermostat up to 80 and play it safe?

 

[Stoneman]

I once read that it was not an issue for females to have eggs prematurely. I hope she is not egg bound. I will do those things. Thank you.