Sulcata Safe Burrow Depth

drivinghome

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Oct 8, 2019
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El Paso, Texas
Hi all.
I have a sulcata who is burrowing for the first time. He is 6 years old and weighs about 50 lbs. In the past he has spent the winter outside but in a heated house we made for him. This year he finally decided to burrow for the first time. His burrow is about 8 feet now but it only goes down about 1 1/2 to 2 feet in depth. I'm worried this wont be enough to keep him safe for the winter. It gets down to 20 degrees here.

Any thoughts or ideas are appreciated.
 

Tom

The Dog Trainer
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Exactly what Yvonne said. There is no safe depth. Winter ground temps here in North America are around 50 in the southern states. Sulcatas need it to be 80.

I block my burrow off in late October or early November, depending on the current weather. They sleep in their heated night boxes all winter, and then I open the burrows in late spring.

To block the burrow I usually drop a sheet of plywood over the entrance and put block all around the edges. Its also a good idea to block off that part of the enclosure for a while, as your tortoise might just go to the edge of the plywood and start digging again. After a couple of weeks, and some cooler weather, they get used to returning to the night box every night.
 

drivinghome

New Member
Joined
Oct 8, 2019
Messages
3
Location (City and/or State)
El Paso, Texas
Exactly what Yvonne said. There is no safe depth. Winter ground temps here in North America are around 50 in the southern states. Sulcatas need it to be 80.

I block my burrow off in late October or early November, depending on the current weather. They sleep in their heated night boxes all winter, and then I open the burrows in late spring.

To block the burrow I usually drop a sheet of plywood over the entrance and put block all around the edges. Its also a good idea to block off that part of the enclosure for a while, as your tortoise might just go to the edge of the plywood and start digging again. After a couple of weeks, and some cooler weather, they get used to returning to the night box every night.
I appreciate the response. I kind of figured as much but I wanted to make sure I wasn't "messing" things up for him as its the first time hes ever burrowed.
 

Britt&Walter

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Joined
Dec 22, 2020
Messages
2
Location (City and/or State)
Californian
Exactly what Yvonne said. There is no safe depth. Winter ground temps here in North America are around 50 in the southern states. Sulcatas need it to be 80.

I block my burrow off in late October or early November, depending on the current weather. They sleep in their heated night boxes all winter, and then I open the burrows in late spring.

To block the burrow I usually drop a sheet of plywood over the entrance and put block all around the edges. Its also a good idea to block off that part of the enclosure for a while, as your tortoise might just go to the edge of the plywood and start digging again. After a couple of weeks, and some cooler weather, they get used to returning to the night box every night.
Tom I have seen you comment on this often. I also saw another thread where you posted pictures of a sulcata burrow you made, however you could no longer view them. I’d love to see it though. Would you mind reposting?
I am also worried about my sulcatas burrow. He has a heated home above his burrow that maintains 75-100 depending which area he decides to be. He will come out of his burrow which exits into the heated covering and will bask all day under the lamps then every night he crawls back into his hole. He has stayed in his hole for days though. With the temps starting to drop I worry about him going down there but also don’t understand why he would choose the burrow over the heated area seeing as he has the choice? I’m also starting to worry that blocking off that burrow will just lead to him digging another since the heated enclosure is dirt floor. I don’t want to build another enclosure. He LOVES his burrow and that home. He never comes out.
little background. This tortoise very unexpectedly ended up with me. Im not sad about it in the least but im frantically trying to learn and adapt. His beak was/is messed up. He has a upper respiratory infection. I’m getting second series of antibiotic shots for him tomorrow. So his burrow is for sure blocked off as I need to access him.
At this point I’m stressed about everything.
burrow, beak, temp humidity, upper Respiratory that won’t go away. I’ll take any and all advice. I want him to be as comfortable as possible.
this is the front of his heated enclosure. it will eventually have a wooden door covering it. The gravel is drainage hole. The land slopes towards his hole. I redirected the roof water with drainage pipe off the downspout but wanted to be sure. So added 3’ pit with gravel. This front entrance opens up to a 30’x20’ walled enclosure.
424E4C2E-2817-4693-84C5-3370AFCF3E05.jpeg
This is the back left corner if you are looking in from the front. This is also the entrance to his burrow. Goes very far down.
DB42DC57-02D5-4C36-AC23-5A23544A096A.jpeg
This is the back side. It’s a large gate so when he is out of his burrow I can access him. D77D2EC7-FAE1-4579-8994-AED0A58057AC.jpeg
This is Walter basking and eating is salad
D6355AA7-6A34-4952-AC73-86CED6B76472.jpeg
 

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Tom

The Dog Trainer
10 Year Member!
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jan 9, 2010
Messages
63,265
Location (City and/or State)
Southern California
Tom I have seen you comment on this often. I also saw another thread where you posted pictures of a sulcata burrow you made, however you could no longer view them. I’d love to see it though. Would you mind reposting?
I am also worried about my sulcatas burrow. He has a heated home above his burrow that maintains 75-100 depending which area he decides to be. He will come out of his burrow which exits into the heated covering and will bask all day under the lamps then every night he crawls back into his hole. He has stayed in his hole for days though. With the temps starting to drop I worry about him going down there but also don’t understand why he would choose the burrow over the heated area seeing as he has the choice? I’m also starting to worry that blocking off that burrow will just lead to him digging another since the heated enclosure is dirt floor. I don’t want to build another enclosure. He LOVES his burrow and that home. He never comes out.
little background. This tortoise very unexpectedly ended up with me. Im not sad about it in the least but im frantically trying to learn and adapt. His beak was/is messed up. He has a upper respiratory infection. I’m getting second series of antibiotic shots for him tomorrow. So his burrow is for sure blocked off as I need to access him.
At this point I’m stressed about everything.
burrow, beak, temp humidity, upper Respiratory that won’t go away. I’ll take any and all advice. I want him to be as comfortable as possible.
this is the front of his heated enclosure. it will eventually have a wooden door covering it. The gravel is drainage hole. The land slopes towards his hole. I redirected the roof water with drainage pipe off the downspout but wanted to be sure. So added 3’ pit with gravel. This front entrance opens up to a 30’x20’ walled enclosure.
View attachment 313680
This is the back left corner if you are looking in from the front. This is also the entrance to his burrow. Goes very far down.
View attachment 313681
This is the back side. It’s a large gate so when he is out of his burrow I can access him. View attachment 313682
This is Walter basking and eating is salad
View attachment 313684
Hi Britt. You've already answered your own question. He has a respiratory infection They get those from being too cold. I've tried to do it that way too. It doesn't work. The temp in the little above ground area is irrelevant. When ground temps are cold and he's in the ground, its too cold. The warmer air in your above ground area does nothing to warm the ground down in the burrow where the tortoise is laying. You can confirm this yourself with a thermometer if you drop one down there and are able to retrieve it after a while.

