Missing tortoise.

Rolyat

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I have a 6yr old horsefield tortoise that during the summer he lives in the garden and has dug himself a cave and also has a wooden box he often sleeps in at night.

yesterday I went out as normal to make sure he was back in there as he’s been pretty active the last few days even though it’s cold, he’s been basking in the sunlight as normal.

last night I couldn’t find him anywhere (2 1/2 hours looking and another 1 hour today), I can’t find anywhere he could have escaped as everywhere is blocked off and no sign of digging

what I want to know is if it’s possible that a predator could have taken him, buzzard etc?

does anyone have any experience of this?
Thank you in advance!
 

wellington

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Its It's possible but not as likely as him climbing out or digging himself a hole that you likely would have a hard time finding as they can cover themselves and the holes very well.
If it's been cold I would guess he is buried. On a nice sunny warm day look for him to come out and warm up. If it's cold too many days in a row he may stay buried for the winter.
 

Rolyat

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Its It's possible but not as likely as him climbing out or digging himself a hole that you likely would have a hard time finding as they can cover themselves and the holes very well.
If it's been cold I would guess he is buried. On a nice sunny warm day look for him to come out and warm up. If it's cold too many days in a row he may stay buried for the winter.
Thank you for taking the time to reply.


i wish this was the case, we just can’t see any disturbed soil anywhere, I have literally combed every inch of the garden and just can’t find him! He had started to dig another hole, I pulled out all the loose soil but no joy!

It just feels now like something has taken him, certainly not a human as I have a camera on the front door!

it’s just so frustrating and worrying!
 

maddie.hawks

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I have a 6yr old horsefield tortoise that during the summer he lives in the garden and has dug himself a cave and also has a wooden box he often sleeps in at night.

yesterday I went out as normal to make sure he was back in there as he’s been pretty active the last few days even though it’s cold, he’s been basking in the sunlight as normal.

last night I couldn’t find him anywhere (2 1/2 hours looking and another 1 hour today), I can’t find anywhere he could have escaped as everywhere is blocked off and no sign of digging

what I want to know is if it’s possible that a predator could have taken him, buzzard etc?

does anyone have any experience of this?
Thank you in advance!
hi,
same experience here!
titch goes out during the day and we look for him about 7pm in the summer, we have an experienced sniffer dog and we looked without the dog for about an hour and afte that we got him to sniff titch out and he found him after about 15 minutes of looking in our 180 foot garden, in the end titch was hiding stuffed next to the fence in between a bamboo bush and the green house. BTW my dad has said head west as he’s read something saying they head west towards the setting sun! just look under everything in all the bushes! hope this helps, if you send a picture of your garden we can give you tips on where to look ??
 

maddie.hawks

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Thank you for taking the time to reply.


i wish this was the case, we just can’t see any disturbed soil anywhere, I have literally combed every inch of the garden and just can’t find him! He had started to dig another hole, I pulled out all the loose soil but no joy!

It just feels now like something has taken him, certainly not a human as I have a camera on the front door!

it’s just so frustrating and worrying!
also check there’s no spaces under fences where he could have gone under and what part of the world do you live in? as there’s an app called next door which helps you communicate with your neighbours and community members so you could just warn them if they see anything ?!
 

Rolyat

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Its It's possible but not as likely as him climbing out or digging himself a hole that you likely would have a hard time finding as they can cover themselves and the holes very well.
If it's been cold I would guess he is buried. On a nice sunny warm day look for him to come out and warm up. If it's cold too many days in a row he may stay buried for the winter.

well it appears that you are right, I have just been back out in the garden, for some odd reason I started to move some leaves, thought the soil was a little loose, kept digging with my hands and eventually hit a tortoise shell!
I am so so so grateful to you!

next question is, I normally hibernated him in the greenhouse in a wooden pet box filled with soil, are they better to be where they dig or carry on with the way I normally hibernate him?
 

maddie.hawks

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well it appears that you are right, I have just been back out in the garden, for some odd reason I started to move some leaves, thought the soil was a little loose, kept digging with my hands and eventually hit a tortoise shell!
I am so so so grateful to you!

next question is, I normally hibernated him in the greenhouse in a wooden pet box filled with soil, are they better to be where they dig or carry on with the way I normally hibernate him?
hibernate him i say! ground will be cold and he may get hurt by animals or such other
 

wellington

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I can't help with hibernating. I don't hibernate mine.
I do know a lot of people do it in a box in a frig where temps can be controlled. I also know there is a process to have them go thru before hibernating as you don't want food in their gut or it could rot and kill your tortoise during hibernation.
Hopefully someone with lots of experience with it will see this. I can't think of anyone off hand.
Glad you found him.
 

Rolyat

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hi,
same experience here!
titch goes out during the day and we look for him about 7pm in the summer, we have an experienced sniffer dog and we looked without the dog for about an hour and afte that we got him to sniff titch out and he found him after about 15 minutes of looking in our 180 foot garden, in the end titch was hiding stuffed next to the fence in between a bamboo bush and the green house. BTW my dad has said head west as he’s read something saying they head west towards the setting sun! just look under everything in all the bushes! hope this helps, if you send a picture of your garden we can give you tips on where to look ??
Thank you for the reply.

I have just found him, he was buried under a bush, he had dug down under the roots and covered himself in the soil, I only found him because one member said to check for that and for some strange reason I started to touch the soil in that spot and it felt looser!
So relieved!
Thank you!
 

maddie.hawks

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Location (City and/or State)
Hampton, London
Thank you for the reply.

I have just found him, he was buried under a bush, he had dug down under the roots and covered himself in the soil, I only found him because one member said to check for that and for some strange reason I started to touch the soil in that spot and it felt looser!
So relieved!
Thank you!
so glad you found him!!!
 

Rolyat

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also check there’s no spaces under fences where he could have gone under and what part of the world do you live in? as there’s an app called next door which helps you communicate with your neighbours and community members so you could just warn them if they see anything ?!
Yay! I am so happy you found him.

I appreciate that!

We are so relieved, we’d been out posting flyers the lot!

Thank you!
 

KarenSoCal

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I used to brumate my DT in an operating fridge. They are safe from predators, cave-ins, flooding, ants, wild variations in temp, and freezing.

Here's a thread of how Tom does his.

 

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