Nesting Question

[JeffG]

I have a question about leopard tortoises nesting in central Arizona. As all of you know that live in this area, the ground can be almost as hard as concrete in some places. Are females leopards able to dig nests in really hard ground, or is it necessary to prepare some areas by softening it up?

I have an 8 year old female that I would assume will start to produce eggs before too much longer. I don't want it to cause her stress because she can't dig a nest. I have only recently allowed her access to a 5 year old male that probably isn't quite big enough to breed yet, but I thought them being together (I did see him follow her around the yard all day about a week ago), might trigger the egg thing in her anyway.

How do the rest of you with extremely hard ground handle this? Any input would be appreciated!

 

[Neal]

Both our Indian star and Leopard females have never had any issue in digging down into the dirt here. Last year we had one female dig nests in thick clumps of Bermuda without any problems at all. They will soften up the grounds themselves with their urine. I think preparing the ground is a good idea, but ultimately the female is going to choose the best place, so for me, it would be too much work to prepare and soften my entire backyard. Just make sure your female is well hydrated and she will be fine.

An issue they might run into is when they start digging close to the fence. If your backyard is anything like mine, you're going to have a lot of concrete around your pilasters. If that's where she decides to dig, she'll figure out eventually that that is not the best place and will try again a few days later.

 

[Arizona Sulcata]

You'd be surprised how strong they are. But with that said I do take a shovel and break up the ground a bit where I want them to lay. This encourages them to lay where I want them to and makes things a little easier on them digging wise. Like Neal said though they can manage on their own. It's just my preference that way I can control things a little more.

 

[JeffG]

Thanks guys. I couldn't really "plow" my whole yard either, I just wanted to make sure they can can dig in this soil. Otherwise I would work on a few areas so she at least had the option to pick softer ground if she wanted to.

I was concerned about leopards, because they aren't known for their digging ability. I feel better now.

 

[Neal]

It can be a slow process if the ground is too hard, but it will still get done. One of our females took 12 hours to complete a nest. They just wet the area and slowly scrape away until it's perfect.