- Joined
- Jul 4, 2008
- Messages
- 13
Hey everyone, I've been in the facebook group for awhile, but I finally am getting to use the forum, but not for the greatest of reasons.
I'm really scared about my tortoise Jack, we inherited/we're given her about two years ago now and he/she is about 7 years old. When we got her we were told how she messed up one part of her shell so badly: she had gotten to big in her old house and her heating lamp got too close, luckily it did not harm her. We talked to a tortoise expert at an excellent pet shop and he answered all of our questions and we got his book and mineral supplements and such, even with the book we aren't sure, but think she's a male as much as we would love to have a female sulcata!
With that all said, she has some odd behaviors that I ask myself is that normal? and maybe you can answer that question!
The first is digging, I was pretty sure digging was a female behavior to prep for nesting, but now its making me question my tortoise's gender again. She has a very large yard to explore, its even bigger when we open up the back to her, and t's almost entirely covered in grass. Still recently she has been digging up clumps of grass and often diggs in her house (an old dog igloo with a heating lamp, we've thought maybe it's the plastic floor which we're going to remove).
Second, this is going to sound really strange I think, she's done this a couple of times and the first time was not a calming experience. Sometimes Jack pushes himself up in the air with his front legs and kinda shakes and looks like he doesn't know whats happening and continues to seemingly invert is gut from his behind. The first time we called the pet shop they said it was nothing to worry about and it to use gloves to push it back inside gently, but by the time we returned it was gone and he was walking around again. He just did this again recently after digging and I'm curious if anyone is familiar with this.
Third, we're so glad Jack has so much room to explore and wander and mow, but one of his habits recently was very damaging. He loves to push the yard furniture, but sometimes forgets how tall his shell is and ends up dragging it for a bit or just scrapping his shell, it's very apparent on the tops of the peaks, but other than that his shell has been ok until more recently. Today he managed to break the cap off his middle peak off, it looks like it came off cleanly, but there are flaky bits on his shell and it looks all smooth and light now. His shell has been looking more flaky overall; he's on a great diet of grass, good dark greens, small amounts of fruit, and his supplement, but still I worry how much of this is natural from his exploration behind hedges, between tree trunks, and under lawn furniture and how much of it is from diet, or other problems.
Sorry for the novel, I appreciate any insight, advise, or questions.
Thanks,
â€â€Ryan & Jack
I'm really scared about my tortoise Jack, we inherited/we're given her about two years ago now and he/she is about 7 years old. When we got her we were told how she messed up one part of her shell so badly: she had gotten to big in her old house and her heating lamp got too close, luckily it did not harm her. We talked to a tortoise expert at an excellent pet shop and he answered all of our questions and we got his book and mineral supplements and such, even with the book we aren't sure, but think she's a male as much as we would love to have a female sulcata!
With that all said, she has some odd behaviors that I ask myself is that normal? and maybe you can answer that question!
The first is digging, I was pretty sure digging was a female behavior to prep for nesting, but now its making me question my tortoise's gender again. She has a very large yard to explore, its even bigger when we open up the back to her, and t's almost entirely covered in grass. Still recently she has been digging up clumps of grass and often diggs in her house (an old dog igloo with a heating lamp, we've thought maybe it's the plastic floor which we're going to remove).
Second, this is going to sound really strange I think, she's done this a couple of times and the first time was not a calming experience. Sometimes Jack pushes himself up in the air with his front legs and kinda shakes and looks like he doesn't know whats happening and continues to seemingly invert is gut from his behind. The first time we called the pet shop they said it was nothing to worry about and it to use gloves to push it back inside gently, but by the time we returned it was gone and he was walking around again. He just did this again recently after digging and I'm curious if anyone is familiar with this.
Third, we're so glad Jack has so much room to explore and wander and mow, but one of his habits recently was very damaging. He loves to push the yard furniture, but sometimes forgets how tall his shell is and ends up dragging it for a bit or just scrapping his shell, it's very apparent on the tops of the peaks, but other than that his shell has been ok until more recently. Today he managed to break the cap off his middle peak off, it looks like it came off cleanly, but there are flaky bits on his shell and it looks all smooth and light now. His shell has been looking more flaky overall; he's on a great diet of grass, good dark greens, small amounts of fruit, and his supplement, but still I worry how much of this is natural from his exploration behind hedges, between tree trunks, and under lawn furniture and how much of it is from diet, or other problems.
Sorry for the novel, I appreciate any insight, advise, or questions.
Thanks,
â€â€Ryan & Jack
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Digging for a sulcata is second nature. He's probably trying to find a spot that will hold to gether so he can dig a burrow.
