We talk about it briefly once in a while. Usually in reference to how to prevent it. I decided to try it out a little this summer. The temps here during summer somewhat mimic the natural conditions in the parts of Africa where sulcatas occur. I dug out a little starter hole in an area where Daisy, my juvenile female had tried to dig before. She didn't touch it for about 10 days. Then one Sunday she dug around 8' without me even noticing until the next morning. Her starter hole was on a hillside, facing into the hillside. For some reason she dug in and turned downhill and followed the contour of the hillside. This left only a few inches of dirt over her for the entire run of her burrow. Well the next afternoon, the big girls discovered her little project and decided it should be big enough to fit them too. Basically, for the next few days at least one of the females was working on this hole if the sun was up. Because Daisy dug it so shallow and followed the hillside down, instead of digging into it, they basically wrecked her whole burrow, removed a major portion of the hillside and then started digging into it. There was too much damage to the hillside, so I filled it all in and covered the area to stop them digging there. This attempt was a no go. Sorry. I didn't get any pics of this one.
At the same time I started that hole, I started another one down in the new section of the enclosure seen here:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/Thread-Enclosure-Expansion?highlight=Enclosure+Expansion#axzz20lK6by00
I only dug out about a one foot deep depression. They all ignored this hole for around three weeks. Then a few days ago I happened to notice the tell tale dirt flicking, and Bert was way down in the hole digging away. Big Bertha soon joined him. I'm estimating they got 6-8' deep just in that first afternoon. The two of them are sleeping in this hole at night and one or the other of them, or both are always in it excavating. For the first time tonight, they were both out of it and I could get in an sneak a pic. I only went in as far as my waist, and then reached as far as I could with my arm for a pic. I still can't tell how deep it goes, but I'm estimating 12' so far. They are constantly working on it and I intend to let them for the rest of the summer. I will get all the way in it soon and get temp, humidity and depth measurements too. The earth felt very damp and cool down there, but it was dry and 95 up top.
These animals know how to do this and they know when to do it too. The starter hole was ignored until temps climbed from being steadily in the mid 80s for several weeks, straight up to 100+ recently. I am surprised that more of this does not go on, both at my place and everywhere else. This thread is intended to start some conversation about this subject. Comments are welcome. Sharing your own experiences or pics are welcome too. Another member started something similar a few weeks ago, but I can't seem to find it now. I'd love to post the link here, if someone can find it.
At the same time I started that hole, I started another one down in the new section of the enclosure seen here:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/Thread-Enclosure-Expansion?highlight=Enclosure+Expansion#axzz20lK6by00
I only dug out about a one foot deep depression. They all ignored this hole for around three weeks. Then a few days ago I happened to notice the tell tale dirt flicking, and Bert was way down in the hole digging away. Big Bertha soon joined him. I'm estimating they got 6-8' deep just in that first afternoon. The two of them are sleeping in this hole at night and one or the other of them, or both are always in it excavating. For the first time tonight, they were both out of it and I could get in an sneak a pic. I only went in as far as my waist, and then reached as far as I could with my arm for a pic. I still can't tell how deep it goes, but I'm estimating 12' so far. They are constantly working on it and I intend to let them for the rest of the summer. I will get all the way in it soon and get temp, humidity and depth measurements too. The earth felt very damp and cool down there, but it was dry and 95 up top.
These animals know how to do this and they know when to do it too. The starter hole was ignored until temps climbed from being steadily in the mid 80s for several weeks, straight up to 100+ recently. I am surprised that more of this does not go on, both at my place and everywhere else. This thread is intended to start some conversation about this subject. Comments are welcome. Sharing your own experiences or pics are welcome too. Another member started something similar a few weeks ago, but I can't seem to find it now. I'd love to post the link here, if someone can find it.