I have a red foot who is almost one year old now, and he rarely leaves his burrow beneath the moss. Is this normal? If I hold off on feeding him, he'll explore around like he's looking for food, but once I feed him, he just hides for the rest of the day, even if I feed him early morning, I won't see him after that.
Shy Tortoise
- Thread starter Ryuu2713
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I dont have the type of
tortoise you have. I have an eastern
boxie and she does the same thing
this time of year. She is active in the
summer but not winter. Have you had
him for awhile or is he new to you?
tortoise you have. I have an eastern
boxie and she does the same thing
this time of year. She is active in the
summer but not winter. Have you had
him for awhile or is he new to you?
Its pretty natural for red foots. As hatchlings, they spend a large amount of time burrowed in the substrate or in a hide. They usually become more active past 6-9 months though, but this is not a hard fast rule...
until recently, i thought mine was shy and hid all day too, but once i finally got a day off, i realized that he was coming out and spending a lot of time out of his hide during mid-day when i wasn't home to observe him. i've had him over a year now and rarely ever saw him come out after he was fed. now he's started coming out in the evenings once in awhile too, usually to eat again. but doesn't do this every evening. he also would never eat in front of me, but now i can walk by his cage and he'll look up at me, but won't run off like he used to be. my experience has been that both of mine hide a lot after their morning feed. but, i've only had torts a year, so can't say if that's normal for yours or not and i don't have the same species.
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Tyrone used to do that... No it seems like he never hides! He stomps all over the place. One thing you might try is adding plants esp a spider plant. That will give them more cover. Sometimes it may be too bright and open and they feel insecure. So adding a plat will give some shade and a place to hide while they explore.
My little guy does this as well! He is not skiddish though and likes being held and comes when I call him. Although, recently he has been hiding a lot more. I had him in a 20gal enclosure and he would wander around quite often, take a little dip in his water bowl, climb his log, but it seemed to me that he was looking for more room to wander. So what did I do? Built him an enclosure that is a little more than 3 times the size. Now it seems like he hides all the time! I soak him, he eats and then hides. I never see him go in his water bowl anymore. The only thing that eases my mind is that he must come out sometime during the day while I am gone because his food disappears. I don't know if there is just too much open space in his new place or what. I do know they tend to hide more as babies so your little guy is probably normal. I just have no clue what's going on with mine.
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immayo said:
You need plants! It probably is too wide open.. Maybe add a few plants and another hide
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