Also, heat lamps are no good for larger tortoises. They will burn the tortoise, kill the top of the carapace, and they are not effective at warming the tortoise anyway when the air and or ground is cold.

If you want your tortoise to recover and survive, you've got to get him out of there and into a heated nut box with the right temps, and I mean now. ASAP. Today. Not one more cold night. Here are two examples of how to to do it and heat it safely and effectively:

 

Maggie3fan

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PacificNorthWest
Hi Britt. You've already answered your own question. He has a respiratory infection They get those from being too cold. I've tried to do it that way too. It doesn't work. The temp in the little above ground area is irrelevant. When ground temps are cold and he's in the ground, its too cold. The warmer air in your above ground area does nothing to warm the ground down in the burrow where the tortoise is laying. You can confirm this yourself with a thermometer if you drop one down there and are able to retrieve it after a while.

Also, heat lamps are no good for larger tortoises. They will burn the tortoise, kill the top of the carapace, and they are not effective at warming the tortoise anyway when the air and or ground is cold.

If you want your tortoise to recover and survive, you've got to get him out of there and into a heated nut box with the right temps, and I mean now. ASAP. Today. Not one more cold night. Here are two examples of how to to do it and heat it safely and effectively:

 

Britt&Walter

New Member
Joined
Dec 22, 2020
Messages
2
Location (City and/or State)
Californian
Hi Britt. You've already answered your own question. He has a respiratory infection They get those from being too cold. I've tried to do it that way too. It doesn't work. The temp in the little above ground area is irrelevant. When ground temps are cold and he's in the ground, its too cold. The warmer air in your above ground area does nothing to warm the ground down in the burrow where the tortoise is laying. You can confirm this yourself with a thermometer if you drop one down there and are able to retrieve it after a while.

Also, heat lamps are no good for larger tortoises. They will burn the tortoise, kill the top of the carapace, and they are not effective at warming the tortoise anyway when the air and or ground is cold.

If you want your tortoise to recover and survive, you've got to get him out of there and into a heated nut box with the right temps, and I mean now. ASAP. Today. Not one more cold night. Here are two examples of how to to do it and heat it safely and effectively:

Thanks for your response.
I have blocked off his burrow, built a front door and have a pig blanket on order.
my question now is he won’t stay inside his enclosure now that the burrow is blocked. He goes outdoors around 10am and hides under a rose bush.
I have to assume if he were cold he would go back in but he does not. I have to physically pick him up and put him in his home before dusk.
is this normal? Our weather right now is sunny but only a high of 62 degrees.
his house has two 250w bulbs at the moment (until I get the pig blanket). I have three temperature gauges in different areas. Under the lamps is in the 90’s and then it’s 70 at the furthest point away from the lamps.
I’m thinking the UV light is too bright for him maybe?? However my vet told me that light was important for him during this time of year to make sure he stay awake and doesn’t hibernate especially since he has a upper respiratory infection. I didn’t think sulcatas hibernate but he said in captivity they may sometimes.
 

Tom

The Dog Trainer
10 Year Member!
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jan 9, 2010
Messages
63,265
Location (City and/or State)
Southern California
Thanks for your response.
I have blocked off his burrow, built a front door and have a pig blanket on order.
my question now is he won’t stay inside his enclosure now that the burrow is blocked. He goes outdoors around 10am and hides under a rose bush.
I have to assume if he were cold he would go back in but he does not. I have to physically pick him up and put him in his home before dusk.
is this normal? Our weather right now is sunny but only a high of 62 degrees.
his house has two 250w bulbs at the moment (until I get the pig blanket). I have three temperature gauges in different areas. Under the lamps is in the 90’s and then it’s 70 at the furthest point away from the lamps.
I’m thinking the UV light is too bright for him maybe?? However my vet told me that light was important for him during this time of year to make sure he stay awake and doesn’t hibernate especially since he has a upper respiratory infection. I didn’t think sulcatas hibernate but he said in captivity they may sometimes.
Vets don't know tortoise care. There is no reason to use UV on a tortoise that lives outside.

Heat lamps are no good for larger tortoises, they will slow-burn the top of the carapace.

Sulcatas do not hibernate. Not ever. Some people allow them to get too cold, but that is not hibernating. Its slowly dying.

Sulcatas don't understand the concept of "too cold". Where they come from there is no "too cold". Its warm enough under every bush.

Show pics of what you are using for a night house. That will help us give you good advice. A pig blanket alone is not going to be enough. In a well built, insulated night box of the right dimensions, a pig blanket in combination with an over head radiant heat panel will keep the tortoise warm enough. In large boxes, you can add a mini radiant oil heater. These only cost about $35-50.
 

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