- Joined
- Oct 15, 2010
- Messages
- 26
I have my tortoises in the large tubs from lllreptile during the winter. I am wondering if I need to figure out how to keep a nesting box in their tubs. Right now I have a nesting box but it is separate from where I keep them daily. If they seem restless I put them in the nesting box and add warm water to the soil. The nesting box is 4x4x2 but so far no one has ever used the nesting box for their eggs. I live in Texas and we occasionally get warm weather during the winter so I put my females outside on those days and they usually lay outside. Anyway, we had some warm weather a week or so ago and two of my tortoises dug nests but the weather turned cold before they dropped any eggs. I mounted heat lamps outside over them but this particular day the wind was gusting and no matter how I tried to block the wind I could not keep them warm enough and by 2 am the weather was just too cold and they both had stopped digging so I decided to put them back in the greenhouse. Since then neither has laid in the nesting box. I have yet to figure out how to keep them in the winter so they can lay eggs too. If we have a mild winter it is no problem they get outside. I am thinking they don't like the nesting box because it is not familiar to them? and maybe I need to figure out how to include a nesting box in their tubs or something else besides the large tubs? I have leopards, redfoots, cherryheads, and radiated that are of breeding age.